Jim Peacock Puts GM Crops Back on Australian City Media Radar.

Good Crop
"Changes are also taking place behind the scenes."
Bad Crop
"...the cautious attitude of state governments has stalled the technology's commercialisation"

GM: a case of good crop, bad crop
March 28, 2006, The Sydney Morning Herald, Wendy Frew.

THE SMH runs an article that opens with:
News that Australia's canola crop had been contaminated with genetically modified material was the last thing Geoff Black wanted to hear. The manager of a small NSW oilseed crusher at Cootamundra knew his company's success rested on its reputation as a producer of cold-pressed oils free of any chemical or GM material.
The contamination was first detected in seeds held by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries at Horsham, in the state's west, last July. Initial investigations linked the contamination to seed research being done by the Tasmanian Government.
The detection raised fears the contamination could spread to other states, opening a legal minefield for farmers who wanted to market non-GM canola and threatening exports worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
GM canola is not grown commercially in Australia and the contamination is not believed to have come from small GM canola research trials being run by private companies. It was eventually established that the contamination was only between 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent of the crop, but the Federal Government is still trying to find out exactly how it happened.
However, it was "a massive wake-up call for the industry", says Black. "We knew there was no GM canola grown in Australia so how did it get there? We can no longer claim with confidence that the product we produce is GM-free although it does meet the Australian regulation," he says, adding that Cootamundra Oilseeds has changed the GM description on its products.
Despite concern in rural circles, the canola contamination received little media coverage.
In recent years, the debate about the costs and benefits of the pioneering science that aims to alter the genetic material of plants and animals has fallen off the public radar. With the exception of the cotton industry, which has embraced genetic modification, the cautious attitude of state governments has stalled the technology's commercialisation, and there has been little news from the Federal Government about major policy changes or research initiatives. But that could soon change.
Australia's new Chief Scientist and longest-serving chief of the CSIRO Plant Industry division, Dr Jim Peacock, is an enthusiastic GM supporter. He told the Herald earlier this month that GM technology could play a significant role in preventive medicine. He says the various moratoriums on GM canola are unjustified. Changes are also taking place behind the scenes.

More at the original story.