Hamilton was overseer of the company's partnership with Shanghai Maling, selling half the business to the Chinese outfit for $267 million. Chairman Rob Hewett described Hamilton as a "good bugger", although New Zealand First leader Winston Peters quite rightly pointed out "the meat workers made redundant under his watch will not think Mr Hamilton is much of a good bugger..."
At last the weekend was here but being a sports tragic it was disappointing not to be able to get into the Super Rugby semi-finals as much as I would have had my team not been knocked out the previous week.
The Crusaders beat the Chiefs which was annoying and the Hurricanes lost to the Lions which was also very annoying! Almost immediately after the final whistle was blown in Johannesburg in the early hours of Sunday morning, the question was being asked of New Zealand rugby fans outside Crusader country whether they would be supporting the Red and Blacks against the Lions in this weekend's final?
Some are happy to, some will do so begrudgingly lest they be labelled 'unpatriotic' and some, like me, will simply be hoping for a good game - and that the Crusaders lose! I've never liked Canterbury rugby in any form and I'm not about to start now.
So then it was back to work on Monday only to find a second South Canterbury dairy farm belonging to the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group had tested positive for Mycoplasma bovis.
While the bacterial disease doesn't infect humans and presents no food safety risk, it does have a serious effect on cattle and dozens have had to be put down as a result.
While it's not as treacherous as something like foot and mouth disease, it is yet another example of our borders being breached by some or other threat to our agriculture; remember velvet leaf, pea weevil and myrtle rust? These recent examples may sound like the members of a spinster's knitting circle, but the Ministry for Primary Industries is certainly having a lot of questions asked of it at the moment.
And then it was Tuesday and Andrew Little decided it was time to usher in the inevitable and hand over the reins of the hapless Labour Party to someone else.
As political commentator Bryce Edwards explained to listeners, it's a desperate move so close to an election but it could also be a real game changer and what was shaping up to be one of the more dull elections in recent times may have just had some life breathed into it.
On a personal note I feel a little sorry for Andrew Little; he didn't do anything particularly wrong, he just couldn't get any traction with the electorate.
I've enjoyed the chances I've had to interview him - he's been affable and available and I can genuinely say he's a "good bugger".
