Gordon Campbell on abortion law reform, and the US Electoral College nightmare
New Zealand and New South Wales are both trying to reform their abortion laws right now – and in our case, that reform is happening for the first time in 42 years.
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Saudi oil refinery crisis
The Houthis in Yemen have ample motives and prior form in carrying out drone attacks in retaliation for the joint Saudi/Emirates onslaught against Yemen
Gordon Campbell on allegations of left wing bias in the mainstream media
The “left wing bias” accusation dates back at least to the mid 1990s… The charge was ridiculous then, and is ridiculous now.
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s mishandling of the alleged sexual assault
The focus of Labour’s alleged sexual assault scandal has now shifted from the party organisation to the Beehive.
Gordon Campbell on this week’s damning report into the SIS/GCSB’s tacit compliance with torture
The IGIS report investigates NZ’s role in the CIA’s illegal system of rendition and torture of captives in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.
Gordon Campbell on China’s concessions to Hong Kong’s protest movement, and Johnson’s Waterloo
What a wretched time is being had by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.
Gordon Campbell on the necessary government actions to combat the measles outbreaks
At Monday’s post-Cabinet press conference, the director-general of Health predicted that the current measles outbreaks will peak in about two weeks time. Let’s hope.
Gordon Campbell on the only way of ensuring Boris gets blamed for Brexit
In the face of Boris Johnson’s latest provocations, the best response for Remainers and Tory rebels alike would be… to do nothing at all.
Gordon Campbell on the cheap politics that National is playing with gun reform
In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Tim Fischer chose not to pander to his own party’s worst short term instincts…
Gordon Campbell on our suicide rates, and Prince Andrew
It seems unfair to expect those hard-pressed families, schools and communities to transform society from the grass roots upwards, and give hope to those most at risk.
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand shouldn’t try to curry favour with Trump
The bizarre spat over Donald Trump trying to buy Greenland shows just how foolish it would be for any country to treat the US as […]
Gordon Campbell on the damning Commerce Commission report on the fuel industry
Yesterday’s interim Commerce Commission report on the fuel industry will do nothing to endear the major oil companies to the New Zealand public
Gordon Campbell on the Hong Kong protest movement, and Sleater-Kinney
Nearly ten weeks after the huge Hong Kong protests began, 1.7 million people on the streets in the rain is a testament to how strong the pro-democracy movement has become.
Gordon Campbell on why Boris Johnson is threatening to shoot this puppy
It may help to think of the October 31 ‘no deal’ Brexit as a warm, rascally puppy. And British PM Boris Johnson says he will shoot that puppy, unless someone stops him.
Gordon Campbell on NZF’s ability to maintain the ban on prisoner voting
Justice Minister Andrew Little has indicated that he will be taking a paper to Cabinet with the aim of repealing the prisoner voting ban. Good luck with that.
Gordon Campbell on the Supreme Court review of the Peter Ellis case
There is a sense of inevitability about the Supreme Court being asked to review the Peter Ellis case.
Gordon Campbell on reforming the abortion laws
Undoubtedly, the proposed law will be better than the 1977 legislation it replaces. Yet surely, you’d hope there would be progress, 42 years down the track.
Gordon Campbell on the two public inquiries at odds over the need for shutting out the public
In New Zealand, there are two major inquiries into security/defence issues running in parallel, and the one demonstrating more transparency and candour is not the one that you’d expect.
Gordon Campbell on some of the barriers facing female politicians
On the current evidence voters are less likely to regard a female politician as ‘likeable’ than a male one, and this perception tends be a barrier that only female candidates have to face.
Gordon Campbell on the Ihumatao dispute
There is no tidy way forward on the Ihumatao dispute, given that the mana whenua with valid claims to the site are locked in conflict.
Gordon Campbell on the latest phase in the struggle for gun reform
The gun lobby can be relied on to drag its feet at best (and actively resist at worst) in the face of any attempt to make gun ownership safer.
Gordon Campbell on Kiwis being the Aussies’ friendly go-fers in the Pacific
If not for the surprise election result, Ardern would almost certainly have been able to score real policy gains with a Labor PM in her Canberra meeting.
Gordon Campbell on Trump’s campaign to make America embrace white nationalism
The Republican Party of Lincoln – which once led a civil war that ended the slave economy of the South – has now defined itself openly as being the party of white nationalism.
Gordon Campbell on what’s wrong with Wellington
It hasn’t been the normal hardships – central government and lousy weather – that have recently pushed Wellingtonians’ tolerance into the red zone.
Gordon Campbell on the Aussie banks’ latest excuse for jacking up bank fees
When the Reserve Bank sought feedback on requiring the country’s major banks to raise their capital reserves then you might have expected the banks to whine and complain.
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand First’s stellar balancing act
At this point, New Zealand First needs to more than double its current poll numbers to survive beyond Election Day, 2020… but that’s what Winston Peters is so very good at doing.
Gordon Campbell on the usual grumbling about subsidising the Lord of the Rings TV series
We seem to have won this production largely because of the mature film industry infrastructure that NZ has built on the back of those previously subsidized productions.
Gordon Campbell on how the Americans are helping us realise the scale of the Operation Burnham fiasco
New Zealand lawyers have been forced to rely on the relatively open US military and FOIA processes in order to be able to participate adequately in a New Zealand inquiry
Gordon Campbell on the ways the public is being left unprotected by the public service reforms
In a town like Wellington that’s full of public servants, the fact that the public service is facing its biggest shake-up in 30 years sounds like a very big deal.
Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s cosmetic banking reforms
An extraordinary level of profit-taking still being extracted by the Australian Banking Gang from ordinary New Zealanders.