Gordon Campbell on the government’s stalling on health and safety
In the last five years, workplace accidents have killed nearly 300 workers in this country. Yesterday’s accident at a quarry in Canterbury once again demonstrates […]
Articles
Gordon Campbell on the centre-left’s quest for economic ‘credibility’
Yesterday, the Guardian published a long, fascinating account of the infighting and tactical manoeuvring within Ed Miliband’s UK Labour leadership team during the last eighteen […]
Gordon Campbell on the Sepp Blatter resignation
Any initial elation at Sepp Blatter’s resignation as the overlord of FIFA will be tempered by his declared intention to stay on until at least […]
Gordon Campbell on the Greens’ new co-leader, James Shaw
No doubt, the new Green Party co-leader James Shaw will be on the receiving end of a ton of advice in the coming weeks about […]
Gordon Campbell on the FIFA scandal , and similar dirty dealings
Face it, it has been a very, very bad week for anyone who thinks that a) FIFA is a damn fine organisation run by guys […]
Gordon Campbell on the Cullen Review of our security service
Whatever the conflicts and point scoring between them on other issues, National and Labour have always spoken virtually as one on free trade and the […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2015
From the outset, the slogan for yesterday’s Budget – “The Plan Is Working” – begged to be mocked. There’s actually a plan for the national […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s belated moves on property speculation
Is it a property tax on capital gains or a capital gains tax on property? The Jesuitical distinctions in the government’s spin about its latest […]
Gordon Campbell on the latest good reason for dumping the monarchy
The monarchy, the media and the masses is a threesome made in tabloid heaven, and it has seen a lot of action during this past […]
Gordon Campbell on the death knell for the TPP
It is unusual for anyone to vote for an early execution, but that’s effectively what President Barack Obama’s friends in the US Senate have just […]
Gordon Campbell on lessons for Labour from the UK election
If the polls were right – and the pollsters kept telling us how accurate they’d been in 2010, and even Nate Silver was getting the […]
Gordon Campbell on the token boost to elective surgery
Political tokenism comes in many shapes and sizes, but the $98 million boost in elective surgery is a cynical example of it. The pre-Budget package […]
Gordon Campbell on why Miliband will be the next British PM
The Britain that goes to the polls on Thursday looks awfully familiar to anyone from New Zealand. In Britain too, a smooth but vacuous technocrat […]
Gordon Campbell Key’s abuse of secrecy over Iraq & The TPP
Gordon Campbell on John Key’s abuse of secrecy over Iraq, and the TPP For the past week or so we’ve been hearing a lot about […]
Gordon Campbell on Indonesia’s latest round of executions
Gordon Campbell on Indonesia’s latest round of executions To no-one’s real surprise, Indonesia has carried out its second wave of executions this year. Given the […]
Gordon Campbell on the hair-pulling finale and Gallipoli
Don’t know about you, but when hi-jinks and horsing around are going on, my understanding is that everyone involved is supposed to be having a […]
Gordon Campbell on the PM's Hair-Pulling Power Trip
There have been striking differences between (a) the account of the waitress involved in the hair-pulling incidents, and (b) the account being given by Prime […]
Gordon Campbell on the key battle Obama is waging over the TPP
For the past two and a half years, this column has been arguing that the fate of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will hinge […]
Gordon Campbell on the Reserve Bank’s call to arms about the Auckland housing crisis
The ‘crisis – what crisis?’ response by the government to the Auckland housing price bubble is no longer acceptable. So says Reserve Bank governor Grant […]
Gordon Campbell on UE pass rates and university dropout rates
Houston, there is clearly a problem with (a) the plunge in pass rates for University Entrance qualifications, which has been especially steep among Maori students […]
Gordon Campbell on the demise of Campbell Live
The imminent axeing of Campbell Live has been the inevitable outcome of a mindset which considers only (a) declining ratings which impact on (b) advertising […]
Gordon Campbell on a union victory in the fast food industry
Good to have a reminder of why trade unions are still essential in the 21st century. The scrapping of zero hour contract provisions by the […]
Gordon Campbell on dollar parity with Australia, and disarming Israel
As the New Zealand dollar edges towards parity with the Aussie dollar, it seems facile to treat this as some game of Transtasman arm-wrestling that […]
Gordon Campbell on the inadequate response to sexual violence prevention
On combatting sexual violence, the government has finally begun to undo some of the problems that were of its own making. Early in March, ACC […]
Gordon Campbell on the Northland by-election
Supposedly, Winston Peters’ victory in Northland has exposed the simmering dissatisfaction with the government that exists out in the provinces. Yet it remains to be […]
Gordon Campbell on a funeral in Asia, the Northland by-election, and news priorities
Supposedly, New Zealand’s destiny lies in Asia, and that was one of Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s rationales for his bungled reforms at MFAT. OK. So, […]
Gordon Campbell on Pacific spying, Obama as Spock and Kendrick Lamar
So New Zealand has using the GCSB to spy on its friends and allies in the Pacific – and has not only been passing on […]
Gordon Campbell on the role of South African mercenaries in the war on terrorism
For anyone with memories of the apartheid era, there will be mixed feelings about the news this week that South African mercenaries are playing a […]
Gordon Campbell on the Vanuatu cyclone and its media coverage
Having media crews in a disaster zone can help to (a) pinpoint areas of need and (b) provide some re-assurance to the victims that the […]
Gordon Campbell on how Europe is (finally) acting against Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses
For decades, the ringing statements on human rights by various European and US governments have been undermined by the diplomatic support they’ve given to the […]