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Gordon Campbell - Latest News [Page 79]
Gordon Campbell on this week’s election in Afghanistan
Wednesday, 2 April 2014, 10:33 am | Gordon Campbell
In effect, there are three main candidates running in Afghanistan’s presidential election this week: the former diplomat Abdullah Abdullah, the former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, and Zalmai Rassoul - who was, until last year, Foreign Minister ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the ICJ whaling ban and security agencies
Tuesday, 1 April 2014, 10:56 am | Gordon Campbell
The ban on Japan’s whaling programme ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a credit to Australia, who brought the case. Indirectly, it is also a victory for the Sea Shepherd group, whose activism doggedly kept global attention focused ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on Mana and Dotcom
Friday, 28 March 2014, 11:03 am | Gordon Campbell
So far, Mana leader Hone Harawira deserves a lot of credit for the disciplined way he has conducted his discussions with the Internet Party. Harawira has (a) explored whether a basis for co-operation exists (b) sought a bottom line agreement in ruling ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the EU/NZ trade deal
Wednesday, 26 March 2014, 11:46 am | Gordon Campbell
So Europe is “considering” whether to launch free trade discussions, with New Zealand; the parties plan to establish a scoping process and will hold talks next year and if all goes well, negotiations will proceed from there. More >>
Gordon Campbell: Crimea, Bennett, Dotcom and uses of history
Tuesday, 25 March 2014, 10:52 am | Gordon Campbell
So the US wants Russia to be banished “indefinitely” from the G-8 club for its actions in Crimea. Talk about gall. Astonishing to watch the US lecture Russian leader Vladimir Putin over its breaches of international law in the annexation of Crimea, ... More >>
Gordon Campbell: imposing effective sanctions against Putin
Friday, 21 March 2014, 11:08 am | Gordon Campbell
For decades now, there has been a peace dividend from global trade. The more interdependent our economies become, the less likely we are to go to war, as we may have done in times past. Well, the crisis in the Crimea shows one of the downsides of those trade ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s currency deal with China
Wednesday, 19 March 2014, 10:53 am | Gordon Campbell
During Prime Minister John Key’s current visit to China, Key and Chinese premier Li Keqiang agreed to a deal that enables direct trading on the Chinese Foreign Exchange between the NZ dollar and the Chinese renimbi (aka yuan). More >>
Gordon Campbell on the Genesis share float debacle
Friday, 14 March 2014, 10:10 am | Gordon Campbell
In one sense at least, Finance Minister Bill English has done everyone a favour with the way the Genesis share float has been structured. So the shares have been set at an especially low price, the dividend yield has been set at an especially high ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on Shane Jones reverting to type
Wednesday, 12 March 2014, 10:23 am | Gordon Campbell
Anyone who may have feeling twinges of remorse that it might have been a good idea for Shane Jones to have won the Labour Party leadership race last year should be thanking their lucky stars that Labour dodged a bullet on that one. More >>
Gordon Campbell on Act’s problem with taking responsibility
Monday, 10 March 2014, 10:20 am | Gordon Campbell
If it does nothing else, this election will be a test of whether marketing really can turn a pig’s ear into a silk purse. Although it barely registers a pulse, the Act Party has been the beneficiary of saturation coverage in the NZ Herald over the ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on Judith Collins’ milking of the system
Thursday, 6 March 2014, 11:16 am | Gordon Campbell
The Cabinet manual not only forbids actual conflicts of interest when Ministers are performing public duties from which they or their family members and close associates might derive private gain - it also puts the onus on the Minister to actively avoid ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on our response to Russia's work in Ukraine
Tuesday, 4 March 2014, 12:52 pm | Gordon Campbell
To the Russians, the current crisis in the Ukraine must seem like a no-brainer. Ukraine has always been treated as vital to Russia’s self-defence, and to its role as a modern world power. (Russia has had a fleet stationed in the Crimea since 1783.) More >>
Gordon Campbell on the latest NSA spy scandal and Pike River
Friday, 28 February 2014, 9:49 am | Gordon Campbell
Once again, the “Five Eyes” intelligence network (to which New Zealand belongs) has been caught out in a privacy outrage. According to this morning’s Guardian, the British spy agency GCHQ has been secretly recording the images from the Yahoo ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on Snowden revelations and ACT on incest
Thursday, 27 February 2014, 10:21 am | Gordon Campbell
Ever since the existence of the Echelon spy system was revealed in the 1990s, the risk of using cyber-espionage for commercial gain and trading advantages - rather than for military and security reasons - has been obvious. More >>
Gordon Campbell on Richard Prebble’s return, and immigration
Tuesday, 25 February 2014, 11:04 am | Gordon Campbell
So Richard Prebble is back, as campaign manager for ACT at this year’s election. For a political organisation that prides itself on being a fount of fresh thinking for the centre right, the Act Party seems to have a stronger commitment to recycling ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on Commerce Commission supermarket inquiry
Friday, 21 February 2014, 10:32 am | Gordon Campbell
If you were a harried supplier to a New Zealand supermarket, would you trust the Commerce Commission to protect you, your staff and your livelihood if you dared to come forward - to assist an inquiry that looks as if it will be self-hobbled before ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the All Blacks’ investment in rest homes
Thursday, 20 February 2014, 10:50 am | Gordon Campbell
Up until now, the feeling that rugby may be bad for your health has been pretty much limited to concerns about the sometimes cavalier attitude the code has taken towards the risk of concussion. (National MP Mike Saban has been vocal in the past about ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the next US ambassador to New Zealand
Wednesday, 19 February 2014, 10:36 am | Gordon Campbell
Years ago, I asked a former US ambassador how he managed to navigate his way around rural and provincial New Zealand. Pretty easily, he replied: “I just ask the person I’m meeting whether they have a KFC or a McDonalds in their town, and then I suggest ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on the banning of Odd Future
Friday, 14 February 2014, 11:24 am | Gordon Campbell
So the Odd Future rap collective have had their visas revoked because - according to the Immigration Service - they pose a threat to public order in New Zealand. (Allegedly, their visas were not revoked because of their lyrics.) Yeah right. Leaving aside ... More >>
Gordon Campbell on smear tactics in politics
Thursday, 13 February 2014, 11:58 am | Gordon Campbell
Smears are the political equivalent of a hit and run. First comes the allegation that hints of skullduggery - Russel Norman and Winston Peters held “secret” meetings with Kim Dotcom! - and then comes the rebuttal. Unfortunately, by the time the rebuttals ... More >>
