3. NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Does New Zealand support an international ban on the use of seed sterility technology, such as terminator; if not, why not?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Minister of Foreign Affairs) Link to this
No. There is no international ban on seed sterility technology.
Is the Minister aware that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not regard genetically engineered terminator technology as either good or bad, even though it is specifically designed to make plants sterile so that farmers cannot replant their seeds; and hence will jeopardise food security for millions of people?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
I am aware of what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s policy is. I am also very much aware that when such conventions or other agreements and treaties apply, and in fact exist—unlike the question’s imputation—then those matters will be decided by domestic policy, at which point I say that the Minister for the Environment and Minister of Agriculture should have been asked the question in the first place.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The Minister has implied that the primary question was factually inaccurate. As you, Madam Speaker, and all members know, we have to verify any question put down, so I find it extraordinary that the Minister has made that claim.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
The member does not have to verify the question; he just has to authenticate it. That may merely be a newspaper clipping, which one would not necessarily regard as a statement of unquestionable fact.
Madam SPEAKERWhy did New Zealand support the position that GE terminator technology should be able to be used, in opposition to the vast majority of signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Spain this January?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
Perhaps the member could best answer that question himself. He knows full well the domestic background to the origin of policy in respect of this matter from when the Greens were in a support arrangement with the Labour Government. He is best able to describe why he supported that; my job is to describe why we are doing what we are doing now.
Rodney HideI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. That cannot possibly be an answer to a question in this House—a situation where a Minister has got up and said that maybe the member asking the question is in the best place to answer that question. Nandor Tanczos is not a Minister; Winston Peters is the Minister, and the question was addressed to him. A question cannot be turned back—
I understand the point of order. The Minister did address the question. It may not have been to the satisfaction of members, but he referred back to the answer he had given before.
Will the Minister take into account when agreeing on the position New Zealand will take in Brazil this month the effects of genetically engineered terminator technology on the more than 1.4 billion people around the world who directly rely on seed saving for their own food security, especially in light of our commitment to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development around the world?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
As I sought to point out to the questioner, there is no such international convention or treaty. The second answer is that these sorts of policies on the international stage are determined not off the top of one’s head or on the hoof but rather by domestic policy agreed upon at home. That remains the position of this country, and that is why, if the member was seeking those answers, he should have asked the Minister for the Environment or the Minister of Agriculture.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The Minister’s answer was a total nonsense. In that question I made no reference to any international ban, which the Minister refutes. I asked quite clearly whether when agreeing on New Zealand’s position in Brazil this month he will take into account the effects I outlined. Is the Minister saying that he has no responsibility for the position New Zealand will take in Brazil this month?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
I am trying to point out to the member, who has been around long enough to know, that if one wants an answer to a certain question relating to a specific portfolio then one should direct it to the right Minister. I was at pains to point out to him that although we might authorise, as a part of foreign policy, the people who are to appear in Brazil this month, nevertheless they are drawn from ministries that are directly concerned with this issue. That is the point he should know.
The Minister clearly is not in control of his own portfolio. I am asking the Minister whether he will take into account certain information when deciding New Zealand’s position at an international conference. I find it extraordinary that he says that I should ask the Minister for the Environment a question on that matter.