Celebrating 25 Years of Scoop
Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 1]
On The Royal Commission Inquiry Into Abuse In Care
Friday, 26 July 2024, 11:45 am | Gordon Campbell
Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the apologies will soon ring pretty hollow if the state doesn’t treat its response as an overriding ... More >>
On A Textbook Case Of Spending Waste By The Luxon Government
Wednesday, 24 July 2024, 10:31 am | Gordon Campbell
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to ... More >>
On The Biden Withdrawal
Monday, 22 July 2024, 1:00 pm | Gordon Campbell
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded ... More >>
On Why Right Wingers Think All Governments (including Their Own) Are Incompetent
Wednesday, 17 July 2024, 4:08 pm | Gordon Campbell
It isn’t all that surprising that the Luxon government should see no leading role for itself in the response to climate change. As an item of quasi-religious faith, centre-right governments hold that governments – including themselves, presumably ... More >>
On The Trump Shooting And A Potential Hike In Fees For Visiting The Doctor
Monday, 15 July 2024, 1:27 pm | Gordon Campbell
Having watched Donald Trump systematically exploit social grievances, urge people not to accept his election loss and incite his followers to violent insurrection... it is a bit hard to swallow the media descriptions over the past 24 hours of Trump ... More >>
On Luxon In The NATO Pressure Cooker
Thursday, 11 July 2024, 11:31 am | Gordon Campbell
PM Christopher Luxon will be made aware of the pressure on the 32 NATO member states (a) to increase their Defence spending (b) to become less militarily dependent on the US and (c) to treat NATO as having a global purpose, beyond its customary regional ... More >>
On The Elections In France, Iran And Britain
Monday, 8 July 2024, 2:47 pm | Gordon Campbell
Despite hysterical prior media calls that the far right might win an absolute majority in France’s National Assembly, the outcome has been a victory for the left wing coalition, but also for Macron, the left’s unlikely second round ally. More >>
On Saving Journalists, Not An Industry That Routinely Exploits Them
Thursday, 4 July 2024, 12:01 pm | Gordon Campbell
Labour is saying it needs to listen. Apparently, Labour is going to spend 2024 listening, and 2025 thinking about its options. It could be 2026 before Labour finally reveals what it has in mind. Really? Currently, National and ACT are burning down the house, ... More >>
On Macron’s Gamble, And Biden’s Last Stand
Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 10:55 am | Gordon Campbell
On Emmanuel Macron’s risky, rope-a-dope plan B strategy of deliberately opening a corridor to power for the far right, in the belief it will blunt Le Pen's appeal by the next presidential election in 2027. On Trump's new immunity from prosecution ... More >>
On The Freeing Of Julian Assange
Thursday, 27 June 2024, 10:09 am | Gordon Campbell
Finally, Julian Assange is free after 12 years of confinement. Yet ultimately, his freedom was conditional on a plea bargain charade whereby he admitted to a charge under the US Espionage Act that he had unlawfully solicited, obtained and distributed ... More >>
On Cancer Drugs, And The Great Ferries Cancellation Disaster Of ’23
Tuesday, 25 June 2024, 11:47 am | Gordon Campbell
The decision taken last December to cancel the contract for the two purpose-built Cook Strait ferries – without having a Plan B in mind, let alone in place - has been a calamity that’s going to haunt New Zealand for decades to come. More >>
On Why We Shouldn’t Buy New Planes For The PM
Thursday, 20 June 2024, 11:25 am | Gordon Campbell
Do we really “need” a special plane to fly trade missions and media around the globe? Many people would probably like to know to what extent they are subsidising the travels of the corporates on board – is it partially, or totally? More >>
On Why The Biden “peace Plan” For Gaza Is Doomed
Tuesday, 18 June 2024, 11:53 am | Gordon Campbell
After months and months of blocking every attempt to achieve a Gaza ceasefire, Biden is now marketing his own three-stage “peace plan” to end the conflict - which is hobbled by its service to Israeli priorities - while falsely claiming that Hamas ... More >>
On How Moderates Empower The Political Right
Thursday, 13 June 2024, 1:12 pm | Gordon Campbell
Struth, what a week. Having made sure the rural sector won’t have to pay any time soon for its pollution, PM Christopher Luxon yesterday chose Fieldays 2024 to launch a parliamentary inquiry into rural banking services, to see how the banks have been ... More >>
On Our Doomed Love Affair With Oil And Gas
Tuesday, 11 June 2024, 11:37 am | Gordon Campbell
Will anyone really want to invest big time in resuming oil and gas exploration in our corner of the planet? Yes, our ageing natural gas fields are in decline. But betting on foreign oil companies to come to the rescue is a forlorn hope. And, it ... More >>
On Cutting The Sick Leave Of Vulnerable Workers
Friday, 7 June 2024, 12:41 pm | Gordon Campbell
Should sick leave be part and parcel of the working conditions from Day One on the job, just like every other health and safety provision? Or should access to sick leave be something that only gradually accumulates, depending on how long a worker ... More >>
On The Curse Of Being Politically Moderate About Everything
Tuesday, 4 June 2024, 1:24 pm | Gordon Campbell
While the Tories move further right to defend their base against the new threat of Nigel Farage's Reform Party, Starmer is marching Labour right into the centre, by actively stripping out what little remains of Labour’s left-wing identity. More >>
On Nicola Willis And Her Surplus Fetish
Friday, 31 May 2024, 10:12 am | Gordon Campbell
So.... according to the Treasury, we’ll have to borrow $17.1 billion by June 2028, to help fund a nearly $10B tax cut programme paid for by slashing our public services. Conventional political wisdom to the contrary, there is little public support for ... More >>
On Blurring The Lines Around Political Corruption
Monday, 27 May 2024, 1:50 pm | Gordon Campbell
We like to think NZ is free from a culture of political corruption. But the I Am Hope charity whose chair donated $27K to National has been awarded a $24M contract to provide mental health services, and that's just the start... More >>
On South Africa’s Harsh Election Choices
Monday, 27 May 2024, 1:03 pm | Gordon Campbell
The ANC’s goal in Wednesday’s South African election will be to staunch the bleeding of its support, with polls indicating it will lose its overall majority for the first time since the Mandela election of 1994. More >>
