Gordon Campbell on negating Covid-19 success, and K-pop’s links with black activism
National MP Michael Woodhouse took his party’s credibility to a new low this morning via his inability to prove his claim that a homeless man […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on managing Covid-19 better than the Australians, and the Ellis case
If anything the Covid-19 outbreaks occurring this week in and around Melbourne are a timely reminder of the bullet we dodged by not having a […]
Gordon Campbell on why Trump is unlikely to get re-elected
So….Is the world likely to have to endure a second term of Donald Trump’s proto-fascist presidency? Probably not, at this point. The opinion polls – […]
Gordon Campbell on the perils of making damage control your top priority
Surely, the only thing worse than making a serious mistake is to then try and minimise its implications – especially when the efforts at damage […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s list, and our Victorian monuments
We’re currently in the “phoney war” stage of the 2020 election campaign, before the contest begins in earnest. Yesterday’s release of Labour’s party list rankings […]
Gordon Campbell on allowing the Police to use “sponge” bullets
Terminology can be SO important. Back when “non-lethal” bullets were first invented and became part of the weapons array available to US Police, they were […]
Gordon Campbell on why women with opinions can be SO annoying
Good grief. Well, we shouldn’t be all that surprised at National MP Paul Goldsmith and his “ stick to your knitting” comment yesterday. Sexism and […]
Gordon Campbell on Level One, and living with predatory markets
Welcome to Level One, earthlings. This is the new normality while the virus still roams beyond the border walls. Those borders will remain closed and […]
Gordon Campbell on the politics of using the word “fascist”
“Fascist” is one of those labels with the ability to capsize any debate. Call your opponents “fascists” – or “agitators” or “terrorists” or “scum” and […]
Gordon Campbell on the George Floyd protests
Poverty, discrimination and repeated acts of police brutality all help to explain the rage being expressed on the streets of American cities right now after […]
Gordon Campbell on the Twitter wars, and the Muller muddles
Whatever the failings of our own politicians, spare a kind thought for the majority of Americans who did not vote for Donald Trump. Sure, it […]
Gordon Campbell on why welfare reform has no champions in Parliament
Ever since Victorian times, the unemployed have been a problem for those more fortunate, wealthy and powerful. Down the ages, society has been torn between […]
Gordon Campbell on not buying what Todd Muller is selling
Chloe Swarbrick is number three in the Greens Party list released this morning. Todd Muller has released his new party line-up today, which will excite […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s day of reckoning
Congratulations. You are one of the 55 members of the National caucus being called together tomorrow to choose who will lead you to either (a) […]
Gordon Campbell on the (lack of) alternatives to Simon Bridges
Spin the roulette wheel. The suggestion that tomorrow’s headline poll numbers will decide the fate of Simon Bridges is a fairly extreme example of poll-driven […]
Gordon Campbell on the Govt attempts at poaching the soft centre-right vote
More than once in the past few days Finance Minister Grant Robertson has been at pains to thank both his predecessors – Michael Cullen and […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2020
Welcome to the breadline. Treasury’s best case scenario sees unemployment reaching 9.8% by September and yet… the coalition government seems to have decided it can […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should legally protect the right to work from home
coronavirus, covid-19, business, economy, employment, working from home, china,
Gordon Campbell on Level Two, and Little Richard
Level Two will be life Jim, but not as we’ve known it. At 4pm today, PM Jacinda Ardern will announce the Cabinet decision on when […]
Gordon Campbell on one of the shadows over Level Two
For many New Zealanders, the imminent shift to Level Two is going to be a momentous occasion. Here’s another looming landmark likely to be just […]
Gordon Campbell on the hype around the transTasman bubble, and Microsoft
Arguably, one of the more irresponsible things the government could do right now would be to throw the doors wide open to non-essential travel next […]
Gordon Campbell on the trans-Tasman bubble, and the future of airlines
As the epidemiologists keep on saying, a trans-Tasman bubble will require having in place beforehand a robust form of contact tracing, of tourists and locals […]
Gordon Campbell on the dodgy politics of easing Level Three
As countries around the world tentatively emerge from lockdown, a lot of political noise is being generated by politically-driven arguments that (a) the safeguards need […]
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 […]
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. […]