Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s Budget
Budgies, so their Wikipedia page says, are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. […]
Taxation
Gordon Campbell on how class colours the reactions to the Panama Papers
Not many heroes so far in the Panama Papers saga, but any number of villains. Those villains happen to include: criminals laundering their ill gotten […]
Gordon Campbell on the govt’s token plans for cyber-security
Basically, the world is divided into two types of people: those who think the Panama Papers illustrate the bad shit that some people do, and […]
Gordon Campbell on political rhetoric, and the Dark Triad
Unfortunately, the systematic use of tax avoidance strategies – by corporates and by wealthy individuals – is not occurring in a vacuum. At an accelerating […]
Gordon Campbell on the political tokenism of the government’s response to the Panama Papers
Image by Grant Buist Prime Minister John Key could have dealt with the clamour for an independent inquiry into the Panama Papers scandal in a […]
Gordon Campbell on the government’s refusal to tax sugar drinks and tackle obesity
True to form, the government seems more concerned about the financial health of the food industry than the actual physical health of New Zealand children. […]
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 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 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 the Northland by election, and a TPP news round-up
Incredibly, Winston Peters is back at centre stage of New Zealand politics, and in the role he likes best – as the virtuous underdog, fighting […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s phantom tax cut package
Hmmm. So National’s tax cuts package turns out to be one of those television advertisements that screams a headline promise – perfect skin! a youth […]
Gordon Campbell on the usual round of mud slinging and name-calling
The media, as its critics regularly point out, is far too easily diverted by political sideshows and slanging matches, from its duty to cover the […]
On the subsidies for The Hobbit
It does have a familiar Winston Peters ring to it. Peters’ proposal earlier this week that Warners should repay its Hobbit subsidies taps into (a) […]
On the speeches by John Key and David Shearer
The much touted smackdown between John Key and David Shearer – one gives a major speech at breakfast, the other at lunchtime! – turned out […]
On bank profits, and Gerry Brownlee’s asset sales plans for Christchurch
Click for big version. The news that the banks in New Zealand have returned to their pre-global recession levels of profit comes as no real […]
On income inequality
The OECD report this week that has found New Zealand to have one of the fastest growing income gaps in the entire OECD will come […]
On the upcoming Cabinet re-shuffle
Prime Minister John Key has indicated that a Cabinet re-shuffle is on the cards. In all likelihood that re-shuffle won’t be moving Bill English, Tim […]
On Labour's plans to raise the retirement age
Labour’s plan to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2033 (with exemptions for some manual workers) and to gradually lift employer Kiwisaver […]
On the Prefu, and on the RWC attempts to vilify the French
Update: Audio – Bill English speaks to media at the release of the 2011 pre-election fiscal update. Click a link to play audio (or right-click […]
On the Right’s Lethal Prescription for the Global Economy
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Stock markets jittery, the price of gold heading through the roof… the vandalising of the US economy by the […]
Left Coasting: Robbin’ the Hood
California’s latest attempt to escape from its low tax / no revenue straightjacket
On Labour’s tax package (and Rupert Murdoch)
There could hardly have been a better set of Dom-Post headlines yesterday – Fruit and Vege Prices Rocket / Healthy Choices Off The Menu As […]
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 […]
Opening the floodgates to tax fraud
Is the most significant change in property law in decades slipping through Parliament virtually unnoticed
Left Coasting : At War With Amazon.Com
Should the e-commerce giants be made to collect and pay far more taxes on what they sell ?
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 lead-up to the Budget
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Throughout his government’s first term, the role of Prime Minister John Key has been to be the bringer of […]
On the oil lobby’s claims about the Petrobras protests
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Nice of petroleum industry lobbyist John Pfahlert to offer to correct “the number of media inaccuracies” that he feels […]
Gordon Campbell on Earthquake Welfare and Libya
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com The decision to phase out the government’s support package for Christchurch business seems to have been plucked from the […]
On Bill English’s attempt to politicize the earthquake response, plus the Rugby World Cup
Images: People Gather at Parliament for Moment of Silence Much of the inspirational rhetoric surrounding the Christchurch earthquake has had a genuine “We’re all in […]