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Supporters on both sides of the legal battle between Western Australian farmers Steve Marsh and Michael Baxter say the fight over genetically modified (GM) crops won’t end in the High Court.
The two Kojonup farmers have been in a legal stoush since 2010 when Mr Marsh lost part of his organic certification due to GM seeds blowing onto his property. Last month the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Mr Baxter and upheld the Supreme Court’s decision that Mr Baxter did not act in a way that constituted wrongful interference. Mr Marsh is now seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court, a process which could take up to six months.
Despite the High Court being the last legal avenue for appeal, Scott Kinnear from the Safe Food Foundation, which has been financially supporting Mr Marsh’s court case, said the battle would continue well beyond the court room.
“If the High Court was to uphold Michael Baxter’s position then we would be certainly going to politicians asking for legislation to protect non-GM and organic farmers,” he said.
John Snooke from the Pastoralists and Graziers Association said after the court case it would also continue to pressure government on GM issues.
“Co-existence works perfectly well in Australia and globally with GM crops, non-GM crops and organic crops,” Mr Snooke said.
“We think regulation should go the other way and it’s time now that the State Government repealed the GM Crops Free Area Act.
“We don’t want government making decisions, marketing-based decisions, for farmers.”
Read full, original post: GM crop battle: Supporters on both sides predict the fight won’t end in High Court
