Gordon Campbell on Treasury’s plans for Kiwirail
Is there any more terrifying phrase in the English language than “Treasury recommends”? The latest idiotic idea to emerge from the Treasury – lets close […]
General Politics
Gordon Campbell on Tiwai Point, and saying “No” in Greece
Its hard to see how Rio Tinto’s one month delay in announcing its intentions about the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is a good sign for […]
Gordon Campbell on the crisis in Greece
Greece, as the cradle of democracy, is getting no brownie points for actually practicing it. The decision by the Greek government to go back to […]
Gordon Campbell on climate change protest, and Iraq training
For sheer style, humour and content fit for purpose, it would be hard to beat yesterday’s Greenpeace protest at Parliament. The fact that the hanging […]
Gordon Campbell on telling the poor to ask for more
The government’s “let them ask for more” response to the dilapidated, cold and unhealthy conditions faced by many families in state housing can only be […]
Gordon Campbell on what Uber and The Hobbit have in common
Remember the Great Hobbit Fiasco of 2010 – when John Key, Gerry Brownlee etc bowed and scraped to the lords of Warners and changed our […]
Gordon Campbell on the Pope’s encyclical on climate change
The spread of market mechanisms into every facet of life – as health, education and the environment get treated as mere commodities – has seen […]
Gordon Campbell on the reasons for Southern DHB’s problems
Once again in our health system, making the books look healthy seems more important than ensuring the patients are healthy. The fact that people pay […]
Gordon Campbell on today’s showdown over Obama’s TPP trade agenda
The defeat that the White House suffered last Friday in its quest for effective ‘fast track’ authority (aka Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA) need not […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates
All hail Graeme Wheeler. Because at some point this year, the government appears to have contracted out all the major decisions to do with running […]
Gordon Campbell on the TPP revelations about Pharmac
The health system transparency measures contained in the latest Wikileaks revelations about the TPP have been a long running concern. The fact that the Pharmac-related […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s stalling on health and safety
In the last five years, workplace accidents have killed nearly 300 workers in this country. Yesterday’s accident at a quarry in Canterbury once again demonstrates […]
Gordon Campbell on the centre-left’s quest for economic ‘credibility’
Yesterday, the Guardian published a long, fascinating account of the infighting and tactical manoeuvring within Ed Miliband’s UK Labour leadership team during the last eighteen […]
Gordon Campbell on the Greens’ new co-leader, James Shaw
No doubt, the new Green Party co-leader James Shaw will be on the receiving end of a ton of advice in the coming weeks about […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2015
From the outset, the slogan for yesterday’s Budget – “The Plan Is Working” – begged to be mocked. There’s actually a plan for the national […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s belated moves on property speculation
Is it a property tax on capital gains or a capital gains tax on property? The Jesuitical distinctions in the government’s spin about its latest […]
Gordon Campbell on the latest good reason for dumping the monarchy
The monarchy, the media and the masses is a threesome made in tabloid heaven, and it has seen a lot of action during this past […]
Gordon Campbell on the death knell for the TPP
It is unusual for anyone to vote for an early execution, but that’s effectively what President Barack Obama’s friends in the US Senate have just […]
Gordon Campbell on lessons for Labour from the UK election
If the polls were right – and the pollsters kept telling us how accurate they’d been in 2010, and even Nate Silver was getting the […]
Gordon Campbell on the token boost to elective surgery
Political tokenism comes in many shapes and sizes, but the $98 million boost in elective surgery is a cynical example of it. The pre-Budget package […]
Gordon Campbell on why Miliband will be the next British PM
The Britain that goes to the polls on Thursday looks awfully familiar to anyone from New Zealand. In Britain too, a smooth but vacuous technocrat […]
Gordon Campbell Key’s abuse of secrecy over Iraq & The TPP
Gordon Campbell on John Key’s abuse of secrecy over Iraq, and the TPP For the past week or so we’ve been hearing a lot about […]
Gordon Campbell on the hair-pulling finale and Gallipoli
Don’t know about you, but when hi-jinks and horsing around are going on, my understanding is that everyone involved is supposed to be having a […]
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 the Reserve Bank’s call to arms about the Auckland housing crisis
The ‘crisis – what crisis?’ response by the government to the Auckland housing price bubble is no longer acceptable. So says Reserve Bank governor Grant […]
Gordon Campbell on UE pass rates and university dropout rates
Houston, there is clearly a problem with (a) the plunge in pass rates for University Entrance qualifications, which has been especially steep among Maori students […]
Gordon Campbell on dollar parity with Australia, and disarming Israel
As the New Zealand dollar edges towards parity with the Aussie dollar, it seems facile to treat this as some game of Transtasman arm-wrestling that […]
Gordon Campbell on the inadequate response to sexual violence prevention
On combatting sexual violence, the government has finally begun to undo some of the problems that were of its own making. Early in March, ACC […]
Gordon Campbell on the Northland by-election
Supposedly, Winston Peters’ victory in Northland has exposed the simmering dissatisfaction with the government that exists out in the provinces. Yet it remains to be […]
Gordon Campbell on a funeral in Asia, the Northland by-election, and news priorities
Supposedly, New Zealand’s destiny lies in Asia, and that was one of Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s rationales for his bungled reforms at MFAT. OK. So, […]