Gordon Campbell on the Greens’ attempts to look like underdogs
The Greens’ opposition to homecoming New Zealanders being required to pay about $3,000 towards the cost of their two week Covid-19 quarantine, needs to be […]
Columns
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 who really deserves sympathy when stress makes people behave badly
Sex always makes people sit up and pay attention to what‘s on the news bulletins. The political circus aside…. Power (not sex) has really been […]
Gordon Campbell on why high taxes and austerity shouldn’t ruin the Covid recovery
Even before you factor in the tendency of National’s caucus to self-implode, Judith Collins should have her work cut out. Somehow, she has to convince […]
Gordon Campbell on the mainstream media’s romance with Judith Collins
Crikey. It feels like the media and Judith Collins should just get a room and be done with it. Such has been the commentariat’s love […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s Great Leap Backwards
It isn’t surprising that at the height of its disarray, National should have looked for certainty and picked the least introspective candidate on offer. With […]
Gordon Campbell on the Todd Muller resignation
Given the factions within National’s own caucus, anyone picked as the new leader of the National Party will struggle to unify their own troops, let […]
Gordon Campbell on why Todd Muller needs to own the privacy leak scandal
Whenever a political scandal breaks, party leaders have two basic options. They can confess to being in boots and all, and try to brazen it […]
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t be pushed into re-opening our borders
I believe in yesterday as much as Paul McCartney, but it was bemusing to see the amount of media attention lavished last week on the […]
Gordon Campbell on the Clark exit, convention centres, and the killing of Hachalu Hundessa
Goodbye, David Clark. In the end, the outgoing Health Minister decided that in the midst of a pandemic the best thing he could do for […]
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 […]
Gordon Campbell on the opaque workings of the Royal Commission into the mosque shootings
As we heard on RNZ this morning, the Moslem community is looking to the Royal Commission of Inquiry Into The Attacks on Christchurch Mosques for […]
Gordon Campbell on the media collusion with National’s attack lines
For most of the past week, any consumer of this country’s management of Covid-19 would think New Zealand was actually Brazil, or Texas. The media […]
Gordon Campbell on negating Covid-19 success, and K-pop’s links with black activism
National MP Michael Woodhouse took his party’s credibility to a new low this morning via his inability to prove his claim that a homeless man […]
Gordon Campbell on managing Covid-19 better than the Australians, and the Ellis case
If anything the Covid-19 outbreaks occurring this week in and around Melbourne are a timely reminder of the bullet we dodged by not having a […]
Gordon Campbell on why Trump is unlikely to get re-elected
So….Is the world likely to have to endure a second term of Donald Trump’s proto-fascist presidency? Probably not, at this point. The opinion polls – […]
Gordon Campbell on the perils of making damage control your top priority
Surely, the only thing worse than making a serious mistake is to then try and minimise its implications – especially when the efforts at damage […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s list, and our Victorian monuments
We’re currently in the “phoney war” stage of the 2020 election campaign, before the contest begins in earnest. Yesterday’s release of Labour’s party list rankings […]
Gordon Campbell on allowing the Police to use “sponge” bullets
Terminology can be SO important. Back when “non-lethal” bullets were first invented and became part of the weapons array available to US Police, they were […]
Gordon Campbell on why women with opinions can be SO annoying
Good grief. Well, we shouldn’t be all that surprised at National MP Paul Goldsmith and his “ stick to your knitting” comment yesterday. Sexism and […]
Gordon Campbell on Level One, and living with predatory markets
Welcome to Level One, earthlings. This is the new normality while the virus still roams beyond the border walls. Those borders will remain closed and […]
Gordon Campbell on the politics of using the word “fascist”
“Fascist” is one of those labels with the ability to capsize any debate. Call your opponents “fascists” – or “agitators” or “terrorists” or “scum” and […]
Gordon Campbell on the George Floyd protests
Poverty, discrimination and repeated acts of police brutality all help to explain the rage being expressed on the streets of American cities right now after […]
Gordon Campbell on the Twitter wars, and the Muller muddles
Whatever the failings of our own politicians, spare a kind thought for the majority of Americans who did not vote for Donald Trump. Sure, it […]
Gordon Campbell on why welfare reform has no champions in Parliament
Ever since Victorian times, the unemployed have been a problem for those more fortunate, wealthy and powerful. Down the ages, society has been torn between […]
Gordon Campbell on not buying what Todd Muller is selling
Chloe Swarbrick is number three in the Greens Party list released this morning. Todd Muller has released his new party line-up today, which will excite […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s day of reckoning
Congratulations. You are one of the 55 members of the National caucus being called together tomorrow to choose who will lead you to either (a) […]
Gordon Campbell on the (lack of) alternatives to Simon Bridges
Spin the roulette wheel. The suggestion that tomorrow’s headline poll numbers will decide the fate of Simon Bridges is a fairly extreme example of poll-driven […]
Gordon Campbell on the Govt attempts at poaching the soft centre-right vote
More than once in the past few days Finance Minister Grant Robertson has been at pains to thank both his predecessors – Michael Cullen and […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2020
Welcome to the breadline. Treasury’s best case scenario sees unemployment reaching 9.8% by September and yet… the coalition government seems to have decided it can […]