Labour has accused Food and Fibre Minister John Luxton of having "a shameless cheek" in promoting New Zealand as "animal welfare friendly", given that his Government failed for most of a decade to act on new animal welfare legislation.

"The blunt truth is that it was a Labour initiative, alone, which forced the Government's hand. Not until Labour introduced a private member's bill, replicating Government decisions taken five years earlier, did the Government finally decide to budge.

"Until then the litany of fob-offs, delays and obfuscations had become a source of embarrassment and frustration for animal welfare societies and the primary production industries alike. It was Labour that shifted this log jam and it is a little irritating to see the Government now take the credit for a legislative initiative it dithered over for years.

"Even now all Mr Luxton can see is the dollar signs in his eyes. Whilst the trade aspect of animal welfare is critically important Mr Luxton has managed to overlook entirely the fact that animal welfare legislation has another function, namely to promote animal welfare for its own sake."

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>