Summarised by Centrist
Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows, in Christchurch, who claimed in multiple interviews that David Seymour’s cheaper school lunches were unsafe, has seen her story fall apart.
Dramatic reports of “rancid” and “contaminated” meals supplied by the government quickly backfired after delivery logs, provider records, and Food Safety New Zealand contradicted Burrows’ claims.
Burrows told multiple media outlets the offending lunches were delivered that day, but the investigation found the mouldy trays were week-old meals left unrefrigerated at the school.
NZ Food Safety investigators, who visited the site and reviewed evidence, said it was “more than likely that the issue arose from human error at the school.” They also noted that 15 other schools received meals from the same distribution centre that day without a single complaint.
David Seymour told Chris Lynch that the response should have been calm and focused on student welfare. Instead, “we’ve had a full-on media campaign with a principal who has put the message out and made all sorts of statements before food safety had actually investigated the situation.”
In an interview with Sean Plunket, Burrows struggled to explain contradictions in her statements. She also suggested investigators had a “politically expedient” motive, a claim that prompted further questions about her approach.
Haeata has now dismissed the Food Safety findings and begun its own inquiry, while Christchurch East MP Reuben Davidson defended the principal and accused Seymour of “bullying” her over the saga.
Duncan Garner put it bluntly: “They thought they had a gotcha moment on Seymour, the man some educators love to hate. Except their story didn’t stack up.”
