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 […]
Parliament
Gordon Campbell on the youth crime furore
So far, the excited media response to the spike in “ram-raid” incidents is being countered by evidence that in reality, youth crime is steeply in […]
Gordon Campbell on abortion rights
So a Supreme Court stacked with ideologues selected by Donald Trump is about to make an ideological decision to ban the legal right of American […]
Gordon Campbell on the impotence of onlookers
Against its will, the world has become conditioned to driving by acts of genocide and peering at them through the window with alarm – before […]
Gordon Campbell on the protests, Putin’s Pyrrhic victory, plus a playlist
The protest encampment at Parliament long ago ceased to have any rational purpose beyond perpetuating its own existence. Social media has already condemned the way […]
Gordon Campbell on freedom, and government mandates
The Omicron surge to 1160 cases a day will inevitably motivate the public to reduce all occasions of risk wherever possible, whether those venues have […]
Gordon Campbell on why compromise isn’t an option
Gosh, as one academic advocated on RNZ this morning, why don’t some politicians just go out and meet the protesters, listen to them, and suggest […]
Gordon Campbell on the Police tactics at Parliament
Canada is better known for being the home of relentlessly nice people. Yet its trucking protests have become an unlikely model for social disruption, as […]
Gordon Campbell on last night’s political poll, and Lata Mangeshkar
Great poll results last night for the centre left. The Newshub/Reid Research poll had Labour up by 1.6 points to 44.3%. Taken together with the […]
Gordon Campbell on the elusive charms of Christopher Luxon
Well, the first 36 hours of viewing the Christopher Luxon selfie were always going to be the best, before the repetitions set in. We get […]
Gordon Campbell on Omicron, and the Bridges/Luxon dilemma
At this early stage, the Omicron variant seems to be more infectious, and more able to bypass the protection offered by vaccines and by the […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s less than stellar choices
Amid all the jostling in the National caucus ranks, spare a thought for Andrew Bayly. Who? Well might you ask. Plucked from obscurity by Judith […]
Gordon Campbell on the demotion of Simon Bridges
So Simon Bridges has been bounced from the front bench and stripped of his shadow portfolio responsibilities for the crudely “inappropriate” comments that he allegedly […]
Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s big parliamentary air kiss to China
In order to obtain support from the two major parties, Act Party deputy leader Brooke Van Velden twice had to soften the language of her […]
Gordon Campbell on four-year terms of Parliament, and on how the US courts are dismantling democracy
Last week, the issue of four-year parliamentary terms surfaced again. Infuriatingly, it is being discussed purely in terms of its convenience for political parties. They’d […]
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 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 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.