Gordon Campbell on Israel’s murderous relapse, and Peters’ sad decline
In the past week, Israel has reverted to slaughtering civilians, starving children and welshing on the terms of the peace deal negotiated earlier this year. […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on Winston Peters’ bad trip, and the return of the PPPs zombie
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. […]
Gordon Campbell On Luxon’s Survival Chances, And The India FTA
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that […]
Gordon Campbell On Winston Peters’ Battle Against The Phantom Legions Of The Woke
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war […]
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Stubborn Refusal To Invest For Growth
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify […]
Gordon Campbell On Why GP Practices Are In Crisis
In a week when PM Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Simeon Brown have been blowing their own trumpets about how supportive they are of GPs, […]
Gordon Campbell On Why Having Elections Less Often Is A Bad Idea
Are we feeling the country is in such capable hands, that we can afford to take a longer break between elections? Outside the parliamentary bubble […]
Gordon Campbell On School Lunches, And The Coalition Government Eating The Young
The school lunches saga gets worse by the day. Bland, repetitive menus, failures in heating, failures in timely delivery, failures to deliver halal meals that […]
Gordon Campbell On Why Our China Panic Is About To Get Expensive
Allegedly, the defence environment has changed, and New Zealand thus needs to spend significantly more on Defence. The rationale is that China (our main trading […]
Gordon Campbell On The Fall And Rise Of Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid
Good to see that this year, the New Zealand film societies are celebrating what would have been Sam Peckinpah’s 100th birthday with what they are […]
Gordon Campbell On Why Europe Is Being Made To Go It Alone
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and […]
Gordon Campbell On Why “Golden Visas” Are A Losing Bet On Growth
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency […]
Gordon Campbell On Surviving The 47th US President
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US […]
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Epic Fails In Jobs And Housing
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder […]
Gordon Campbell On Trump’s Tariff Wars
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made […]
Gordon Campbell On DeepSeek, And China’s Inexorable Rise
The week’s big story has been about China’s DeepSeek low-cost AI model. Because DeepSeek requires fewer advanced chips, its advent has had a huge impact […]
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Gaslighting About Growth
Donald Trump made his fortune by speculating in real estate. These days, Christopher Luxon makes a lot of his money the very same way. True, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Looming Conflicts Within The Trump Presidency
How long is it going to take for the MAGA faithful to realise that those titans of Big Tech and venture capital sitting up close […]
Gordon Campbell On The Rise Of Simeon Brown
Yesterday’s demotion of Shane Reti was inevitable. Reti’s attempt at a re-assuring bedside manner always did have a limited shelf life, and he would have […]
Gordon Campbell On More Threats To Democracy From David Seymour
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli […]
Gordon Campbell On The History Of Doo Wop Music
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it […]
Gordon Campbell On Justin Trudeau’s Demise, In A Global Context
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin […]
Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis […]
Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people […]
Gordon Campbell On The Latest Round Of Ferry Follies
The scorned iRex option would have entered service in 2026. Thanks to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, there will now be a three year delay until […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s ongoing ferries disaster
I wouldn’t have picked Nicola Willis to be a big AC/DC fan, but “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” must have been the theme song for […]
Gordon Campbell On How Slavishly This Government Is Serving Its Corporate Donors
For much of 2024, centre stage has been taken by (a) the government’s relentless attacks on all forms of Māori empowerment and (b) by the […]
Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission’s fine-tuning of vaccine mandates and lockdowns
Let’s hope politicians of all stripes can agree to limit their urge to politicise the Royal Commission of Inquiry findings about the Covid response. Since […]
Gordon Campbell on what’s wrong with the Treaty Principles Bill
It has taken until 2024, but even the All Blacks now recognise that Māori are the tangata whenua of this country. There is no consensus […]
Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Aftermath
The euphoria from yesterday’s hikoi may be transitory, but is no less valuable for that. It is pretty rare for the left to feel itself […]