WHEN the state government announced its intention to scrap the moratorium on the cultivation of genetically-modified food crops on mainland SA in August last year, it could never have imagined the headaches the process would create between then and now.
It first tried to scrap the ban by publishing regulations in the Government Gazette. This plan was thwarted by repeated disallowance motions, led by strong GM critic and Greens MLC Mark Parnell.
It then quickly moved to introduce legislation to Parliament, although this too was unsuccessful, falling at the last hurdle after failing to win sufficient crossbench support in the Legislative Council.
After back-and-forth negotiations, the government finally reached a deal with Labor. This is when the concept of giving councils the chance to apply to be a GM crop-free area came into play. What Premier Steven Marshall had once dismissed as a "stupid idea" was suddenly deemed an acceptable solution once it provided a pathway to get legislation through the Parliament.
Before the final verdict on council applications was released on Monday, the only certainty was that someone was always going to end up outraged by the decision, whichever way it fell.
The saying "there's no pleasing everyone" certainly applies in the GM debate.
The passion and determination from both sides to see their desired outcome has been plain for all to see on our pages for months now, with the topic dominating the letters to the editor section.
Anti-GM campaigners have predictably slammed David Basham for not approving any council applications, and while it's true he held the ultimate power, he was obliged by legislation to take recommendations from the GM Crop Advisory Committee into account. He was, shall we say, caught between a crop and a hard place.
Had he ignored the committee's findings that no councils provided "rigorous, evidence-based arguments", there would have been a huge uproar from cropping groups. He would have been forced to justify why he felt councils had met the criteria, but an independent panel of experts did not.
While the path to scrapping the GM moratorium turned into more of a roller coaster ride than most expected, the government is no doubt pleased to have finally arrived at its intended destination.
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