Gordon Campbell on Seymour acting up, and Labour’s lost cause
To use a musical analogy, ACT Party leader David Seymour is to centre-right parties what Lindsay Buckingham was to Fleetwood Mac – a talented guy, […]
National
Godon Campbell on climate discounts, and corporates as children
Back when kids weren’t being taken to and from school in two tonne trucks, almost everyone was in climate change denial. Now, even the ACT […]
Gordon Campbell on the foreign buyers tax, and attack ads
It has now been six days since National unveiled its tax plan – eons ago in the 24/7 news cycle – but the credibility problem […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s tax cuts
Since tax cuts are never a free lunch, collecting the revenue to pay for them was always going to be the credibility test of National’s […]
Gordon Campbell on gender posturing and mis-using PPPs in public health
What is it with right wing politicians getting standing ovations for doing the bare minimum? As in… Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron De Santis […]
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 National’s 20th century transport policy, and Labours’ woes
In justifying its multi-squillion dollar, ten years in the making, four lane highway linking Whangarei to Tauranga, the National Party did what it always does […]
Gordon Campbell on Sir Roger’s lament, and the Commonwealth Games
So Dr. Frankenstein is feeling upset about how his monster has turned out. To the dismay of Sir Roger Douglas, the ACT Party has become […]
Gordon Campbell on how political donations favour the centre-right
Political donations are not gifts. They’re an investment. Lest the recipients forget the gesture, one of the purposes of political lobbying is to remind everyone […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s need for Winston Peters
As a spectacle, politics can be pretty boring. MMP politics isn’t a cage fight, or even (ultimately) a struggle between individual parties. Moreover… Under MMP, […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s law and ordure policy
So here we are… Barely 75 days out from election day, and National STILL hasn’t revealed how it is going to pay for its stupendously […]
Gordon Campbell on the crackdown on gangs
For much of last week, Opotiki was like the setting of a Wes Anderson movie. Gruff, no nonsense cops. Bikers who looked just as tough, […]
Gordon Campbell on changing the GE rules, plus a music playlist
So Christopher Luxon wants to relax the rules that govern the use of genetic modification outside a laboratory setting. Would this mean going only so […]
Gordon Campbell on sending mixed messages out on purpose
National has developed a novel election strategy. It involves being both for and against almost every issue that comes down the pike. The use of […]
Gordon Campbell on National‘s aversion to transparency
In the last year of a second term in government. the election outcome shouldn’t even be close. All that’s required for a competent Opposition to […]
Gordon Campbell on the NZ Steel deal
Goodness gracious: The National Party has come out against corporate welfare! Or at least it is dead against the government’s $140 million subsidy deal with […]
Gordon Campbell on trying to pass National on the right
It may be naïve to expect any politician to be consistent, but Christopher Luxon really is in a class of his own. One day, he’s […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s epic fail on seabed mining
Seabed mining is a substantive issue. It pits environment harm and the interests of indigenous communities against the relatively few jobs for locals, and the […]
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 childcare as an election bribe
Down the years, centre-right parties have always found male voters to be receptive to a mix of hard-line economic politics and harsh stances on welfare. […]
Gordon Campbell on the sacking of Rob Campbell
Unfortunately, truth was not a defence available to Rob Campbell. He will now be replaced as chair of Te Whatu Ora, the organisation set up […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s “do nothing” alternative to Three Waters
There are sound economic reasons (and equally good reasons to do with social equality) why the Three Waters scheme would centralise water management into four […]
Gordon Campbell on the mauling of Maureen Pugh
National MP Maureen Pugh’s claim that the jury is still out on human-induced climate change – and her rapid conversion to the opposite POV – […]
Gordon Campbell on disaster politics
Most of us have been the CEOs of our own lives for long enough to realise that Cyclone Gabrielle has done a massive amount of […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s selling of its “social investment” policy
There’s a 19th century flavour to National’s “social investment” strategy, in that it aims to seek capital from philanthropists and charitable organisations – some of […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s fraught journey back to the centre
Ever since Christopher Luxon became leader, National has adopted a “small target” strategy. This consists of offering nothing to distract the media from its focus […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s clueless stance on National Super
National Party leader Christopher Luxon seems to be quite a big fan of the conservative mullet – long on populist posturing at the front, but […]