The Government's about-face on food safety is a victory for Labour and for common-sense, Labour health spokesperson Annette King said.

"The Government initially rejected the idea of a stand-alone agency and put forward legislation to set up a new Food Assurance Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture.

"But the Government Administration Select Committee discovered the Government had insufficient information and its decision-making process was badly flawed.

"Labour members of the committee, supported by the Alliance and New Zealand First, supported a separate agency. We had serious concerns about a new food agency being located within MAF, which has a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for industry. Food safety on the other hand, is concerned with protecting the health of consumers.

"The select committee rejected the bill, and the Government has now seen sense.

"Industry and consumers need certainty about what is going to happen with the administration of food regulations. The Government's about-turn provides that certainty. National has joined Labour in being committed to a stand-alone agency.

"It also provides certainty to staff at the Ministries of Agriculture and Health who had been left in limbo wondering what the Government was going to do.

"Food safety is crucial to the health and well-being of New Zealanders. The Mad Cow crisis in Britain in a stark example of how wrong things can go if food administration is not addressed effectively. It is now up to the next Government to get it right," Annette King said.

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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>>