Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 28]
On Defence’s Desire To Join The ”Lets Confront China” Club
Friday, 10 December 2021, 12:05 pm | Gordon Campbell
China has been put on notice by us. According to the New Zealand Defence Assessment 2021 report released on Wednesday , and set out in bold type: “ The establishment of a military base or dual-use facility in the Pacific by a state that does not share ... More >>
On The Dubious Wisdom Of Raising Interest Rates
Wednesday, 8 December 2021, 10:15 am | Gordon Campbell
During the last half of the 1990s, the first flickering signs of economic growth would cause then-Reserve Bank governor Don Brash to hike up interest rates and stamp them out. The fear back then was that if left unchecked, the embers of economic activity ... More >>
On The Elusive Charms Of Christopher Luxon
Thursday, 2 December 2021, 9:21 am | Gordon Campbell
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 it, already. He’s an extroverted/big ego/high achieving/God fearing/country music lovin’/family man who is not at all ... More >>
On Why An Attack On Iran Is Back On The Agenda
Tuesday, 30 November 2021, 10:10 am | Gordon Campbell
Reportedly, Christopher Luxon has the edge on Simon Bridges in National’s leadership contest although there is no firm evidence for that hunch. So, one hesitates about joining a media echo chamber that amplifies Luxon’s chances ahead of the 3pm caucus ... More >>
On Omicron, And The Bridges/Luxon Dilemma
Monday, 29 November 2021, 10:37 am | Gordon Campbell
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 antibodies generated by previous infection. The fact that it is being spread around the globe by travellers who were ... More >>
On National’s Less Than Stellar Choices
Friday, 26 November 2021, 11:59 am | Gordon Campbell
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 Collin, elevated from number 18 to number 3 in the caucus rankings and given the Finance portfolio - a role in ... More >>
On National’s Less Than Stellar Choices
Friday, 26 November 2021, 11:57 am | Gordon Campbell
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 Collin, elevated from number 18 to number 3 in the caucus rankings and given the Finance portfolio - a role in ... More >>
On The Demotion Of Simon Bridges
Thursday, 25 November 2021, 10:02 am | Gordon Campbell
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 made to a female colleague, Jacqui Dean – and personally apologised for – about ... More >>
On Farmers Playing The Victim, Plus Chile’s Right Turn
Tuesday, 23 November 2021, 11:06 am | Gordon Campbell
Among the farming lobby groups, the good cop/bad cop routine has been working a treat. It suits Federated Farmers to keep daylight between itself and the Groundswell movement. Month in, year out the Federation continues to engage with the government ... More >>
On The Politics Of Anger, Plus A Music Playlist
Friday, 19 November 2021, 1:19 pm | Gordon Campbell
Angry? Are you talkin’ to ME? Of late, the Code Red levels of resentment inspired by the government’s Covid policy almost make one hanker for the days when people could write best-selling books about New Zealanders being The Passionless People ... More >>
On The Politics Of Vaccine Toughlove
Tuesday, 16 November 2021, 10:24 am | Gordon Campbell
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 full vaccination, largely because their work routinely brings them in contact with either patients or with ... More >>
On The Politics Of Vaccine Toughlove
Tuesday, 16 November 2021, 10:22 am | Gordon Campbell
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 full vaccination, largely because their work routinely brings them in contact with either patients or with ... More >>
On Ethiopia’s Civil War
Thursday, 11 November 2021, 1:45 pm | Gordon Campbell
Stuff is still going on in the wider world, despite what happens here regarding Covid. Or in Ethiopia’s case, what happens there plus Covid. Belatedly, the wider world is coming to realise that Africa’s second most populous country is (a) facing More >>
On The Politics Of Hoping For The Best
Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 9:55 am | Gordon Campbell
As the new daily Delta case numbers surge upwards, it is getting harder for the captains of Team Five Million to make decisions that still seem rational in any public health sense. Although we are only at the outset of the re-opening process, the public ... More >>
On The Calls For “Freedom” From Covid Restrictions
Friday, 5 November 2021, 11:55 am | Gordon Campbell
Free markets, free minds, free choices, Freedom Days. In recent years, has any notion in the English language been so overused and so abused as “freedom?” Freedom used to be the rallying cry of the oppressed and the marginalised. Now it is the ... More >>
On The Calls For “freedom” From Covid Restrictions
Friday, 5 November 2021, 11:53 am | Gordon Campbell
Free markets, free minds, free choices, Freedom Days. In recent years, has any notion in the English language been so overused and so abused as “freedom?” Freedom used to be the rallying cry of the oppressed and the marginalised. Now it is the ... More >>
On Why Three Waters Is A Good Idea Worth Supporting
Wednesday, 3 November 2021, 11:29 am | Gordon Campbell
If anyone needs a fresh reminder of the value of state broadcasting, yesterday’s interview about the Three Waters reforms between RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta provided it. The interview was a stellar example of a crucial ... More >>
On Decoding The COP26 Climate Change Hype
Monday, 1 November 2021, 12:16 pm | Gordon Campbell
Batten down the hatches. Hurricane Blah Blah Blah is about to unload some serious verbiage at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, yet the real damage to planetary aspirations will be caused by the tiny word: “net.” That’s because ... More >>
On How AUKUS Undermines Our No-nukes Cred, Plus A Music Playlist
Friday, 29 October 2021, 10:00 am | Gordon Campbell
Yesterday’s media outings by Covid Minister Chris Hipkins demonstrated the contradictory forces at work. First, the government is being slammed for its lack of compassion in its handling of MIQ and for not simply allowing scads of vaccinated incoming Kiwis ... More >>
On Our Weird Ways Of Funding Care For The Dying
Wednesday, 27 October 2021, 10:52 am | Gordon Campbell
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 mirror because in recent weeks, National has hardly been a model of crystalline ... More >>