Gordon Campbell on Rabuka’s possible return in Fiji
Fiji signed onto China’s Belt and Road initiative in 2018, along with a separate agreement on economic co-operation and aid. Yet it took the recent […]
military
Gordon Campbell on Ukraine virtue signalling, and our inflation spike
Inflation at 6.9% is a bad sign of the rising cost of living, and hidden within the headline numbers are some even grislier figures. As […]
Gordon Campbell on sending a Hercules off to Europe
Yesterday’s decision to dispatch one of our ageing C-130 Hercules cargo planes to Europe for two months will – hopefully – help to get essential […]
Gordon Campbell on virtue signalling about Ukraine
Safe to say, not a single life will be saved in Ukraine if and when our Foreign Affairs select committee can ever make up its […]
Gordon Campbell on the crisis – what crisis? – over Ukraine
Is Russian leader Vladimir Putin going to invade Ukraine, or is he just bluffing (for now), much as China was a few months ago? A […]
Gordon Campbell on sending an Orion P-3 to Tonga
Because the undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga cut communications with the more remote parts of the country, it wasn’t at all surprising that as a […]
Gordon Campbell on Defence’s desire to join the ”lets confront China” club
China has been put on notice by us. According to the New Zealand Defence Assessment 2021 report released on Wednesday, and set out in bold […]
Gordon Campbell on how AUKUS undermines our no-nukes cred, plus a music playlist
Yesterday’s media outings by Covid Minister Chris Hipkins demonstrated the contradictory forces at work. First, the government is being slammed for its lack of compassion […]
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand needs to change its Defence habits
In a flashback to the military displays of days gone by, one of our frigates recently joined a Carrier Strike show of force in the […]
Gordon Campbell on Canada’s election, and the AUKUS defence pact
Yesterday, Canada held an election in which everyone lost, including the voters. After holding its most expensive ( $C600 million) election campaign ever, the result […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand can get itself a safe, purpose-built Covid isolation facility
Over the past few months, one of the few things that the “Covid elimination” strategists and the “we have to live with Covid” advocates have […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand is punching below its weight in Afghanistan
First Vietnam, now Afghanistan. For the second time in living memory, the West has been defeated by the guerrilla forces of a small Third World […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should abolish the military
Last Friday, Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced his intention to seek savings within the circa $20 billion allocated to Defence over the next decade or […]
Gordon Campbell On The Gaza Aftermath, And The Attempted Coup In Samoa
Mere days after the Israeli/Hamas ceasefire, some things have immediately returned to normal. Israeli police have reportedly been in action again against Palestinians gathered at […]
Gordon Campbell on welcoming Pfizer’s vaccine, and saying goodbye to Afghanistan
Good news, meet bad news. Co-incidentally, on the same day that New Zealand delivers its first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to our frontline border […]
Gordon Campbell on the virtues (and fluffed opportunities) of the Operation Burnham report
One unspoken rule of thumb in any official public inquiry is : whatever you do, don’t conclude you were made to listen to “a litany […]
Gordon Campbell on using the Army to soak up the Covid unemployed
Once the government’s wage subsidies run out and the Covid job losses really kick in, there could – conceivably – be a role for the […]
Gordon Campbell on why attack isn’t our best means of cyber-defence
This morning’s news that the SIS engaged in attacks on the Indian High Commission and Embassy of Iran during the late 1980s/early 1990s should come […]