Greens lay GE challenge to Labour

7.30pm

The Greens walked out of Parliament today over the future of genetic engineering and laid a challenge to Labour -- meet its anti-GE stance or risk not having the party as a future coalition partner.

The Greens' walkout came just before Parliament voted into law a bill restricting GE testing to laboratories, but the moratorium will be automatically lifted in October next year unless it is extended.

The bill went through 64-46, with the Green MPs absent from the debating chamber and abstaining from the vote.

Outside Parliament, Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons set a challenge to all political parties to extend the moratorium indefinitely or her party would refuse to enter into any coalition agreement.

Now that the Alliance has disintegrated, the Greens are Labour's most likely coalition partner in the next Parliament and Ms Fitzsimons said their stand on GE was "the bottom line" for any deal.

"We now have a moratorium in place just until next year. It protects us for the period until after the election and we expect that to be a condition for any government that expects our support," she said.

"The coalition agreement would have to include not lifting that moratorium. I think that's quite achievable. I think if Labour wants to govern and they need us, then they will agree to that."

- NZPA

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