Gordon Campbell on Sir Roger’s lament, and the Commonwealth Games
So Dr. Frankenstein is feeling upset about how his monster has turned out. To the dismay of Sir Roger Douglas, the ACT Party has become […]
ACT
Gordon Campbell on how political donations favour the centre-right
Political donations are not gifts. They’re an investment. Lest the recipients forget the gesture, one of the purposes of political lobbying is to remind everyone […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s need for Winston Peters
As a spectacle, politics can be pretty boring. MMP politics isn’t a cage fight, or even (ultimately) a struggle between individual parties. Moreover… Under MMP, […]
Gordon Campbell on ACT’s anti-worker crusade, and Israeli settler violence
The ACT Party’s announcement yesterday that it aims to stop workers in the gig economy from being allowed to test in court whether they deserve […]
Gordon Campbell on red tape and Nicky Hager’s regal reward
Not for the first time, David Seymour looks like an answer to a non-existent problem. Reportedly, ACT is promising to establish a Ministry of Regulations […]
Gordon Campbell on childcare as an election bribe
Down the years, centre-right parties have always found male voters to be receptive to a mix of hard-line economic politics and harsh stances on welfare. […]
Gordon Campbell on disaster politics
Most of us have been the CEOs of our own lives for long enough to realise that Cyclone Gabrielle has done a massive amount of […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s fraught journey back to the centre
Ever since Christopher Luxon became leader, National has adopted a “small target” strategy. This consists of offering nothing to distract the media from its focus […]
Gordon Campbell on the centre-right’s internal ructions
For donkey’s years, political commentary has been all about the binaries: left/right, Labour/National, government/opposition, she said/he said. Yet currently, a lot of the fascinating conflict […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s incredible disappearing tax policy
During the years of the Key government one hardy perennial of political journalism was that whenever the Labour Opposition would suggest a policy alternative to […]
Gordon Campbell on last night’s political poll, and Lata Mangeshkar
Great poll results last night for the centre left. The Newshub/Reid Research poll had Labour up by 1.6 points to 44.3%. Taken together with the […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s less than stellar choices
Amid all the jostling in the National caucus ranks, spare a thought for Andrew Bayly. Who? Well might you ask. Plucked from obscurity by Judith […]
Gordon Campbell on living in Seymour World
So far, the horse race journalism surrounding the polling rise of the Act Party has not included much consideration of the policies an Act -influenced […]
Gordon Campbell on populism’s changing of the guard, plus a soul music playlist
The weekend’s Newshub/Reid Research poll results – Act up to 11.1%, National up 1% but still sitting at only 28.7%, Labour down to 43%, the […]
Gordon Campbell on the America’s Cup, Critical Race Theory and a new, weekly music playlist
So… Why don’t they just cut to the chase, and call it the Emirates Cup? As this column predicted several months ago, the next America’s […]
Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s big parliamentary air kiss to China
In order to obtain support from the two major parties, Act Party deputy leader Brooke Van Velden twice had to soften the language of her […]
Gordon Campbell on our determination to ignore China’s human rights abuses
For nearly two decades, New Zealand has been juggling our dependency on China when it comes to trade, while expecting our traditional allies to look […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour refusing to lead a progressive drugs policy
Once again, Labour has chosen not to use (a) its parliamentary majority and (b) the huge mandate it was given at the last election in […]
Gordon Campbell on why raising corporate taxes has become a hot new political cause
Surprisingly, “raising taxes” has become a very fashionable political idea in 2021. That’s right. After decades of being seen (at best) as a necessary evil, […]
Gordon Campbell on National being shafted by its own creation
As it licks its wounds, let’s hope the National Party can still find time to look back with some pride at what it has achieved […]
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 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 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] […]
Valuing The Young
The right’s ideological crusade to bring back youth rates