Bill English National Finance Spokesperson

Saturday 10 March 2001

Government must get on with GE

New Zealand can't afford to lose more time on the development of its unique biotechnology while the Government wrangles with the Greens over what the rules should be, National's Finance spokesperson Bill English said today.

"New Zealand has been losing skilled people and investment in biotechnology because the Government imposed a moratorium on genetic science while it considers the issues.

"New Zealand has a long record of technology leadership with some crops and ruminant animals. This existing expertise is the base of our future in biotechnology. But we are losing our comparative advantage to other countries, such as Australia, that are investing large amounts of money and recruiting the world's best brains while we are standing still.

"The Government is far too complacent about current high prices for meat and milk which will certainly drop in the future. That's why it's so important to get on with the job of developing our long term biotechnology capacity," Mr English said.

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