Take action - wake up or become human clones New Zealand...

Take action - wake up or become human clones New Zealand!



Okay, perhaps the headline is a tad sensationalist but after yesterday’s announcement that the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has approved genetically modified goats, sheep and cows at AgResearch’s Ruakura research facility I wouldn’t be surprised if human cloning was on the cards soon.



I’m also not surprised that this consent was given considering ERMA’s rubber stamp approval of past applications. In the nearly 15 years since ERMA was formed it has yet to decline a single GE application. Talk about a lap dog for GE interests.



And yes, I can hear people say ‘but this application is different’ and ‘it will save people’s lives’. But human cloning is different, I guess.



I say ‘bollocks’. Yes, I know they say these GE applications will not be used for commercial interests in terms of developing milk. But, my sense is, that is exactly where this will lead. Along with the recent pro-GE grass articles these applications are for the commercial interests of big agri-business.



You may think, how cynical, but this is a subject close to my heart. Two of my siblings have muscular dystrophy. Several years ago there was a proposal to genetically engineer sheep to increase muscle mass up to four times. It was argued this process could be used to help people with muscular dystrophy. My siblings and I talked about this and we agreed that it seemed to be more about dollars in terms of ‘more muscle on sheep more dollars made in selling the meat’ than a genuine proposal to end muscular dystrophy. And where did that experiment end up? Nowhere and no cure in sight.



Greenpeace is not against GE for medical reasons. We believe that it should be kept in the lab and not out in our paddocks.



Plus, the Royal Commission (held in 2001 to determine whether GE should be allowed in NZ) recommended to use synthetic rather than human genes, and not use animals that could find their way into the food chain. Due to this and many other environmental and economic reasons this application should have been declined.



This government would support it friends in big business making money from cloning; even human cloning?

Greenpeace New Zealand

The New Zealand Kiwi - an icon of national identity...

The New Zealand Kiwi.


A Great Spotted kiwi:

The kiwi is the smallest living member of the ratite family (Apterygidae), a group of flightless birds which includes the rheas of South America, the ostriches of Africa, the emu of Australia and the extinct moa of New Zealand. There are six different species of kiwi, The Little Spotted Kiwi, Great Spotted Kiwi, Brown Kiwi, Okarito, Haast Tokoeka and the Southern Tokoeka.

This country’s ancient isolation and lack of mammals allowed the kiwi to occupy a habitat and lifestyle that elsewhere would be occupied by mammals. The kiwi is a unique bird and has become an icon for the New Zealand ’spirit’ and an emblem of national identity - human,sport and the fruit.