14 July 2011

CropLife really cross with Greenpeace activists who chopped down their wheat patch

| johnboy
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greenpeace crop massacre

CropLife have released an incandescent statement in the wake of Greenpeace jumping the fence at Ginninderra and whipper snippering a CSIRO’s GMO wheat crop.

Greenpeace today have proven they are more interested in emotional blackmail of parents and spin doctoring than they are in global food security and science based public policy decision making.

CropLife Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Cossey, said today he is disappointed that Greenpeace have imported irresponsible activist activity to Australia. Slamming them as nothing more than intellectually weak troglodytes Mr Cossey said “The vandalism of GM trials is nothing but a short sighted attempt to garner publicity”.

“This is a dark day for Australian science and there can be no justification for this act. This type of activity from Greenpeace is unethical and morally questionable, especially when the world is facing the challenge of global food security”.

“Reckless interference of this kind only delays valuable and essential scientific research. The exact purpose of these independent scientific trials was to assess and analyse the safety and potential of healthier wheat varieties critical to Australia’s agricultural future”.

“It is hypocritical of Greenpeace to demand that governments act on the science of climate change and at the same time demand that government completely ignore and act against the science of biotechnology”.

“Through their luddite destruction of scientific trials Greenpeace have reduced themselves to a 21st Century equivalent of the flat earth society.”

“Regulatory decisions need to be based on proven science, not on Greenpeace’s deception, falsehoods and half truths”, Mr Cossey concluded.

You don’t see language in media releases like that everyday.

[Photo Courtesy Greenpeace slideshow]

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madamcholet said :

Noticed this in the SMH today – a missive from chefs about GM wheat. Chefs versus agricultural industry…

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/genetically-modified-wheat-has-no-place-on-the-menu-20110718-1hlhq.html

The phrase “whether or not you agree with their methods” seems to have become code for “I agree with their methods, but it would be imprudent to say that aloud”.

Noticed this in the SMH today – a missive from chefs about GM wheat. Chefs versus agricultural industry…

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/genetically-modified-wheat-has-no-place-on-the-menu-20110718-1hlhq.html

Tooks said :

Classified said :

Tooks said :

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

Disagree. What JB said was that greenpeace had support outside Canberra (which it does). The original comment related to THIS ACTION, not greenpeace in general. Perhaps you go go back and re-read.

Either way, his original comment was inaccurate and stupid.

I was just in a pedantic mood.

Classified said :

Tooks said :

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

Disagree. What JB said was that greenpeace had support outside Canberra (which it does). The original comment related to THIS ACTION, not greenpeace in general. Perhaps you go go back and re-read.

Either way, his original comment was inaccurate and stupid.

Tooks said :

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

Disagree. What JB said was that greenpeace had support outside Canberra (which it does). The original comment related to THIS ACTION, not greenpeace in general. Perhaps you go go back and re-read.

vg said :

madamcholet said :

Yes it s the same Matthew Cossey who worked at the Labor Party and at Raytheon, the weapons manufacturer.

So in your world he should be employed for life with the 1 employer….and what else do Raytheon make. Will make it easy, check their homepage

I didn’t really have a point to make – A) just answering the question about is it the same MC who worked for the Labor Party, B) adding more information and C) perhaps making the point that they are all guns for hire at the end of the day and that the word of one person from one organisation is always going to be the party line. Maybe we should consider all information before making a judgement.

GP must have a good OH&S policy. Look at the PPE. SAFETY FIRST. Gone are the days of the 60’s were the person would have been in a bandanna, singlet top torn jeans and holding a peace sign.

madamcholet said :

Yes it s the same Matthew Cossey who worked at the Labor Party and at Raytheon, the weapons manufacturer.

So in your world he should be employed for life with the 1 employer….and what else do Raytheon make. Will make it easy, check their homepage

I-filed said :

Food security would be provided by humankind treating meat as more of a luxury and eating more grain food – in which case there would be no need to take the risk of GM crops.

While I don’t support the GM craze, I don’t agree that this will help the starvin’ Marvins of this world much either.

I-filed said :

AND, where was the consultation with the ACT populace, as to whether we wanted this experiment in the Inner North? Bad call, CSIRO. Bad call, ACT Labor. Bad call, feds.

You have good points before you prattle on about lack of consultation. Public consultation is carried out before a licence for any GM trial is granted. All information for current and past trial sites is publicly available and they will even tell you which gene they are fudging. Sure, they don’t come and knock on your door and ask you personally, but for those that actually care enough to make themselves aware, the information is out there. Same with development proposals and the like.

Monsanto, who no one has yet properly and factually linked to this experiment, need a leash on them and have done since the ’60s, but it’s doing my noodle to hear utter crapola about “secret” this and “conspiracy” that. There are ways to campaign for what you want instead of launching illegal actions that are based on lies and ironically, risk causing the spread of untested GM crops.

Food security would be provided by humankind treating meat as more of a luxury and eating more grain food – in which case there would be no need to take the risk of GM crops. The record of GM is abysmal – look at south Asia, where traditional crops were replaced with expensive Monsanto grain on all sorts of yield promises. After a few years the boom in grain production reduced back below the traditional levels, because local grains bred over centuries had been able to withstand the vagaries of weather. Frankencrops turned out to be febrile and vulnerable.
CSIRO is utterly in the pockets of mega agribusiness interests. Again, I applaud Greenpeace and Shane Rattenbury for their actions and cmments re the CSIRO GM wheat experiment.
AND, where was the consultation with the ACT populace, as to whether we wanted this experiment in the Inner North? Bad call, CSIRO. Bad call, ACT Labor. Bad call, feds.

John Moulis said :

Tooks said :

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

I stand by my comments, and the reaction by JB, Tooks and the rest only reinforce what I said.

That’s because you’re an idiot. I don’t support this vandalism by Greenpeace one iota.

satyr said :

These companies can’t win. They develop GM crops that have the potential to provide food security for millions. People raise legitimate concerns that these crops could out-compete native crops and reduce genetic diversity. The US Department of Agriculture invents terminator technology that stops these plants from producing viable seeds, and people go nuts claiming that an evil corporate conspiracy is trying to stop them from resowing seed.

I know it’s not fair to lump all environmentalists in the same boat. Some environmentalists are pragmatic. Many do fantastic work. The Franklin River Dam protests and the recent grand bargain to preserve forests in Tasmania spring to mind. However, blanket opposition to safe technology such as GM food is honestly, retarded. These are the kind of people who eat organic vegetables (which are inefficiently produced, and cause more environmental damage that mass produced vegetables) and who support inefficient government schemes (cash for clunkers, roof top solar panels) that create perverse outcomes and increase emissions.

Even if we assume that the biotech corporations are doing this for the good of humankind, how are poor farmers in Africa going to fund buying new seed every season? Even if they get better crops out of it, they can still have failed crops because of drought and then they not only lose their crop but also their significant financial investment. And how will a small-scale farmer find the funds to even start his expensive first GM crops? Won’t it encourage corporate-style farming and push the little guys further into poverty? It just doesn’t strike me as a very well thought-out plan?

I have other reservations, but I don’t think anyone here is really interested in them. Too many posts referring to scientists as if they are national heroes and should never be criticised. While I wonder how many of us ever read anything but “popular science” articles. Science is a valuable tool, if used in the right way. But with the amount of research that goes on globally, I fear we often can’t see the wood for trees. That counts for both sides in this case. I don’t believe that the GP activists are necessarily following the “right science” either. At least they definitely didn’t come up with any convincing arguments that they are.

These companies can’t win. They develop GM crops that have the potential to provide food security for millions. People raise legitimate concerns that these crops could out-compete native crops and reduce genetic diversity. The US Department of Agriculture invents terminator technology that stops these plants from producing viable seeds, and people go nuts claiming that an evil corporate conspiracy is trying to stop them from resowing seed.

I know it’s not fair to lump all environmentalists in the same boat. Some environmentalists are pragmatic. Many do fantastic work. The Franklin River Dam protests and the recent grand bargain to preserve forests in Tasmania spring to mind. However, blanket opposition to safe technology such as GM food is honestly, retarded. These are the kind of people who eat organic vegetables (which are inefficiently produced, and cause more environmental damage that mass produced vegetables) and who support inefficient government schemes (cash for clunkers, roof top solar panels) that create perverse outcomes and increase emissions.

The Frots said :

madamcholet said :

I don’t condone what GP have done at all – not a good look and smacks of having no argument. However it does frustrate me that large organisations such as the international chemical companies can use their power and resources to suggest that their information is the only correct information and that by virtue of that, orgs like GP must be wrong. “Industry bodies” can sometimes be guns for hire and will say what their members want them to. I’m not sure that we do know all that we need to about GM produce, but the fact is, the organically grown produce that the greenies want to see will not feed the world.

Flick over and google a group called the ‘Bilderburg Group’. Interesting.

Great, thanks for that – I’ve heard about this group before – a few years ago now – found it really interesting and then prompt;y forgot their name.

Tooks said :

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

I stand by my comments, and the reaction by JB, Tooks and the rest only reinforce what I said.

The Frots said :

Kalfour said :

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Going feral……….? Are we talking ‘Day of the Trifids’ feral or “there’s a weed in the pot plant, honey” feral………..????

The latter I would think. But ready your shot guns, giant whipper-snippers and flamethrowers just in case.

buzz819 said :

Kalfour said :

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Well there wasn’t much of a chance, I’m looking at how they “destroyed” the crop. There would have been debris, seed and everything flying everywhere.

What I want to know is there any immediate concerns if those seeds get released into the natural environment, if there is what problems would that cause?

That’s a really good point actually!

Classified said :

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

Yes it is:

“Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace.”

Felix the Cat9:07 am 16 Jul 11

Wouldn’t it be ironic if they had sprayed the crop with Roundup instead!

The Frots said :

Kalfour said :

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Going feral……….? Are we talking ‘Day of the Trifids’ feral or “there’s a weed in the pot plant, honey” feral………..????

We’re Australian. We don’t have to worry about weeds (or animals) going feral of course. We’ve never seen an example of how detrimental that can be to our environment, so why worry? It’s Pest Resistant! It’s going to save the world from starvation! There absolutely cannot be any downsides to that!

jayskette said :

ahem. We ALL eat genetically modified foods. It is called FARMING, FISHING and DOMESTICATING animals. We have been doing so ever since we started clearing some trees and stopped hunting and gathering.

As someone else already mentioned in one of these threads (it’s confusing to have 3 going at the same time!), genetic selection is not the same as genetic modification. GM is things like introducing pig genes into spinach. I don’t think the early farmers were able to cross pigs with spinach, though I would’ve liked to see them try.

Kalfour said :

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Well there wasn’t much of a chance, I’m looking at how they “destroyed” the crop. There would have been debris, seed and everything flying everywhere.

What I want to know is there any immediate concerns if those seeds get released into the natural environment, if there is what problems would that cause?

ahem. We ALL eat genetically modified foods. It is called FARMING, FISHING and DOMESTICATING animals. We have been doing so ever since we started clearing some trees and stopped hunting and gathering.

Kalfour said :

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Going feral……….? Are we talking ‘Day of the Trifids’ feral or “there’s a weed in the pot plant, honey” feral………..????

Martlark said :

There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world…

Actually there have. Nobody has had any serious health issues from GM (that I know of), but there have been plenty of cases of crops being bred to be pesticide/herbicide resistant and then going feral. If they’re too hardy, they become weeds.

That being said, I don’t believe that Greenpeace acted sensibly, or in their best interests in this particular case. It does sound as though these crops were being well regulated, and the chance of them going feral was pretty minimal.

Clown Killer7:12 pm 15 Jul 11

It’s the jacked-up sense of moral entitlement of these retards that’s most annoying. This sort of rubbish is the inevitable consequence of a couple of decades of public education dogma that fallaciously promotes the nonsense that everyone’s views are valid and equal – people like the jerk-offs in Greenpeace and their apologists genuinely believe that their uninformed concerns are real and that their views somehow matter or even worse are legitimate.

housebound said :

Dark days indeed. They should have waited until the sun rose.

I’ve been good friends for nearly 20 years with several senior CSIRO and ex-CSIRO scientists who are involved with this work. We’ve discussed the ethics and implications of GM modification of plants regularly over that time, and despite my own initial misgivings about the GM business, I trust their thoughts on this matter. Their opinion, which I share, is that these people are luddite idiots.

And I concur with Gerry-Built about the public perception of this foolishness. Vandalism and destruction of other peoples property and livelihood, even if done with a multitude of good intentions, is never going to fly in the Australian community. Reasoned argument and protest through legitimate means are far more likely to sway peoples opinions than this ridiculous action.

Dark days indeed. They should have waited until the sun rose.

madamcholet said :

I don’t condone what GP have done at all – not a good look and smacks of having no argument. However it does frustrate me that large organisations such as the international chemical companies can use their power and resources to suggest that their information is the only correct information and that by virtue of that, orgs like GP must be wrong. “Industry bodies” can sometimes be guns for hire and will say what their members want them to. I’m not sure that we do know all that we need to about GM produce, but the fact is, the organically grown produce that the greenies want to see will not feed the world.

Flick over and google a group called the ‘Bilderburg Group’. Interesting.

I don’t condone what GP have done at all – not a good look and smacks of having no argument. However it does frustrate me that large organisations such as the international chemical companies can use their power and resources to suggest that their information is the only correct information and that by virtue of that, orgs like GP must be wrong. “Industry bodies” can sometimes be guns for hire and will say what their members want them to. I’m not sure that we do know all that we need to about GM produce, but the fact is, the organically grown produce that the greenies want to see will not feed the world.

johnboy said :

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

All due respect JB, but that’s not what he said.

In what fantasy world is canberra the only part of australia where support for greenpeace can be found.

If you hate it so much here mate the highway beckons.

Stevian said :

54-11 said :

Good on GP. Australia does not need bullying US multi-nationals taking over our agri-businesses. Companies like News Corp are paragons of ethical virtue compared with Monsanto et al.

+100

Well said. “Monsanto is the Devil” may sound silly, but, unfortunately it’s true

Canberra is probably the only place in Australia where you would get hard core Leftists (or anybody else) supporting this disgusting action by Greenpeace. It is pathetic and embarrassing to see these people trying to defend the indefensible.

Well Done Mr Cossey! Greenpeace are more interested in populist stunts than actually working on things that assist the environment. There as never being one rigorously established incident of harm from consuming or producing GM crops any where in the world, even with billions of meals containing it eaten every year.

zippyzippy said :

Ah, ok i see you changed it to say “crop life’ now instead of csiro. Crop life appear to be the body representing the agriculture/biotech industry in aust.

CSIRO are in it up to their necks, however.

Yes it s the same Matthew Cossey who worked at the Labor Party and at Raytheon, the weapons manufacturer.

Greenpeace are their own worst enemy. This sort of activism will win them no friends from the general public, (many) who would otherwise support the anti-GM stance… Well, except for additional extremists… Vandals. Criminals… They should be treated as such…

54-11 said :

Good on GP. Australia does not need bullying US multi-nationals taking over our agri-businesses. Companies like News Corp are paragons of ethical virtue compared with Monsanto et al.

+100

Well said. “Monsanto is the Devil” may sound silly, but, unfortunately it’s true

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Is that the same Matthew Cossey that used to be the secretary of the ACT Labor party???

Yes – the same.

well spoken. i just hope those hippies get a nice healthy fine, and hopefully some public ridicule.

and yeah, petrol whipper snippers. 2 stroke probably. good for the environment. if these hippies were serious they’d have done it with hand tools, you know, the kind society used back in the dark ages, the ages these people want us to return to.

“It is hypocritical of Greenpeace to demand that governments act on the science of climate change and at the same time demand that government completely ignore and act against the science of biotechnology”.

Zing!!

colourful sydney racing identity3:06 pm 14 Jul 11

Is that the same Matthew Cossey that used to be the secretary of the ACT Labor party???

Good on GP. Australia does not need bullying US multi-nationals taking over our agri-businesses. Companies like News Corp are paragons of ethical virtue compared with Monsanto et al.

Ah, ok i see you changed it to say “crop life’ now instead of csiro. Crop life appear to be the body representing the agriculture/biotech industry in aust.

zippyzippy said :

That’s not the csiro.

clarified, thanks.

That’s not the csiro.

Peewee Slasher2:25 pm 14 Jul 11

What was powering those whipper snippers?
I expected push mowers.

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