The Labor Party again proved itself dishonest or incompetent in its latest commentary on GM crops, Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman said.
In a media statement released yesterday, Opposition spokesperson for Agriculture Mick Murray claimed the shires of Manjimup, Plantagenet, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown-Greenbushes and Denmark had all made formal declarations against the growing of GM crops.
"This statement is blatantly untrue," Mr Redman said.
"Either Mr Murray has failed to do his research or he is happy to deliberately mislead the Western Australian public.
"The truth is that last week the Shire of Plantagenet supported a motion declaring its concerns about GM canola trials had been satisfactorily addressed.
"The Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes has not made any declaration about GM crops.
"The Shire of Boyup-Brook did support a GM-free declaration back in 2000, almost a decade before the announcement for the current trials.
"The Shire of Manjimup expressed some concern in a motion in February 2008, but has not considered the issue since the trials were announced."
Mr Redman said the Greens were also happy to publish wrong information.
"Greens MLC Paul Llewellyn incorrectly states on his website the Manjimup motion was carried in February 2009," the Minister said.
Mr Murray must be getting his information from this source because he's too lazy to do his own research."
Mr Murray also mentioned the Shire of Nannup had deferred a vote on the GM issue.
"The Shire of Nannup is acting in a responsible and considered manner," Mr Redman said.
"Instead of making a decision based on the misinformation being peddled by Mr Murray, the Nannup Shire has sought more information.
"The Shire of Plantagenet did the same thing and, after a briefing from a senior Agriculture Department officer, its concerns about the trials were put to rest."
Mr Redman said it was total nonsense for Mr Murray to suggest the Minister was ignoring his own electorate.
"The only shire in my electorate that has declared itself GM-free since the trials were announced is Denmark - and there are no trials in Denmark," he said.
"I urge the Labor Party to stick to the facts on GM and resist the urge to resort to deceit and exaggeration to support their arguments."
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