Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public […]
Education
Gordon Campbell on charter schools, and the Ghahraman blame machine
According to Act Party leader David Seymour, if we gave 16 year olds the vote and allowed teachers to teach civics classes in high school, […]
Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when […]
Gordon Campbell on the BlackRock deal and banning cellphones
If a National/ACT government had negotiated the renewables deal with the giant investment firm BlackRock, it is safe to assume that we would be never […]
Gordon Campbell on the Keen-Minshull fallout, and the zombie revival of national standards
Oh, the irony. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull has made a career out of inciting public hostility against the trans community, only to find herself on the receiving […]
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 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 the epic fails of Kris Faafoi
Ever since Winston Peters first breathed life into this government in 2018, its own branding has been all about social justice and how we all […]
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 […]
On Budget 2021’s successes and failures
In some realms of the centre-right, Budget 2021 has been portrayed as a “peak Labour” exercise in which the government has veered sharply leftwards in […]
Gordon Campbell on James Shaw’s spectacular own goal
The apology by Greens co-leader James Shaw was certainly comprehensive. He’s so very sorry that he’s let down not only you, but you and you […]
Gordon Campbell on the sorry plight of the international education sector
Tourism and international education have been two of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. They’re both key export industries. Yet the government response to […]
Gordon Campbell on the search for Covid-19 vaccines, and our media woes
The government always ran the risk that if its lockdown succeeded in saving lives, it would be open to the criticism that it cried wolf. […]
Gordon Campbell on the excellent new classroom materials about climate change
Inevitably, children hear a lot about climate change – on the news, on the street, from their friends – and a lot of that news […]
Gordon Campbell on the teachers’ struggle for better pay and conditions
These days, strike action is essentially a game of three dimensional chess, and the industrial stoppages coming our way in education are a case in point.
Gordon Campbell on bidding good riddance to charter schools
There has never been a body of evidence – either here or in the US or anywhere else – to show that charter schools provide better educational results for kids
The crisis in secondary school teaching
An interview with PPTA president, Jack Boyle
Gordon Campbell on privatising education, and the Amen Break
John Quiggin’s argument on market experiments seems especially relevant to this country at a time.
Smart Idiots
Just because you’re educated doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot
Failure to Launch
The government hopes that voters won’t notice its failure to provide jobs for the young
Handwriting’s premature demise
Computers have not killed handwriting (yet)