GM rally spurred by death of sister

A group of New Zealand celebrities, organised by former international pop star Alannah Currie, is trying to mobilise protest against the royal commission report on genetic modification.

Ms Currie, a member of the 1980s British band the Thompson Twins, said she became interested in issues surrounding food technology, and later in submissions presented to the commission, after her sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Auckland last year.

She said she felt powerless following the release of the report, which paved the way for the controlled release of genetically modified organisms.

"We felt as though we were being steamrolled into having something that we didn't want to have in New Zealand.

"We don't mind GE being in labs but we think it should be kept out of the foodchain, because otherwise we have no choice."

Over the past few days, she has assembled an ever-increasing collection of New Zealand entertainers, including Bic Runga, Rena Owen, Rachel Hunter, Dave Dobbyn, Stella, Mikey Havoc and Newsboy, cast members of Shortland Street, and a group of doctors and scientists.

This weekend, they will pose for photographs wearing T-shirts designed for the event by Karen Walker, Marilyn Sainty, Zambesi and World to raise support for an anti-GM march in Auckland on September 1. On Monday, the group is to unveil a billboard outside her Ponsonby home.

Ms Currie said she had been a member of Greenpeace for 20 years, but had not been politically active since she arrived in New Zealand, opting instead for a "fairly reclusive" life.

But the protest, one of many under way around the country, was an effort by concerned citizens like herself wanting to be heard on the issue, she said.

"It's about having a say. We feel that the Government's not listening to us."

www.nzherald.co.nz/ge

Report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification

GE lessons from Britain

GE links

GE glossary