By Madeleine Love by-line.

Siloing

Siloing; sounds like liloing.

Last thing I wrote was about a GM virus with wires… since then so much has happened… here’s one thing…

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research was developing a new strategy for ‘Enabling Technologies’, being biotechnology and nanotechnology.  Gene Ethics was informed about stakeholder consultations for the strategy, and submissions were invited.

MADGE found out about it through Gene Ethics.   MADGE was ‘Mothers against genetic engineering’ and then MADGE became ‘Mothers are Demystifying Genetic Engineering’.  We’ve just finished demystifying and we’re about to re-morph.

The deadline for consultation and submission was so close that it was instantly assumed to be a bogus consultation.  Many public stakeholder organisations, such as the Public Health Association of Australia knew nothing of it.

MADGE asked for three seats at the consultation in Melbourne and got two.  We learnt there were two Melbourne meetings.  At this consultation there was MADGE, Gene Ethics, Friends of the Earth, the Victorian Trades Hall Council, Safe Work Australia, Nanosafe Australia, and someone from Monash regulatory studies who had reviewed all the regulatory bodies that might have to do something with nanotechnology (about 17 of them).

First question… Who is at the other consultation and why are we at this one?  Because it was quite clear that the people who were at this meeting were those who would prefer a precautionary approach.  They wouldn’t say who was at the other meeting, but we knew that it would be industry.

We asked that the minutes from this meeting be written and published on the web.  Everyone at the meeting agreed to this.   We asked that the minutes of the industry meeting be placed on the web, and the Department of Innovation said they would ask the attendees at the other meeting.  We asked for the Department of Innovation to recommend that the minutes of the other meeting be placed on the web.  The Department of Innovation would not answer this request (literally – head down writing and refusing to meet eye contact).

This is called ‘siloing’ – they silo interest groups and prevent them from exchanging information and coming to sensible decisions together.  There were to be two meetings in Sydney, and one in Bris, Can, Ade and Perth.  After the Sydney meeting we learnt that they had been silo’d.  Silo’d to the extent that the Department of Innovation organized for Greenpeace in Perth to attend the Sydney consultation by teleconference, rather than attend the Perth meeting.

So will the groups at the Industry meeting be similarly frustrated for not meeting the groups who may oppose their magnificent products?  Were they offered more than tea, coffee, biscuits and GM lollies?