iSAYSO
This request seeks information relating to gene technology policy, approvals, promotion, and funding, including how “safety” is defined,
This was a OIA that kicked off us asking definitions of words used by the legal system , words that are not mentioned in the Acts interpretation section.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST
Gene Technology – Safety Definition, Liability, Insurance, and Fiscal Risk
To:
Official Information Act Requests
The Treasury
[email protected]
And:
Office of the Prime Minister
[email protected]
Dated today
Request under the Official Information Act 1982
This request is made under the Official Information Act 1982.
This request seeks information relating to gene technology policy, approvals, promotion, and funding, including how “safety” is defined, how risk is allocated, and where liability and fiscal responsibility sit when decisions affect food systems, landholders, businesses, and quality of life.
1. Definition of “Safety”
1. All documents defining or describing what is meant by “safe” or “safety” in relation to gene technology affecting food, land use, agriculture, or human wellbeing.
2. Whether safety is assessed as absence of harm, acceptable risk, or risk outweighed by benefit.
3. The time horizon used in safety assessments (short-term, long-term, intergenerational).
4. Whether safety includes food integrity, contamination risk, export market acceptance, environmental stability, and economic exposure of farmers or landholders.
5. Whether reversibility of harm is considered when determining safety.
2. Liability, Insurance, and Risk Allocation
6. Documents identifying who bears liability if gene technology causes contamination, loss, restriction, or market rejection.
7. Any insurance policies, indemnities, guarantees, or compensation mechanisms held or contemplated by the Crown.
8. Any assessment that farmers, landholders, or private trusts are expected to absorb losses arising from gene technology decisions.
9. Any advice acknowledging risk transfer from government or industry to landholders.
3. Fiscal Risk and Treasury Involvement
10. Identification of contingent liabilities associated with gene technology policy.
11. Treasury advice to Ministers on unfunded or long-term fiscal risks arising from gene technology decisions.
12. Budget papers or Cabinet briefings relating to funding for remediation, compensation, or market loss.
4. Decision-Making and Accountability
13. Ministerial briefings, Cabinet papers, or correspondence relating to the promotion or expansion of gene technology.
14. Documents acknowledging concerns about procedural integrity, evidence testing, or accountability.
15. Advice relating to legal exposure of the Crown arising from gene technology decisions.
5. Absence of Information
If any of the information requested above does not exist, please confirm that explicitly.
Preferred Format
Electronic copies (PDF) are preferred. If information is withheld, please specify the exact statutory grounds relied upon.
Purpose
The purpose of this request is to understand how decisions described as “safe” are defined, funded, insured, and accounted for, where those decisions may interfere with life, food systems, livelihoods, and lands, land.
By:Tracy