5 June 2002
Donald invites King to lunch
Green co-leader Rod Donald will invite Health Minister Annette King to a hemp pasta and salad lunch in parliament next
week to discuss the stupidity of an Australia New Zealand Food Authority decision banning the use of hemp based food
products.
"I would like Mrs King to discuss this decision with me over a bowl of hemp pasta and salad drizzled with hemp oil. If
the Minister ends up dancing on the table and asking for seconds and thirds I will concede she is right. If not, I want
her to tell her ANZFA counterparts that New Zealand will not abide by this decision."
Hemp seed oil is widely used around the world as a health food. It is an excellent source of unsaturated fats, is rich
in omega three, six and nine and contains no psychoactive chemicals.
"It is intensely frustrating for the Greens that the Government has voted against approving hemp products as a novel
food because there is no standard regulating the levels of THC that a product can contain when the Government has
stalled Nandor's members bill for 12 months which tries to set those standards.
"There is Green legislation in parliament right now which maps the way forward for the Government on this issue, if only
they would progress it," said Mr Donald.
"This decision is just crazy given that the Government has recently approved trials of hemp in New Zealand. On one hand
Government has encouraged people to invest time and money setting up a hemp industry in New Zealand and on the other
they appear to be killing off any hope of getting it off the ground.
"This decision puts New Zealand at odds with the rest of the world, particularly Europe and North America, where hemp
seed products are common and widely used.
"New Zealand should not have to play by Aussie rules, especially when the decisions are based on such poor information
and twisted logic," he said.
Mr Donald recently returned from Canada where he bought a range of hemp products including pasta, oil, food bars and
roast seeds.
"Is somebody going to confiscate these when the new rules take effect on December 20?" he asked.
ENDS