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 […]
nz politics
Gordon Campbell on the Hamas Ceasefire Offer, and Mark Mitchell’s Incompetence
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would […]
Gordon Campbell on the FIFA women’s football, and teaching kids about finance
Apparently, Labour and National are agreed on the desirability of teaching financial literacy to kids in the classroom. While it’s hard to argue on principle […]
Gordon Campbell on why Sustainable NZ isn’t self-sustaining
Asking whether this new, environmentally focussed party can make the 5% MMP threshold may be the wrong question…
Gordon Campbell on giving the Police unnecessary new powers, and Spain’s elections
Police pursuits have a track record that makes them more dangerous than the original risk. Armed police units belong in the same category. The more insidious examples have to do with terrorism.
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 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 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 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 yesterday’s cosmetic banking reforms
An extraordinary level of profit-taking still being extracted by the Australian Banking Gang from ordinary New Zealanders.
Gordon Campbell on our Wild West banking culture, and Iran’s role in Armageddon
David Hisco’s nine years as CEO of ANZ (while his expense claims went by unbothered by board oversight) has been a weird echo of the nine years of social neglect by the previous National government.
Gordon Campbell on the military withdrawal from Iraq
One fascinating aspect of this withdrawal decision is that it is not a case of victory over ISIS having being declared and everyone else going home at the same time, too.
Gordon Campbell on the Budget leak
No doubt the Police will carry out their investigation of the Treasury Budget hack with more courtesy and nuance than their pursuit of the Dirty Politicssource.
Gordon Campbell on reforming Parliament’s toxic culture, and the Christian right
Long ago, politics was defined as a blood sport, and many MPs feel pretty chuffed about their take-no-prisoners approach…
Gordon Campbell on Shane Jones, and a Huawei update
For better and worse, this is a small country, and the business community in Northland is smaller still…
Gordon Campbell on justice for Kiwi jihadis
Mark Taylor, the Kiwi recruit to ISIS, ultimately put himself in the hands of the Kurdish forces in northern Syria. That was smart of him, and/or lucky.
Gordon Campbell on why the Aussie banks are bastards
Across the Tasman a Royal Commission has been barking very loudly indeed about the activities of the Australian banks that own the main NZ banks.
Gordon Campbell on why we should be listening to Ocasio-Cortez about tax
In its attitudes to tax, New Zealand has been the last colonial outpost of Thatcherism. Change, however, may be in the air.
Gordon Campbell on National’s tax handouts
Simon Bridges has unveiled a heavenly vision of a “Not Tax But Still Spend” government.
Gordon Campbell on National’s new, fledgling blue-green partner
Every year around about this time, National floats its own distinct vision of a different sort of Green Party…
Gordon Campbell on whether the Pope of Parliament can ever be anything other than a Catholic
’Tis the season of goodwill towards all humankind… except it would seem, towards the Speaker of Parliament.
Gordon Campbell on what the polls say about National’s leadership
Like his Tory counterpart Theresa May in Britain, National Party leader Simon Bridges seems widely unloved, and safe in his job only to the extent […]
Gordon Campbell on the Ardern pep talk
The intolerance being shown for coalition disagreements betrays our depressing appetite for a tidily totalitarian style of government where everyone is expected to march in lockstep.
Gordon Campbell on the poisoned chalice Simon Bridges has won
Voters on the centre-right of politics need to pray that Simon Bridges is not the only winner from the National leadership contest.
Gordon Campbell on National’s leadership contest
Essentially, English ran a great FPP campaign last year, and if the political system hadn’t changed 25 years ago you’d count that performance as a success…
Gordon Campbell on journalism, Peters and Ghahraman
So how is journalism faring in its role of (a) speaking truth to power, and (b) keeping its independent distance from those it seeks to monitor?
Zimbabwe: new democracy, or a false dawn?
There’s a precedent for the fall of Mugabe…
Gordon Campbell on the new Pike River agency, and the air strike wing
Much of the sympathy the public still feels for the families of the Pike River miners has been sustained by the sense that the previous government has never dealt honestly, or fairly, with them.
Devising National’s comeback
How the backroom strategists might be concocting National’s battle plan…