Gordon Campbell on some electorates to watch on Saturday night
On the eve of Election Day, Judith Collins can claim that she has done exactly what she was chosen to do: namely, she looks like […]
Columns
Gordon Campbell on National going rogue, and US militia madness
In the wake of Judith Collins descent into negative politicking, the real question has to be – did she slip, or did she jump? Was […]
Gordon Campbell on flirting with Act, and on the euthanasia/cannabis measures
Less than convincingly, Judith Collins says that if elected to govern, she would not be enacting any of the austerity measures and welfare cuts advocated […]
Gordon Campbell on why sport just doesn’t seem to be so important during a pandemic
During a pandemic, what role does sport play? That question suddently looks more complicated than it had first seemed. Back during the first lockdown an […]
Gordon Campbell on last night’s debate, and beyond
It really hasn’t been a good week for Judith Collins to be wheeling out her Little Me impression of Donald Trump, yet the similarities have […]
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 debates as game-shows, and why mixing politics and religion is a bad idea
Political debates have dominated the week’s campaign cycle, here and elsewhere. Routinely, leaders’ debates ( and polls) are the roadside diners and comfort stops on […]
Gordon Campbell on the SFO’s investigation of New Zealand First
On one level, New Zealand First has been the agent of its own misfortune. The New Zealand First Foundation handling the donations at the centre […]
Gordon Campbell on whether this election is already a foregone conclusion
Currently, this election looks like being a no contest. The weekend’s Newshub poll has the centre left enjoying a roughly 57-36% lead over the centre […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s rampant pandering to the farming vote
What on earth has happened to the political parties n the centre-right? Once upon a time in the US, the party of Lincoln was a […]
Gordon Campbell on last night’s leaders debate
Do political debates change voter intentions, and cause voters to switch sides? According to a 2019 Harvard Business School study conducted across 61 elections in […]
Gordon Campbell on that $4 billion hit to National’s economic cred
National released its economic and tax policy last Friday. Weirdly, the plan was announced right at the end of the news week, when whatever impact […]
Gordon Campbell on tourism’s endless sense of grievance
Sad that a once in a century pandemic should have come along before the government had a clearly thought out plan for rescuing all the […]
Gordon Campbell on the transTasman tinkering with Covid-related poverty
On September 25, the government’s Covid-19 rent freeze will expire. A fortnight ago, the Commerce Commission (in response to a complaint) sent out a letter […]
Gordon Campbell on campaign politicking
The microdoses of policy that get released on the campaign trail are not meant to be ego-shattering psychedelic events that transform our concepts of political […]
Gordon Campbell on saving small firms, and disowning Peter Thiel
According to Business NZ, over 97^ of New Zealand firms employ only 20 or fewer staff. One of the political myths about such firms is […]
Gordon Campbell on Trump’s current chances of re-election
How likely is it that the world will wake up on November 4th facing the prospect of another four years of Donald Trump? Short answer: […]
Gordon Campbell on James Shaw’s spectacular own goal
The apology by Greens co-leader James Shaw was certainly comprehensive. He’s so very sorry that he’s let down not only you, but you and you […]
Gordon Campbell on the challenges we face in securing Covid-19 vaccines
The early wave of Covid-19 vaccines appear unlikely to deliver a complete shield against getting the infection, as (say) a measles inoculation comes close to […]
Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission’s needlessly secretive inquiry into the mosque attacks
Can’t recall the author – Oscar Wilde?- but during the Victorian era there was a popular short story about a Moghul emperor who spent years […]
Gordon Campbell on kneejerk negativism, Cardi B, and Linda Manz
Yesterday, Victoria recorded 216 new Covid-19 cases and twelve deaths. An inquiry released a couple of days ago found that 90% of Victoria’s second wave […]
Gordon Campbell on the sorry plight of the international education sector
Tourism and international education have been two of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. They’re both key export industries. Yet the government response to […]
Gordon Campbell on the election delay
Hi, team. While the majority of the team of five million has gritted its teeth and obeyed the rules throughout the Covid-19 crisis, a sizeable […]
Gordon Campbell on Judith Collins’ apparent inability to read the public mood
The basic skill that a successful politician needs is the ability to “read the room” and gauge the public mood. If National Party leader Judith […]
Gordon Campbell on the new lockdowns, leadership and Lebanon
As Melbourne has shown, the webs of urban life overlap so extensively that community transmission can be very hard to trace, let alone control. Each […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Supreme Court is a bigger threat than Trump to US democracy
If you need a chilling reminder of how weirdly different the United States is to New Zealand…then abortion rights is the place to start. Last […]
Gordon Campbell on political twins, and on Labour extending its wage subsidy scheme
A quick quiz for the weekend. Which political party currently represented in Parliament issued a press release yesterday that contained these stirring passages: “[We have] […]
Gordon Campbell on the problems the pandemic is causing for Big Oil
Chances are, climate change won’t kill you overnight, and that’s got to be significant. Yet while we were all in lockdown listening to the birdsong, […]
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 showing the Aussies how to reach a consensus on quarantine fees
Back at the dawn of time, MMP was created (a) to impose a discipline on government and (b) to prevent any one party from riding […]