Gordon Campbell on National’s crackdown on shoplifters
Politicians do like being tough on crime. Flexing law and order muscle is a feature of the patriarchal Daddy State, and is beloved by the […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on what our Labour Party could learn from Zohran Mamdani
Heaven forbid that an abrasive punk duo that calls itself Bob Vylan should lead a hostile chant at the Glastonbury music festival against a military […]
Gordon Campbell On Exonerating Israel, And Demonising Iran
Now that the US and Israel have stopped bombing Iran, Israel can re-focus on its core business of starving children in Gaza, and killing their […]
Gordon Campbell On Trump’s Anti-Bomb Bombing Campaign
If the US really wanted to stop nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East, it would have long ago supported the moves to declare the […]
Gordon Campbell On Sacrificing Worker Rights On The Altar Of Commerce
In the interests of efficiency, maybe Brooke van Velden should just outsource her Workplace Relations and Safety Ministry to Business NZ and be done with […]
Gordon Campbell On The West’s War Against Iran
Clearly, the world needs to stop talking about Israel’s right to defend itself, and start talking about the world’s need to defend itself against Israel. […]
Gordon Campbell On The Making Of King Donald
After decades of watching the US prop up dictatorships in Central America, South America and the Middle East, there’s a certain irony in seeing authoritarian […]
Gordon Campbell on free speech and anti-Semitism
According to Workplace Health and Safety Minister Brooke Van Velden, employers are having to endure a “culture of fear” created by Worksafe, which has the […]
Gordon Campbell On Why The Regulatory Standards Bill Should Be Dumped
If you blinked on a recent Friday afternoon, you might have missed the passing under urgency of the first reading of the Regulatory Standards Bill. […]
Gordon Campbell On Why Leakers Are Essential To The Public Good
For obvious reasons, people in positions of power tend to treat the leaking of unauthorised information as a very, very bad thing, and – to […]
Gordon Campbell On Wealth Taxes And Capital Flight
In the wake of the Greens’ alternative Budget – and the criticism levelled at it – it seems pretty obvious that when it comes to […]
Gordon Campbell On Budget 2025
Underwhelming, as promised. All week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis had actively reduced public expectations by saying that her second Budget would not be filled “with […]
Gordon Campbell On NZ’s Silence Over Gaza, And Creeping Health Privatisation
Since last Thursday, intensified Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed over 500 Palestinians, and a prolonged Israeli aid blockade has led to widespread starvation […]
Gordon Campbell On The Mock Horror Over Political Profanity
Heavens to Betsy. Let me get this right. In her own opinion column, a female journalist (the fearsome Andrea Vance) used a bad word to […]
Gordon Campbell On The Parental Panic Over Young Kids Online
Creating a policy group to investigate a R16 ban on social media provides the government with a perfectly designed soapbox. The findings don’t have to […]
On The New Pope, And The Israeli Attack On Peter Davis
The election of any Pope tends to be retro-fitted in ways that make the choice seem inevitable. God’s will, no less. If the new Pope […]
Gordon Campbell On Surviving Trump’s Trip To La La Land
The film industry was probably naive to think it would be spared from Donald Trump’s war on globalisation. If you believe Trump, every dollar being […]
Gordon Campbell On Aussie Election Aftershocks And Life Lessons
While Donald Trump is being widely cited as a reason/explanation for Anthony Albanese’s landslide victory on the weekend, that’s like blaming the icing for the […]
Gordon Campbell On The Aussie Election Finale
The only spectre haunting Anthony Albanese’s government going into Election Day tomorrow will be the way the polls got wrong the likely 2019 election outcome. […]
Gordon Campbell On Our Austerity Fixation And Canada Staying Centre-left
Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been […]
Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over, the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest. Framing the choice […]
Gordon Campbell On The Trump Upside, And Peters Persecution Of Trans People
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has […]
Gordon Campbell On Papal Picks, And India As A Defence Ally
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some […]
Gordon Campbell On The Left’s Electability Crisis, And The Abundance Ecotopia
There are any number of reasons why anyone thinking of heading to the United States for a holiday should think twice. They would be giving […]
Gordon Campbell On Why The US Stands To Lose The Tariff Wars
Deputy PM Winston Peters likes nothing more than to portray himself as the only wise old head while everyone else is losing theirs. Yet this […]
Gordon Campbell On Marketing The Military Threat Posed By China
As Donald Trump zigs and zags on tariffs and trashes America’s reputation as a safe and stable place to invest, China has a big gun […]
Gordon Campbell On Peter Dutton’s Fading Election Prospects.
So New Zealand is about to spend $12 billion on our defence forces over the next four years – with $9 million of it being […]
Gordon Campbell On The Clash Between Auckland Airport And Air New Zealand
Plainly, the claims being tossed around in the media last year that the new terminal envisaged by Auckland International Airport was a gold-plated “Taj Mahal” […]
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Latest Ferries Scam
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 […]
Gordon Campbell On The Americanising Of NZ’s Public Health System
One of the odd aspects of the government’s plan to Americanise the public health system – i.e by making healthcare access more reliant on user […]