Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 22]
On The Case For Nationalising Our Urban Bus Services
Tuesday, 16 August 2022, 11:42 am | Gordon Campbell
When it comes to funding and managing public transport, should local government or central government bear most of the responsibility for delivering a quality service? Ratepayers or taxpayers? Those basic questions re-surfaced yesterday, after the government ... More >>
On The Sharma Chameleon
Monday, 15 August 2022, 11:07 am | Gordon Campbell
Gather round the camp-fire, folks. Let me tell you about the Ice Age era of the fourth Labour government, when mean, sabre-toothed tigers like Richard Prebble ranged at large within the Labour caucus. A being so mean and fierce that - legend has it ... More >>
On How National’s ”New” Welfare Plan Resurrects A Past Failure
Thursday, 11 August 2022, 11:24 am | Gordon Campbell
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 in our teens that, as adults, we look back on with shame and embarrassment? True. Let's be honest. Haven’t ... More >>
On Sam Uffindell’s Sorry Excuse For An Apology
Tuesday, 9 August 2022, 12:21 pm | Gordon Campbell
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 gang that beat a younger kid (reportedly) with wooden bed legs, has left much to be desired. The victim seems ... More >>
On National’s Plan To Privatise Welfare Delivery
Monday, 8 August 2022, 11:28 am | Gordon Campbell
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 wants tax levels to either stay the same or be increased, so that public services can be maintained, or even (perish ... More >>
On National’s Incredible Disappearing Tax Policy
Friday, 5 August 2022, 11:57 am | Gordon Campbell
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 the status quo, the hard bitten response from the Gallery realists would be “But how’re ... More >>
On The “One Person, Many Votes” Principle
Wednesday, 3 August 2022, 10:50 am | Gordon Campbell
That gormlessly glum picture of Christopher Luxon in Samoa graphicallly tells us what kind of image New Zealand would be projecting abroad if there’s a change of government next year. The glumness is understandable. For months, National and ACT ... More >>
On Why We Should Pay Kiwis Living Abroad
Monday, 1 August 2022, 11:47 am | Gordon Campbell
This morning, National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis managed to get top of the bulletin news coverage by pointing out that some Kiwis living abroad might receive the government’s cost of living payment. Quelle horreur. What is the problem here? ... More >>
On Games Fervour, And The Music Of S.G. Goodman
Friday, 29 July 2022, 1:42 pm | Gordon Campbell
Given how the pandemic has disrupted the sporting calendar, no-one would begrudge our elite athletes their chance to compete at international level. What with the war in Ukraine and the cost of living, there are also not many ‘good news” stories ... More >>
On Luxon’s Holiday, And The Greens Phantom Revolt
Wednesday, 27 July 2022, 2:55 pm | Gordon Campbell
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 her Cabinet Ministers – had been holidaying in Hawaii while their social media imagery was depicting them working ... More >>
On The Greens, And On Free Market Myopia
Monday, 25 July 2022, 12:52 pm | Gordon Campbell
Climate change has gone from being one of those allegedly wacky Green ideas to wide mainstream acceptance. In their own ways, leaders like Jeanette Fitzsimons, Russel Norman and James Shaw each added to the increased credibility the Greens’ now have ... More >>
On The Covid Surge, And Re-infection
Thursday, 21 July 2022, 1:32 pm | Gordon Campbell
Hate to sound “fearful” and “inward”in my thinking , but it seems Covid can’t be beaten simply by a dose of positive thinking and a “can do” Kiwi attitude. The virus doesn’t seem to respect our mindset. The Omicron BA. 4 and BA.5 variants ... More >>
On The US Attempt To Regain Lost Ground
Monday, 18 July 2022, 1:09 pm | Gordon Campbell
The brief fist bump between Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammad bin Salman was the most memorable image from the US President’s journey last week to the Middle East. To many, it was a humiliating sign of American impotence. Fist ... More >>
On The US Attempt To Regain Lost Ground
Monday, 18 July 2022, 1:06 pm | Gordon Campbell
The brief fist bump between Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammad bin Salman was the most memorable image from the US President’s journey last week to the Middle East. To many, it was a humiliating sign of American impotence. Fist ... More >>
On Labour’s Bunker Mentality
Thursday, 14 July 2022, 11:43 am | Gordon Campbell
It seems very odd that RNZ thought it was worth breaking into its normal programming yesterday in order to provide Christopher Luxon with a platform from which to try and explain away his latest outbreaks of foot-in-mouth disease. Can we now assume ... More >>
On The Pacific Islands Forum Gathering
Monday, 11 July 2022, 2:04 pm | Gordon Campbell
In recent months, China has been widely portrayed as a major strategic threat to the Pacific region, yet the Pacific states themselves beg to differ. Pacific leaders insist that climate change is a far more pressing existential threat. A month ago, ... More >>
On The Trade Deal With The Europeans
Friday, 8 July 2022, 10:22 am | Gordon Campbell
We’ve grown so used to thinking the “we punch above our weight” cliché is real that the shortcomings in our free trade deal with the European Union may have come as something of a shock. That ingrained sense of Kiwi exceptionalism dies hard. ... More >>
On Finding A Model To Replace The Monarchy
Wednesday, 6 July 2022, 11:47 am | Gordon Campbell
One feels reluctant to pre-empt the verdict of history, but maybe we need to have a Plan B in mind just in case the reign of King Charles III turns out badly. With that possibility in mind, are there any other countries that do a reasonably good ... More >>
On Whether Spotify Can Save Itself; Plus A Playlist
Monday, 4 July 2022, 12:29 pm | Gordon Campbell
Spotify has to be one of the most interestingly futile mouse-wheels of 21st century capitalism. Run, run, run goes the Spotify mouse but it never, ever makes a profit. For reasons set out below, it maybe never will. But it won’t be for wont of trying. ... More >>
On National’s Ongoing Problems With Abortion
Wednesday, 29 June 2022, 11:52 am | Gordon Campbell
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 constitutionally entrenched, legislation can always be amended or overturned by a simple majority ... More >>
