Gordon Campbell On Budget 2026
The Luxon government won the last election by claiming that it alone possessed the managerial competence to fix the nation’s cost of living crisis. Three […]
General Election NZ
Gordon Campbell On Labour’s Vanishing Act
Chris Hipkins is testing the patience (and allegiance) of every centre- left voter. We may be now only a few months out from the election, […]
Gordon Campbell On Pauline Hanson’s Rise, And The TOP Renaissance
Routinely in politics, there is a double standard for outrage. The same people who regarded Jacinda Ardern as a jackbooted tyrant seem to be quite […]
Gordon Campbell On How US Courts Are Helping Donald Trump Steal The Mid-Terms
The world has been quietly hoping and praying that the Republicans will lose control of the lower House or Senate – or both – in […]
Gordon Campbell On The Lifeline Thrown To Christopher Luxon
The National Party caucus seems to have a death wish. In increasingly “uncertain and volatile times,” it has placed all its bets on the guy […]
Gordon Campbell On New Zealand’s Luxon Liability
The National Party caucus has got itself into in a real bind. For weeks, their Cabinet Ministers and MPs have had their work cut out […]
Gordon Campbell On National’s Caucus Ructions
In his tilt at the leadership last November, Chris Bishop plainly forgot Omar’s excellent advice from The Wire: “If you come at the king, better […]
Gordon Campbell On The Folly Of Blaming Everything On Trump
The recently infamous “I’m the CEO/ Your job is the Prime Minister” exchange between Christopher Luxon and Tova O’Brien should be a defining moment in […]
Gordon Campbell On The Grail Quest For The Elusive Luxon Voter
At this point, fans of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon are rare birds indeed. Safe to say, if the National Party does swallow hard and go […]
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 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 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 The Winston Peters Revival, And Canada’s Blueprint For A New World Order
Currently, the opinion polls indicate that Winston Peters is benefitting from the disenchantment with National and Labour. The fact so many people are turning to […]
Gordon Campbell On Labour’s Soft Support In The Polls
Currently, Labour is a receptacle for the widespread public dis-illusionment with the Luxon administration. However, this week’s poll results– which would deliver a hung Parliament […]
Gordon Campbell On National’s Bid To Steal Future Elections
Other countries are expanding the ability of their citizens to vote. In Britain (from which New Zealand has long taken its constitutional cues) the franchise […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s hopes of driving NZF out of Parliament
For months, National’s best (and only?) hope of winning Election 2020 has involved keeping New Zealand First down below the 5% MMP threshold, and out […]
Gordon Campbell on Kobemania, Palestine, and the infrastructure package
Quick quiz to end the week. What deserves the more attention – the death of a US basketball legend, or the end of Palestinian hopes […]
Gordon Campbell on China treating our citizens as coronavirus hostages, and Election 2020
More than once at her post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, PM Jacinda Ardern claimed it would be “very difficult” to evacuate the 53 New Zealanders currently […]
Gordon Campbell on the PM's Hair-Pulling Power Trip
There have been striking differences between (a) the account of the waitress involved in the hair-pulling incidents, and (b) the account being given by Prime […]
Gordon Campbell on John Key avoiding being held accountable for the SIS and GCSB
Will the management split on security and intelligence issues that Prime Minister John Key announced yesterday serve to enhance or to reduce his public accountability […]
Gordon Campbell on the farcical elevation of David Seymour
With the election won, it’s time to find jobs for the boy. David Seymour is the Act Party’s latest scrounger to be rewarded by the […]
Gordon Campbell on Cunliffe’s Last Stand
Right now, embattled Labour leader David Cunliffe has three options. None of them are particularly attractive for him personally, or for the Labour Party. In […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s very bad year
While Labour leader David Cunliffe still appears to be in denial about the extent of Saturday night’s debacle, there was hardly a single redeeming feature […]
Gordon Campbell on a campaign that is ending as it began
This election campaign is getting no less strange as it heads on down to the wire. Winston Peters is still refusing to say whether a […]
Gordon Campbell on first time voting (Greens)
For the last two days, I’ve turned my column over to a couple of guest columnists who are first time voters. They’ve been asked to […]
Gordon Campbell on first time voting (centre right)
For the next two days, I’m turning my column over to two guest columnists who are first time voters. I’ve asked them to explain why […]
Gordon Campbell on the aftermath of the Greenwald/Snowden revelations
[See correction below. link] The credibility issues have come down to two main ones: 1 The email. This has to do with whether Key knowingly […]
Gordon Campbell on the Glenn Greenwald revelations
All that hanging out with the All Blacks clearly hasn’t taught Prime Minister John Key a thing about the ethics of playing the ball, and […]