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. […]
National
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand isn’t heavily taxed
Allegedly, New Zealand is a highly taxed country with a government prone to big spending. Supposedly, that’s why we need to scrap the top tax […]
Gordon Campbell on why nothing succeeds like failure
As predicted in this column on Tuesday, the Bank of England has finally intervened to bail Britain out of its self-inflicted economic crisis. The Bank […]
Gordon Campbell on how National’s ”new” welfare plan resurrects a past failure
Sam Uffindell’s defenders keep reminding us that he was only 16 at the time of the King’s College incident, and haven’t we all done things […]
Gordon Campbell on Sam Uffindell’s sorry excuse for an apology
Most of us believe in redemption and atonement… But the timing, the nature and the semantics of Sam Uffindell‘s apology for his role in a […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s plan to privatise welfare delivery
On the rare occasions when it ever gets asked, the public keeps rejecting tax cuts as such, as a policy priority. It keeps saying it […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s incredible disappearing tax policy
During the years of the Key government one hardy perennial of political journalism was that whenever the Labour Opposition would suggest a policy alternative to […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s holiday, and the Greens phantom revolt
If nothing else, some of the media treatment of the Luxon lu’au has reeked of a double standard. If Jacinda Ardern – or any of […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s bunker mentality
RNZ spokesperson John Barr says in reply to this column that RNZ’s “live” coverage of the Luxon press conference was carried only on its website, […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s ongoing problems with abortion
Despite Christopher Luxon’s assurances to the contrary, there is no such thing as “settled law” in New Zealand. Apart from the six provisions that are […]
Gordon Campbell on the flaws in National’s pet solution to gangs and poverty
In the 50 years since Norm Kirk first promised to take the bikes off the bikies, our politicians have tried again and again to win […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2022
At base, the political biffo back and forth on the merits of Budget 2022 comes down to only one thing. Who is the better manager […]
Gordon Campbell On Political Can-kicking, And The“ Louie Louie” Saga
One of the more infuriating aspects of the current political debate is the way the National Party says it would be more rigorous, and more […]
Gordon Campbell on Parker’s tax plan and Musk’s Twitter purchase
Such is our devotion to the ordinary Kiwi battler, we ruthlessly tax the wages they earn and the stuff they buy, while letting people who […]
Gordon Campbell on the Tame interview, and Macron’s endless challenges
National truly is the party of aspiration. Any centre-right voter who watched their champion’s trainwreck interview with Jack Tame on last Sunday’s Q & A […]
Gordon Campbell on gendered perceptions in politics
In recent weeks, barely a day has gone by without Christopher Luxon demonstrating the chasm of ability that exists between the leaders of our two […]
Gordon Campbell on Christopher Luxon’s trashing of the poor
For years, Nicola Willis and Chris Bishop have been routinely described as belonging to the “liberal” wing of the National Party, as if National is […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s “cost of living crisis” gambit
Clearly, no-one should underestimate the political pulling power of a suit offering tax cuts. Last week’s rise of Christopher Luxon and the National Party in […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s tired tax plan
Like a broken record, National Party leader Christopher Luxon is offering a 40 year old formula of tax cuts that (inevitably) will be paid for […]
Gordon Campbell on last night’s political poll, and Lata Mangeshkar
Great poll results last night for the centre left. The Newshub/Reid Research poll had Labour up by 1.6 points to 44.3%. Taken together with the […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s second-hand clothes
According to National’s leader Christopher Luxon and the fawning media coverage of the caucus gathering in Queenstown, its “game on!” Not a great metaphor, folks. […]
Gordon Campbell on rapid antigen testing
National Party leader Christopher Luxon is being allowed to get away with murder. Luxon is not being challenged over his repeated assertions that the rest […]
Gordon Campbell on the ethics of Omicron treatment, plus a playlist
As the Omicron infection wave prepares to break across New Zealand, the “red” condition is likely to be more of a form of gestural politics, […]
Gordon Campbell on the elusive charms of Christopher Luxon
Well, the first 36 hours of viewing the Christopher Luxon selfie were always going to be the best, before the repetitions set in. We get […]
Gordon Campbell on Omicron, and the Bridges/Luxon dilemma
At this early stage, the Omicron variant seems to be more infectious, and more able to bypass the protection offered by vaccines and by the […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s less than stellar choices
Amid all the jostling in the National caucus ranks, spare a thought for Andrew Bayly. Who? Well might you ask. Plucked from obscurity by Judith […]
Gordon Campbell on the demotion of Simon Bridges
So Simon Bridges has been bounced from the front bench and stripped of his shadow portfolio responsibilities for the crudely “inappropriate” comments that he allegedly […]
Gordon Campbell on the politics of vaccine toughlove
Vaccine mandates begin to kick in today for education and healthcare workers. All of them will need to have taken a first dose step towards […]
Gordon Campbell on our weird ways of funding care for the dying
National Party leader Judith Collins thinks the government’s traffic light system for emerging from Covid lockdowns is “confusing.” Perhaps she could be looking in the […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s Covid re-opening plan
After banging for what has seemed an eternity about how the government doesn’t have a plan for removing restrictions and re-opening the country, National’s own […]