Gordon Campbell On The Weaponising Of IRD
So hard to pick and choose but the $2.9 billion tax break for landlords still stands out as the coalition government’s most abject surrender to […]
coalition politics
Gordon Campbell On The Iran War’s Impact On The Economy, And On Air New Zealand
Oil and gas prices have surged since the war on Iran began. The real surprise is that oil prices haven’t risen as much as you’d […]
Gordon Campbell On The “Move On” Homeless Fiasco, And Country Music In The Age Of Trump
According to Police Minister Mark Mitchell, applying the new “move on” laws to the homeless will not put any extra strain on Police resources. Well, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Callous, Short-Sighted “Moving On” Laws
Watching Christopher Luxon try to get to grips with a serious issue can be a pretty sad sight. His response to the homelessness epidemic has […]
Gordon Campbell On The Centre-Right’s Newly Found Passion For Taxes, And James Bond, Snowboard Ace
Meet National, our new “tax and spend” party. Reportedly, the National-led coalition is seriously considering spending (at least) $16 billion on a second harbour crossing […]
Gordon Campbell On Weather, Climate, And The Contest Between ACT And NZF For The Braindead Vote
As the wild weather rages, and once-in-a-century storms and floods become seasonal events, Mark Mitchell, the country’s Emergency Management and Recovery Minister, still seems locked […]
Gordon Campbell On The Not Good, Very Bad, Terrible Unemployment Figures
As the unemployment rate hits 5.4%, the highest jobless rate in a decade, PM Christopher Luxon may be regretting his choice of “Fixing the Basics, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Secret Pact On Rare Earth Minerals, And The India FTA
Drill and dig, baby. The week began with the coalition government giving an Australian mining company the green light for an open cast gold mine […]
Gordon Campbell On Selling The Recovery Mirage, And Wolf Parade
If the economy was an apartment building, the recovery would be the party that’s beginning to kick off in the penthouse flat, while everyone else […]
Gordon Campbell On GDP Growth, And Other Holiday Diversions
No one likes being a downer at Christmas time, so…as we look forward into 2026, we can all agree that some economic growth is better […]
Gordon Campbell On The Shrinking Lack Of Alternatives Here, And In The US
Nicola Willis vs Ruth Richardson? Alien vs Predator? Thankfully, everyone may now be having second thoughts. We all deserve better than a contest between these […]
Gordon Campbell On Our Reneging On Climate Change, And Labour’s Chronic Evasiveness
Politicians are often urged to reach consensus on certain issues, so that everything doesn’t just flip back again when there’s a change of government. Unfortunately, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Rates Cap Gambit, And Chile’s Dire Future
For many councils, the Luxon government’s plan to restrict the ability of local councils to increase rates to a range of between two and four […]
Gordon Campbell On The Coup Against Local Government
It’s democracy Jim, but not as we know it. In line with the plans that the government unveiled this week to reform local government, the […]
Gordon Campbell On Our Faith-Based Economic Recovery
For months, the economic recovery has been said to be imminent, and the forecasters at the banks keep promoting that message, even though the former […]
Gordon Campbell On The Ferries Fiasco, Soft Power And Gaza
Good to hear someone calling “bullshit” on Winston Peters, and on his claims to have saved the taxpayer $2.3 billion on the Cook Strait ferries. […]
Gordon Campbell On Asset Sales, And Targeting The Homeless
So asset sales are back on the agenda, and will be dependent only on the coalition government getting re-elected next year. Yikes. Right wing governments […]
Gordon Campbell On How Rich People Feel Affronted By A Capital Gains Tax
But first…the “shock and awe” tactics being deployed by the government against the teaching profession are extensive. They include ramming through rushed and comprehensive curriculum […]
Gordon Campbell On Labour’s CGT, The Government’s Mean Spirit, And Timor-Leste’s Future
Finally, Labour has released its capital gains tax policy. Labour’s CGT would levy a 28% tax on sales of commercial properties and investment housing, and […]
Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Peddling Of Bad News As Good News
At what point does a Cabinet minister distorting the statistics on issues in their portfolio amount to a sackable offence? Earlier this week, Children’s Minister […]
Gordon Campbell On Māori Customary Rights, And Why Trump Thinks We Don’t Need AUKUS
If something isn’t really broken, no wonder people feel suspicious when government promises to “fix” it to the potential benefit of corporate interests. In 2011, […]
Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Dodgy Claims About Reading Achievement
The spectacular improvements in reading achievement announced by Education Minister Erica Stanford on Monday were almost too good to be true – so it isn’t […]
Gordon Campbell On Luxon Advising Young People To Get Out While They Still Can
If anyone under 35 still had mixed feelings about leaving New Zealand to build a future elsewhere, PM Christopher Luxon probably sealed the deal this […]
Gordon Campbell On The Shameful, Incompetent Decision On Palestine
Given the daily horrors of the Gaza genocide, there could hardly be a more appropriate time for New Zealand to join the community of nations […]
Gordon Campbell On Sickness Leave, And On Our Muted Call On Statehood For Palestine
Sickness doesn’t work part-time, which is one of the design flaws in the government plans to amend the Holidays Act. Once the revamped Employment Leave […]
Gordon Campbell On Playing Performative Politics While The Economy (And The Public Health System) Burns
As the old saying goes, “With your eyes, you enter the world. But with your ears, the world enters you.” This may explain why hearing […]
Gordon Campbell On A Clueless Government Running A Jobless Economy
One of the whoppers told regularly by Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon is that National inherited a terrible, no good economy from Labour, with rampant […]
Gordon Campbell On Using The Tax System To Boost Funding For The Arts
Despite the myriad concerns being expressed about the Regulatory Standards Bill – including misgivings by his own Regulations Ministry and scorn from constitutional law expert […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s crackdown on shoplifters
Politicians do like being tough on crime. Flexing law and order muscle is a feature of the patriarchal Daddy State, and is beloved by the […]
Gordon Campbell on ACT’s charter schools experiment
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this […]