TALKING TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

WELLINGTON

We live in an age of rapid advances in science and technology - an age in which risks and benefits associated with these advances are often poorly understood and hotly debated. Each week we seem to face a new issue where the public has to consider a complex technical issue and make judgements. Amongst the current issues are mad cow disease, the use of growth hormones in cattle, the possible introduction of rabbit calicivirus disease to control rabbits and measures to control the white-spotted tussock moth.

The latest of these issues we are grappling with at the moment is the planned eradication of the white-spotted tussock moth. This takes New Zealand into new territory. For the first time we are faced with the prospect of crop spraying aircraft flying at 50 metres over a suburban area applying chemicals to kill an insect that shouldn't be here. The Minister of Forestry has been up in the supermarkets of Auckland, along with scientists, talking to the public about why we have to spray. Fortunately, there seems to general acceptance of the need for the spraying.

Generally, increased understanding of an issue decreases the anxiety. But this is not always the case; new and legitimate fears may emerge.

What I think we all agree on, though, is that judgements should be based on a sound understanding of the issues. An informed judgement is better than one based on ignorance and any efforts made to increase the public understanding of technical issues deserve support. Keeping abreast of the issues is a challenge for us all.

This conference has been organised by the Talking Technology Working Group which has been working on this project for about 18 months. The Group is independent of Government but does have Government support. The Working Group and supporting organisations are all listed on the programme and I wish to thank them for their efforts and financial support. In particular, I wish to acknowledge AGMARDT (the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust) whose support provided the initial impetus and made the conference possible.

Over the next three days the panel of 16 volunteers is facing a daunting task. This is their conference. We should all acknowledge their efforts and thank them for their contributions. They have assembled from all corners of New Zealand for the third time and now are approaching the climax of their project. In preparation they have had two weekend-long retreats in Wellington and learnt a great deal about plant biotechnology and the issues surrounding it.

I am very impressed with the questions they have formulated in order to get to grips with plant biotechnology. This is a technology that appears to have enormous potential in New Zealand and I am sorry that I am unable to stay and hear the various answers. However, I will read the report with interest and will ensure that my colleagues see it also.

This conference is the forerunner of many conferences to come. It is a process that will be able to be used to help us all understand technical issues, and diverse points of view on the issues. It may even become as much a part of our lives as elections!

It gives me great pleasure now to formally open the conference and wish all participants, particularly the panellists, well.

Media contact:
Iain Maclean
Ph (04) 471-9131 (wk) / (04) 239-9237 (hm)
Fax (04) 473-3446
e-mail: iain.maclean@mx.parliament.govt.nz

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