Gordon Campbell on exceptions for tourism, and on the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine
As David Foster Wallace famously pointed out, each of us regard our own precious selves as the realest, most vivid and important persons in the […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the “ Where’s Winston?” question
Deputy PM Winston Peters has kept a low profile over the last month or so, partly because he belongs in the category of people most […]
Gordon Campbell on living at Level Three with residual anxiety
Two weeks. That’s roughly the length of time the government has given itself between moving to Level Three, and making a decision on May 11 […]
Gordon Campbell on why governments are in effect, printing cash to defeat Covid-19
Part of the psychology of moving to Level Three is the sense of people heading back to work – at least 400,000 more of them […]
Gordon Campbell on living with the extension, and with Edward Hopper
In the end, it was obvious that the lockdown had to be extended. According to epidemiologist Ayesha Verrall, our tracing systems are still struggling to […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should extend the lockdown
As Bloomberg says, impatience can be contagious. The kids in the back seat during the lockdown – Mike Hosking, Barry Soper, David Seymour etc – […]
Gordon Campbell on the search for Covid-19 vaccines, and our media woes
The government always ran the risk that if its lockdown succeeded in saving lives, it would be open to the criticism that it cried wolf. […]
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t be trying to emulate Australia
On today’s Coronocast podcast on the ABC state broadcasting network in Australia, New Zealand’s policy of going out hard early with a stringent economic shutdown […]
Gordon Campbell on the argument over whether lives or livelihoods are more important
It is hardly business as usual, but this week is shaping up to be all about business and its needs, how the economy will emerge […]
Gordon Campbell on the changes that Covid-19 is causing, plus a Spotify playlist for y’all
Will life (and the economy) ever be the same again after the Covid-19 crisis is over? Obviously not, even leaving aside the impact on people […]
Gordon Campbell on the rationing of PPE gear, masks and everything else
From the outset, the perceived need to ration our scarce resources seems to have driven the response to Covid-19. Rationing still appears to be limiting […]
Gordon Campbell on the ethics (and some of the economics) of lifting the lockdown
As New Zealand passes the half-way mark towards moving out of Level Four lockdown, the trade-offs involved in life-after-lockdown are starting to come into view. […]
Gordon Campbell on the lockdown, masks and aerosol transmission
I ronically, our relative success in suppressing the exponential spread of Covid-19 is only increasing the pressure to ease back from those measures, on a […]
Gordon Campbell on wage cuts, and the Listener’s demise
Various levels of across the board wage cuts – 10%? 15% ?- are being mooted for workers in some of our larger firms, in order […]
Gordon Campbell on the changes hitting the economy, work, and the benefit system
The economy may be falling like a rock but it hasn’t hit the bottom of the well yet, here or anywhere else. Time is so […]
Gordon Campbell on buying ventilators, and expanding the testing for Covid-19
Before getting into recent developments….. who knew that Covid-19 was so powerful it could make NZ parliamentarians act like adults, and make them pose intelligent […]
Gordon Campbell on our (fatal?) shortage of ventilators
With a few honourable exceptions there has been a striking lack of focus on the (insufficient) number of ventilators in our intensive care units – […]
Gordon Campbell on what leadership ( and the lack of it) looks like
L eadership is an intangible quality, but most New Zealanders will be thanking their lucky stars for what’s being provided by PM Jacinda Ardern and […]
Gordon Campbell and six short takes about the lockdown
To begin with, a correction : in yesterday’s column I said that there were 650,000 New Zealanders in Australia that do not qualify for income […]
Gordon Campbell on Australia’s callousness, and grandparents as parents amid Covid-19
Reportedly, there are some 650,000 New Zealanders living in Australia. Many will lose their jobs in the economic crash caused by Covid-19, and none of […]
Gordon Campbell on how long lockdowns need to last, and the ventilator shortages
The lockdown announced yesterday by PM Jacinda Ardern is consistent with the advice from the Imperial College Covid-19 team in London, whose blueprint the NZ […]
Gordon Campbell on going to Level Four (and scrapping the Olympics) right now
Sure, there’s a logic to having four stages of response to Covid-19, flexible enough to vary region by region. The idea being…. The stepped response […]
Gordon Campbell on the sudden clamour for government bailouts
So many U-turns, in such a short period of time. Pity poor old Fox News, which had been dutifully pushing the Trumpian line that the […]
Gordon Campbell on the economic stimulus package
Obviously, yesterday’s massive $12.1 billion economic stimulus package (4% of GDP !) will not totally insulate people from the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus, […]
Gordon Campbell on the use of existing drugs to reduce the effects of coronavirus
So now, we’re all getting up to speed with the travel bans, the rigorous handwashing and drying, the social distancing, and the avoidance of public […]
Gordon Campbell on the global panic, and the local plans to deal with Coronavirus
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump gave Americans and Europeans a lot of good reasons to panic and/or bristle with outrage. Instead of providing leadership and […]
Gordon Campbell on the loss of abortion safe zones
No doubt, last night’s defeat of abortion law reform provisions that would have created safe zones around abortion clinics will be portrayed, by some, as […]
Gordon Campbell on the oil price smackdown, and on National’s fatuous crusade against red tape
Safe to say, Vladimir Putin did not expect the response he has received amidships from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Earlier, Russia chose to […]
Gordon Campbell on 22 short takes about Super Tuesday
With obvious apologies to the Simpsons… Here’s my 22 short takes on the 14 Super Tuesday primaries that combined yesterday to produce a common narrative […]
Gordon Campbell on Shane Jones as the liability no-one needs to bear anymore
New Zealand First has needed a diversion after weeks of bad coverage over its dodgy handling of donations, but it really, really doesn’t need what […]