''Seeds of Distrust: The Story of a GE Cover-up'' was a study of government processes and decision making under New Zealand's Labour-led government written by

Nicky Hager Nicky Hager (born 1958) is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the Internationa ...

. The setting was an incident in November 2000, during the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, when government officials were alerted to evidence of an accidental release of genetically modified corn plants, which was illegal under New Zealand law. The book traces the stages of industry lobbying and government decision making leading up to a decision to regard the incident as insignificant and keep it secret from the public. The book was released in July 2002, ahead of the general election, and helped make genetically modified organisms a major election issue. In denying Hager's claims, the Minister for the Environment,

Marian Hobbs Marian Leslie Hobbs (born 18 December 1947) is a New Zealand politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2008. She was initially a list MP and then (from 1999) represented the electorate. She served as Minister for the Envir ...

, accused him of writing "conspiracy theories". At a media conference of government officials convened immediately after the book's release, the Chief Executive of the Ministry for the Environment, Barry Carbon, conceded that the book was largely accurate but disputed the interpretation of the material. The Christchurch newspaper ''The Press'' studied the official documents and concluded: "So who's telling the truth, Hager or the Government? Officials at a special briefing for journalists last week memorably commented that they did not disagree with most of Hager's facts, just his conclusions. That is unsurprising, given that the conclusions that can be drawn are not palatable ones. The documents raise some serious questions about the level of open government New Zealand really has and the strength of our much-vaunted biosecurity regime." There was further intensity when news anchor John Campbell interviewed Prime Minister

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

about the issue.Campbell Live video interview with Prime Minister Helen Clark on GE
/ref> It ended with Clark labelling Campbell a "sanctimonious little creep" due to what she considered the ambush style of the interview. The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) later ruled that the infamous "Corngate" interview was unbalanced, unfair and lacked impartiality and objectivity.

References

{{Reflist 2002 non-fiction books New Zealand books Books about New Zealand Books about politics of New Zealand Environment of New Zealand Genetic engineering in New Zealand Potton & Burton books

See also

References