GM: Is it too soon?: Signs of creeping panic

By CATHERINE MASTERS

There are predictions of genetically modified crops being ripped from the earth, of little old ladies waving banners out on the street and even of hunger strikes as middle-New Zealand wakes up to GM.

The opposition voice so far has been vocal but high profile - chefs, winemakers, actors, Green politicians, Professor David Bellamy and celebrity mothers. Now it seems the rest of the population, apparently content so far to keep only a vague eye on GM, is getting twitchy.

A Herald DigiPoll shows a swing by the populace in favour of keeping the moratorium preventing the release of GM organisms into the environment beyond its October 29 expiry date.

Jon Carapiet, from GE Free New Zealand, says he is taking increasing numbers of calls from people beginning to panic. "They're thinking the trust they put in parliamentarians and the system is effectively being betrayed." He does not predict "trouble" and hopes there will be no nastiness, but says there will be a high level of public display from people trying desperately to be heard.

Those opposed to GM accuse the Government of being undemocratic, arrogant and pig-headed. They believe it has not anticipated the full extent of public anger. The Government says it has held a Royal Commission and is following its advice to proceed with caution.

The opponents fear not just damage to the economy and unknown potential health impacts, but "irreversible" damage to New Zealand's clean green image held dear for so long.

"I think there will be more hunger strikes ... This is absolutely what I would call a kind of creeping sabotage of our brand identity in the international markets," said Carapiet.

Alannah Currie, former pop star with the Thompson Twins, says she is so angry and frustrated, she is willing to break the law and be arrested.

She is not speaking here for Madge (Mothers Against GE) which she belongs to, but does say the group has some surprise moves up its sleeves and will launch them in the next month.

"We're going to be loud and feisty ... we've written endless letters, we've campaigned food companies, we've done all the nice routes, if you like.

"Where it leaves us as mothers who feel very strongly about protecting our country is we may have to get a lot more radical."

Other groups may also get radical. In 2001, one called Green Gloves pledged a campaign of civil disobedience - where modified crops are planted outside the confines of laboratories, they will be ripped up.

Greenpeace says ripping out crops is not on its agenda, but it will continue to oppose GM every step of the way.

The lifting of the moratorium did not mean the end of GM-free New Zealand, said spokesman Steve Abel.

"It just means people can make applications for crop release and those can be challenged all along the way."

As the anti groups crank up the protest, pro-GM groups will be watching and responding to any "misinformation".

Dr William Rolleston, from the Life Sciences Network, said there had been outrageous claims made by all sorts of people, including British ecologist Professor David Bellamy, such as his claim Sars was a genetically modified organism.

The public had to realise that lifting the moratorium still meant every application would be analysed case by case, he said.

"They have the impression that as soon as the moratorium is lifted, we're going to have GM cows on our dinner plates and that's just not the reality."

So, too, the Government will watch and respond. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs says she will answer questions when asked, but does not want to get involved with slanging matches.

Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says the fight to keep the moratorium is not over, but if it does end the Greens will continue to fight GM outside the lab every way it can.

"At some stage in the future, there will probably be direct action ... we certainly support direct action that's inside the law, but I suspect on the basis of what's happened in Scotland and Britain and Europe, it may go beyond that."