Hobbs loses plot blaming Greenpeace for GE enzyme incident

Auckland: Greenpeace spokesperson Steve Abel said today that the Environment Minister’s attempt to blame Greenpeace for the latest Japanese GE incident was “totally bizarre.”

On the Stuff news website today, Marion Hobbs was reported as implying that Greenpeace was somehow responsible for setting up the incident “to cause a stir”.

“The Minister’s assertion that we cooked this up is delusional and insulting to all concerned. It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic,” said Abel.

The implication that the timing is suspect is also strange. “This is something that happened in Japan for goodness sake and as soon as we found out about it, late on Saturday, we engaged in the story. This is a standard response and what the public of New Zealand would expect from Greenpeace.”

“Does the minister honestly expect people to be informed as and when it suits her? We all would have liked a break over Labour weekend but GE mess-ups aren’t going to happen at the minister’s convenience and she must finally realise this.”

Marion Hobbs should offer Greenpeace an apology for this ludicrous accusation.

“The minister’s desperate attempt to blame anyone but herself is indicative of how the Government is likely to respond to GE stuff-ups in the future. They want to avoid responsibility for their GE decision at all costs. As an example, ERMA have clearly been set up as the post-moratorium fall guy,” said Abel.

New Zealanders won’t be fooled by this. Hobbs and the Clark government must take responsibility for this issue before it’s too late. The GE moratorium should be kept in place for the good of New Zealand’s environment, economy, international reputation and also in response to public demand.

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