KEY POINTS:
On his way into the Labour caucus this morning, Michael Cullen let rip over National's position on the transtasman regulatory agency for therapeutic products and medicines.
He got pretty personal, as is his want, about Tony Ryall, who he said had sabotaged the deal despite an apparent preparedness by leader John Key in the early stages to find a compromise.
This whole thing has been a sorry saga and virtually no one is without some blame.
But National has a lot to answer for. A compromise was found. It was tailor-made (by New Zealand First) to meet National's position.
It meant those businesses that wanted to export their goods to Australia would have come under joint regulation. Those that wanted to sell domestically would have come under New Zealand regulation. It was choice for businesses and protection for consumers. It couldn't have been simpler or more sensible.
No one expected the Greens to sign up - though how you can be so rabidly concerned about the safety of "food" that is ingested by people but not for supposed "health products" that are ingested is a mystery.
But there was nothing in the compromise that National could have seriously objected to. There appears to be only one reason why National could not have supported the compromise and that was to stop a major bill so it could claim the Government is a lame-duck Government.
The upshot could well be greater delay in getting medicines approved in New Zealand and more expense for New Zealand producers trying to get their goods into Australia.
What next? Will National find a way to block a free trade deal with China to make a political point?
