Gordon Campbell on the wage hike for MPs (and Paul Robeson)
Hard to tell what is more infuriating. Is it the 5.3% increase on the already bloated salaries of MPs, or their pantomime of outrage at […]
February 2015
Gordon Campbell on whether NZ troops are the least of Islamic State’s problems
Given that it has been politically packaged and sold as a training mission, the Iraq deployment announced yesterday by Prime Minister John Key seemed to […]
Gordon Campbell on the drip-feeding of information about the Iraq deployment
There are two ways of framing the story of our troop deployment in Iraq. They go roughly like this: The Official Version : We are […]
Gordon Campbell on today’s announcement on sending our troops to Iraq
Click for big version. Later today, the Key government is expected to announce that New Zealand is planning to send about 100 troops on a […]
Gordon Campbell on the dangers posed by the upcoming security services review
Could the June review of New Zealand’s security and intelligence be about to bestow on our spy agencies the express right to break the laws […]
Gordon Campbell on the America’s Cup, and Lee Marvin
Like the Commonwealth Games, the America’s Cup is one of those large sporting events that is struggling to find anyone foolish enough to want to […]
Gordon Campbell on Andrew Little’s not-so-great week
No, it hasn’t been a terrific week so far for Andrew Little. The Labour leader’s decision to exclude the Greens from the (toothless?) committee that […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s latest stance on Iraq
On RNZ this morning, Labour leader Andrew Little expressed his support for air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State – and by doing so, he […]
Gordon Campbell on the SkyCity debacle
“What is this? A centre for ants? …I don’t wanna hear your excuses! The building has to be at least three times bigger than this!” […]
Gordon Campbell on the latest arm-wrestling bout over Greece’s austerity crisis, and Father John Misty
This morning’s meeting between Greece and Europe’s finance ministers seems to have broken up without any substantial agreements being reached, beyond a bit of bridging […]
Gordon Campbell on how Iraq’s visiting Foreign Minister embodies an Iraq that’s not worth fighting for
When Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari makes a whistle-stop visit to Auckland on Friday, he will be issuing a formal invitation for New Zealand to […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s reluctance to treat the enemies of Islamic State as its friends
While the government attacks the left’s alleged reluctance to respond militarily to Islamic State, it continues to be strangely timid about another aspect of its […]
Gordon Campbell on the Maori “separatism” bogey
Leadership requires the leader to set aside self-interest. It is a concept that sometimes seems quite alien to Prime Minister John Key – who has […]
Gordon Campbell on the reluctance to support the Kurds against Islamic State
The boundary line between our troops having (a) an ‘advise and assist’ role in Iraq and (b) an actual combat role – which Prime Minister […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s narrow conception of Waitangi Day
Come Waitangi Day each year, Treaty settlements have become a de facto scorecard for New Zealand’s progress in race relations. It is not a good […]
Gordon Campbell on a desperate health system merger of lab testing services
The economic version of the sound of one hand clapping is a “market” with only one provider – and that is exactly what the three […]
Gordon Campbell on the freeing of Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste
Well, so much for all that enthusiasm about free speech in France. A couple of weeks ago, a 16 year old student was taken into […]
Gordon Campbell on the Russel Norman resignation
While not the decisive factor, last year’s election result must have made it easier for Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman to finally call it a day. […]