Heffernan calls for GM rethink.

The Age 07-March-2007 runs a big page three spread on GM crops.
Some snippets:

Heffernan calls for a rethink on genetically altered crops

Photo Caption:Heffernan: Wants to transform Australia's Top End.

Jewel Topsfield, Canberra
March 7, 2007

AUSTRALIA will need to rethink its attitude to genetically modified crops in order to transform the water-drenched Top End into the nation's food bowl, Senator Bill Heffernan says.

In his first major interview since being asked in January to head a high-ranking taskforce into the ambitious plan, he also told The Age that rice growers had formally expressed interest in moving north.

Rice could be a success in the north, he said, with growers now having the scientific expertise they lacked in the 1950s when a Northern Territory rice experiment failed.

Senator Heffernan said genetically modified crops such as cotton were more environmentally friendly because there was less need for chemical pesticides and they were more water efficient.

The close confidant of Prime Minister John Howard said the taskforce would be guided by science and would not take a bulldozer approach....