Posted on 1st November 2001

GE - Nemesis Of Labour Alliance
(Peter Melchett being arrested during a protest against GM crops. Photo:
Cobbing/Greenpeace)

Three thousand New Zealanders have pledged to help remove genetic
engineering field trials and planning for action is underway following the
pro-GE decision by the NZ Government, an open capitulation to foreign money
and its global economy.

Muldoon caused massive disruption to life in New Zealand by siding with the
supporters of apartheid and nuclear power, now Clark is going down the same
misguided road, completely mis-judging the depth of feeling about an issue,
in this case GE in our environment and food. Maybe, its by no means
certain, Clark will scrap through and preserve her carreer and Labour in
power - her only real interest - but Anderton and the Alliance will not
survive.

The `pull it out' campaign was launched Wed 31 October in an Auckland park,
together with a demonstration of how environmentally-responsible trial
destruction can be done. "The Government has betrayed the majority of New
Zealanders who do not want GE field trials and preparation for commercial
GE releases", spokesperson Logan Petley said. "They sold out to the GE
lobby. That leaves the public no option but civil disobedience to protect
our country from GE accidents and contamination." The non-violent direct
action initiative, in which members of the public have been invited to sign
a civil disobedience pledge has been dubbed "Green Gloves". "This is
because people who pledge to join the actions were given a pair of green
gloves to keep ready for when they are needed." The group has been
organised by long-time environmental campaigners and has no links to any
political parties.

Support for the pledge has spread like wildfire throughout the country
since being launched by anti-GE campaigners on 31 July, a few days after
the royal commission report was published, resulting in the 3000
volunteers in just twelve weeks. "This is an astonishing number of New
Zealanders prepared to make a stand. It shows how wrong Helen Clark is when
she denies there is strong public feeling about genetic engineering. Each
of those 3000 people represents many other people who also care deeply
about the issue. "Some New Zealanders might think these plans are
irresponsible, however we believe we are acting to defend our country. If
the first boat load of possums were arriving in New Zealand tomorrow, and
we could still stop them, we would do the same. Keeping the New Zealand
environment GE free, before something goes horribly wrong, is a socially
and environmentally responsible act. "This civil disobedience will not
involve people breaking into GE labs. Our concern is about GE organisms
being allowed into the environment, where it is irreversible. But anything
coming out of labs into the environment as field trials will be targeted."

Green Glove co-ordinators say that these kinds of actions may well prove to
be legal, based on precedents from Britain where environmental campaigners
have been cleared of charges for pulling out crops because
their actions were judged to be strongly in the public interest. "The lists
of Green Gloves volunteers include people in all regions of NZ. There are
mothers and fathers, doctors, business people and students. They have
indicated that if they must, they are prepared to actively seek out and
remove GE field trials, due to the risks they pose. "Green Gloves is
announcing its plans openly so that GE companies and research institutions
are in no doubt about our intentions. These will not be secretive
activities, but rather open, colourful and unstoppable."

Contact: Logan Petley 025 828028 or Fergus Wheeler 04 9056583