Gordon Campbell on the Rugby World Cup Victory
Opinion – Gordon Campbell This close, nail biting victory – without the triumphalism that the All Blacks running riot over their opponents would have entailed […]
Elections
On youth voting and the RWC’s C-List celebrities
The Greens’ Gareth Hughes has highlighted the apparent lack of interest by the young in this year’s election. Only about 72% of eligible 18-24 year […]
Too Old To Vote?
As the population ages, will senile voters decide the election outcome in future?
On Barack Obama’s debt deal
If nothing else, Barack Obama’s tactics during the debt ceiling crisis have clarified how he plans to run for President next year: not as a […]
On the capital gains tax debate
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com The fact that, at last, one of New Zealand’s major parties has embraced the kind of tax on capital […]
On the Te Tai Tokerau result
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com In the wake of his victory in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, Hone Harawira has run strategic rings around […]
On John Key’s Assault On The Welfare System
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com If John Key is the face of moderation, there’s not much room left on the margins for the extremism […]
Gordon Campbell On The Budget – And Petrobras
Cartoon by Trace Hodgson While Deficit Phobia provides the rationale for the austerity and privatisation measures contained in this year’s Budget, the government’s stance is […]
On the government’s lead in the polls, and Labour’s response
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Now that National have gained – according to the latest TV3 poll anyway – a further huge lead in […]
On the Welfare Working Group final report
Bureaucrats and academics tend to enjoy playing God with the lives of the vulnerable – but evidently, even the Welfare Working Group members couldn’t agree […]
Gordon Campbell on the Winston Peters veto (plus Egypt, Haiti)
So if voters return Winston Peters in government, the National Party will not work with him in any governing coalition. Fair enough. It is up […]
On Hone Harawira, and Jafar Panahi at the Oscars
None of the recommendations from yesterday’s hui in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate are likely to delight the Maori Party leadership, but the one that […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s war with itself
Article – Gordon Campbell All hands in the crew steering the good ship NZ Inc are supposed to be (a) pulling their own weight and […]
On disenfranchising prisoners, and 'Desperate Housewives' as a Saudi tool of oppression
The pre-Christmas period is traditionally a time for dumping politically noxious material on the public, in the hope they’ll be too distracted to notice. Certainly, […]
On the Mana by-election results
Chris Faafoi. Image: Budget 2005 – Scoop Photo Essay When you’re hot you’re hot, the Nashville musician Jerry Reed once explained, and when you’re not, […]
On Obama’s wake-up call
Judging by yesterday’s results, the only thing Americans hate more than Big Government is Big Government that doesn’t protect them in times of economic adversity. […]
On the US midterms
[Image amoeck, via The 100 Best Signs At The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear] On the eve of the inevitable catastrophe for the Democrats […]
On aged care, and the Len Brown, Celia Wade-Brown triumphs
The Greens/Labour Party investigation of conditions in the aged care sector in New Zealand paints a hair-raising picture of this country’s quality of care for […]
On the Aussie election stalemate
As the Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter Hartcher says, there’s a rough justice to the Australian election outcome, given that both major parties ran essentially […]
On Labour’s money problems and looming by-elections
If Labour and its leadership didn’t have enough immediate problems, the party’s capacity to mount an effective election campaign next year is certain to come […]
On the Green Party conference
The Greens held their party conference last weekend – the first for some years not dominated by an actual or pending leadership change. This time, […]
On Gordon Brown’s exit, and the SAS role in defending women’s oppression in Afghanistan
Now that Gordon Brown has resigned, the way is a little bit clearer for Nick Clegg to make a deal with Labour – but only […]
On the ongoing Peter Saunders saga, and the UK election
Now that everyone has had a good laugh at Social Development Minister Paula Bennett for mixing up which Peter Saunders she had actually appointed to […]
On the Iraq election, and the attacks on Andrew Williams
So Iyad Allawi’s secular Sunni coalition has won the most seats in the Iraqi elections. While the mainstream media from the New York Times to […]
On the looming elections in Iraq
Early next month, Iraq is due to hold an election. One of the ironic outcomes of the US/UK led invasion in March 2003 has been […]
Managing the Press Gallery, and Afghanistan
Click for big version As a free fire exercise in which anything at all can be raised, the Prime Minister’s post Cabinet press conference should […]
The Referendum About Hitting Kids
Diversion, as every parent knows, is a useful ploy in good parenting. You divert the angry child’s attention away – with a game, or another […]
The Winston Peters Comeback
Only Winston Peters could say the hardest word in the political lexicon – “Sorry” – by implying that his mistakes were really due to his […]
John Key’s Zen press conference, and Iran’s stolen election
Faced with the dying embers of the Richard Worth scandal at his press conference yesterday (audio & report, video), John Key reached for gasoline, not […]
On the power company rip-offs
Spot the difference. A Rotorua couple get $10 million overpaid by Westpac into their bank account and hive off with it, with Interpol and the […]