Gordon Campbell on why wages and jobs shouldn’t be inflation cannon fodder
Hearing Don Brash being wheeled out on RNZ as an expert on taming inflation must have caused whiplash among some listeners. Contrary to myth, Brash‘s […]
Articles
Gordon Campbell on why rugby may be a health risk
While it is old news that the men who play top level rugby union are a heavier (and taller) lot than they used to be, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Battle Over Emissions Pricing
According to the leader of the National Party, farmers are this country’s true conservationists, and tireless in their efforts to protect the environment on which […]
Gordon Campbell on the protests in Iran
The bravery of the young demonstrators in Iran is extraordinary. This is the third major wave of demonstrations to wrack the country in the past […]
Gordon Campbell on how the Christchurch Call serves Big Tech
At this point in 2022, the Christchurch Call looks like a somewhat forlorn effort to keep alive some of the political good will that PM […]
Gordon Campbell on student debt, policy turns and the Beths
It is an old point to make… But boomers did get a pretty good deal out of their free education and plentiful unionised vacation jobs. […]
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand isn’t heavily taxed
Allegedly, New Zealand is a highly taxed country with a government prone to big spending. Supposedly, that’s why we need to scrap the top tax […]
Gordon Campbell on why nothing succeeds like failure
As predicted in this column on Tuesday, the Bank of England has finally intervened to bail Britain out of its self-inflicted economic crisis. The Bank […]
Gordon Campbell on what Britain’s tax cutting spree means for us
Well, that didn’t take long. Briefly, the pageantry of the royal funeral had made Britain look like a world power again. But last Friday’s package […]
Gordon Campbell on ram-raids as a policy outcome, not a cause
New British PM Liz Truss is giving us a useful foretaste of what a change of government here next year would deliver: tax cuts, welfare […]
Gordon Campbell on Air New Zealand’s bumpy path to Covid recovery
Air New Zealand’s new non-stop service to JFK international airport in New York recently received a ton of free publicity, even though the airline’s mishandling […]
Gordon Campbell on the regal mourning marathon
The media coverage of the mourning process for Elizabeth II seems to be as endless as the lines of people waiting patiently to pay their […]
Gordon Campbell on a fun summer, with Covid anxiety
No more traffic light alert system. No more vaccine mandates, even for those in healthcare. Masks are no longer mandatory in retail outlets or on […]
Gordon Campbell on being co-dependent on the royals
For those who do not regard King Charles III as their liege lord, these have been a difficult few days, with the promise of more […]
Gordon Campbell on what the rise of Liz Truss signals for us
True, the writing is a bit florid, but the following passages capture a few of the psychological realities that have been dawning for some time: […]
Gordon Campbell on why Chile’s experiment in direct democracy failed
In overwhelming numbers yesterday – the “no” vote was 62% – the people of Chile voted to reject a draft Constitution that would have been […]
Jeremy Rose on the grassroots struggle to create a new Constitution in Chile
Yesterday (4th September) New Zealand’s Chilean community voted overwhelmingly to approve a draft constitution in their homeland. It has been described as the world’s first […]
Gordon Campbell on King Coal’s comeback, plus a music playlist
Of late, the news bulletins have been carrying alarming images of extreme flooding in parts of Asia, and extreme drought across Europe. Pakistan has 7,000 […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s self-inflicted Kiwisaver disaster
In years to come, the Great Kiwisaver Fees Fiasco is going to be taught in schools as a lesson in political mis-management. To put it […]
Gordon Campbell on the centre-left’s reluctance to pursue radical options
The term “Overton Window” was coined by the US political scientist Joseph Overton, and it refers to the policies deemed to be politically acceptable at […]
Gordon Campbell on our paranoid policies on immigration
If only we could take one tenth of the energy we currently expend on worrying about what Ian Foster’s coaching policies are doing to the […]
Gordon Campbell on Appalachian music, with a playlist
Around the globe, culture is being homogenised by dominant styles of popular music, spread far and wide by delivery platforms like Tik Tok and Youtube. […]
Gordon Campbell on saying goodbye to Dr Sharma, and the monarchy
Dr. Guarav Sharma is now an independent MP. We probably won’t have to wait much longer before we hear he’d be willing to work with […]
Gordon Campbell on why the state buying Kiwibank is no big deal
So… The government itself has bought Kiwibank off its current trio of state-related owners (NZ Post, NZ Super Fund and the ACC) in a transaction […]
Gordon Campbell on why big spenders are not our tourism salvation
Covid and climate change have been changing the face of tourism. That’s why it seemed oddly premature last week for Tourism Minister Stuart to announce […]
Gordon Campbell on the case for nationalising our urban bus services
When it comes to funding and managing public transport, should local government or central government bear most of the responsibility for delivering a quality service? […]
Gordon Campbell on the Sharma chameleon
Gather round the camp-fire, folks. Let me tell you about the Ice Age era of the fourth Labour government, when mean, sabre-toothed tigers like Richard […]
Gordon Campbell on how National’s ”new” welfare plan resurrects a past failure
Sam Uffindell’s defenders keep reminding us that he was only 16 at the time of the King’s College incident, and haven’t we all done things […]
Gordon Campbell on Sam Uffindell’s sorry excuse for an apology
Most of us believe in redemption and atonement… But the timing, the nature and the semantics of Sam Uffindell‘s apology for his role in a […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s plan to privatise welfare delivery
On the rare occasions when it ever gets asked, the public keeps rejecting tax cuts as such, as a policy priority. It keeps saying it […]