Gordon Campbell on Paula Rebstock and her new welfare reform platform
Clearly, the government now thinks the public mood in this recessionary climate is so hostile to beneficiaries that it can afford to indulge its own […]
Articles
Gordon Campbell on the rise in prescription charges
It would be nice to think that the basis for yesterday’s decision to raise prescription charges wasn’t just “ We haven’t lifted them for 20 […]
Gordon Campbell on banks passing on their own costs of reform
The global financial system seems to be once again (sort of) in crisis mode. Greece is heading for fresh elections and to (maybe) an eventual […]
Gordon Campbell on the politics of austerity
Later this month, New Zealand will be subjected to its second austerity Budget in a row. Zero budgeting is being presented as the only path […]
Gordon Campbell on free contraception for the beneficiary poor
If one can be grateful for small mercies, at least young women on benefits will not be forced into (a) having compulsory contraceptive implants fitted […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s self-defeating plans for universities
Steven Joyce happens to hold a set of portfolios central to the country’s economic planning and future direction. Joyce is the Minister of Economic Development, […]
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle By Gordon Campbell Of all the ways of trying to save “up to” $60-70 million – and […]
Gordon Campbell on John Banks’ unpleasant options
Article – Gordon Campbell Banksie-Dotcom Link Under Fire – Parliament.co.nz A bunker mentality is becoming evident in the Act Party’s response to its current crisis […]
Gordon Campbell on Key. Ethics and Banks
Article – Gordon Campbell Disclosure rules exist in local body legislation for the public’s benefit, not the benefit of politicians. Yet the explicit message from […]
Gordon Campbell on the John Banks vs Kim Dotcom saga
Article – Gordon Campbell Click for original version. Cartoon by Martin Doyle Is it too soon to start talking about the curse of the Act […]
On the relevance of the latest Hobbit revelations
This morning’s release by RNZ of its OIA requests on The Hobbit is not ancient history. It offers a rare glimpse into the fashion in […]
On how the government is ducking responsibility for meeting needs in Christchurch
Like events in some 19th century Russian novel, hardship in Christchurch keeps grinding on, while the powers-that-be appear quite indifferent to the suffering occurring all […]
On the dubious economic case for the Auckland convention centre
For now, Labour and the Greens are not opposing the convention centre in Auckland per se, but are asking for the tendering process to be […]
On where government could be saving millions
Image: RNZAF Ever since the last White Paper in 2010, Defence has been putting its staff through the wringer in a cost reduction exercise so […]
On short term contracting in the public service, and paid parental leave
It is always dangerous to base a story on personal experience… So this is being offered mainly out of curiosity, to see whether anyone out […]
On the government’s new PPP deal in education
Supposedly, the big advantage of public/private partnerships is that they will bring the alleged efficiencies of the private sector to projects that involve public money […]
On Gerry Brownlee, the Christchurch recovery and Jafar Panahi
Famously, Winston Churchill once described one of his American political allies as being “the only bull I know who carries his own china shop around […]
On corporate manslaughter, and France’s upcoming elections
Yesterday, the Pike River inquiry heard renewed calls for a criminal charge of corporate manslaughter to be put on the books in New Zealand. “Some […]
On charter schools, and DoL backdown at Pike River
Years ago and in a more innocent time, whenever advertising agencies wanted to spice up a product for local consumers they would use the word […]
On the Supreme Court’s mauling of Obamacare
It’s been 12 years since the last shamelessly partisan verdict by the conservative- dominated US Supreme Court when – after the 2000 election – they […]
On the Chinese cyber security threat
On paper, the decisions to partner with the Chinese firm Huawei in the roll out of ultra fast broadband (and rural broadband) in New Zealand […]
On The Hunger Games and body image
Earlier this year, Next magazine published a scary survey on the body image of young New Zealand women, a story that prompted Labour MP Sue […]
On CEO public sector pay, and North Korea’s nuclear threat
This morning’s NZ Herald story about the massive pay hikes for chief executives in the public service knocks a hole in the rationale for the […]
On McCully’s latest debacle, and on a fracking counter-measure
So Nick Smith has fallen on his sword, while dutifully covering for John Key’s leadership inadequacies on this issue as he did so. At the […]
On the Urewera verdicts (and Nick Smith)
While the Crown regroups and rethinks about a possible retrial of the Urewera four, the country should taking a long, hard look at how the […]
On the local government reforms
Clearly, centre-right governments dislike Big Government only when it isn’t their brand of government. When it is, many of the democratic brakes get removed, quick […]
On the speeches by John Key and David Shearer
The much touted smackdown between John Key and David Shearer – one gives a major speech at breakfast, the other at lunchtime! – turned out […]
On David Cunliffe’s comments on the ports of Auckland dispute (and on Iran)
Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Cunliffe made a useful contribution to the ports of Auckland dispute this morning. As Cunliffe says, the proposals that management […]
On Tinariwen, and the forgotten war in Mali
Sometimes, civil war in Africa can even bring suffering to the well-heeled patrons of the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington. Tinariwen, the Tuareg […]
On Defence’s failed policy of “civilianisation”
One of the tried and true maxims of management is that business hates uncertainty – because, don’t you know, business can’t be done in a […]