Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

If we choose to ignore or downplay this new information out today about kids taking weapons to school, we’ll be doing it at our peril.   Because what do you hear people say time and time again when something terrible happens? These are people in the news who might be commenting about a stabbing or a shooting, or something like that. What is it we hear them say time and time again?   “We...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is in campaign mode for this year’s elections, saying that he thinks the Government might be onto a winner with its idea of forcing councils to put a cap on rates increases.   I’m wondering if Phil does actually think it’s a good idea, or whether he’s just saying it.  Because I think it would create havoc for local councils having Wellington telling them ho...

The US air strikes on Iran yesterday are a disaster. A disaster that New Zealand needs to stay well clear of. Before yesterday, the prospect of it happening was a disaster-in-the making. And, now that it’s happened, it’s an absolute disaster.  Not because of what might happen today, tomorrow or the next day. But, what will happen when the world least expects it.   Not just in terms of wh...

The Government’s been making it increasingly clear over time that it doesn’t really give two-hoots about local democracy.   But, in the last 24 hours, it’s gone next level.   First up, we’ve got housing minister Chris Bishop, who announced yesterday that he’s going to be given special powers to ride roughshod over council plans if he doesn’t like them. Essentially, if he thinks a council...

Christchurch’s Mayor is back with John MacDonald to discuss the biggest stories from the week that was.  The Government is giving the Housing Minister the power to overrule local councils, and Phil Mauger has some strong opinions on the topic.  Housing intensification is still on the docket, but he’s made it clear they’ll be pushing back against it all the way.  And why are there so...

How weird is it that there are different rules or expectations regarding life jackets, depending on where you are in the country?   I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird. A coroner who has looked into the drownings of a 10-year-old boy and his mother thinks it’s weird too, and is calling for change.   And instead of local councils being responsible for setting lifejacket rules, she...

It was bad enough that a patient at Hillmorton Hospital who had threatened to kill was still allowed to come and go and ended up killing an innocent woman at her Christchurch home.    The fact this person had killed someone else previously, before taking the life of Faye Phillips last year, makes the circumstances behind the tragedy worse.   On both occasions he was a mental health...

I’ve surprised myself a little bit with my reaction to the news the police are looking at introducing body cameras.  Generally, I’m all for it. But the civil liberties people have raised some very good points about them being misused.  One example they’re giving is the potential for the cameras to be combined with facial recognition technology. Which I'm torn on, after finding out about...

Donald Trump won’t be too happy with Helen Clark right now, because she’s saying she doesn't want New Zealand to be an ally of the United States ever again.   I’m with her on that one – while Trump is president, anyway.    I’m also with Defence Minister Judith Collins who isn’t saying anything about Trump doing a review of the AUKUS military alliance with Australia and the UK, to ma...

Matt Doocey and Duncan Webb joined John MacDonald in studio for Politics Friday. They discussed Helen Clark’s recent comments around New Zealand’s relationship with the United States – do they agree?   On the topic of privacy versus safety, when it comes to mental illness, is keeping people safe a higher priority than keeping someone’s health private?  And Tourism New Zealand’s new 100%...

I’m all for the push to have wool carpet used in government buildings but I think it’s a mistake putting it in state homes.   Kāinga Ora has announced that, from next month, there will be woollen carpets in all new state homes. It’s also going to use wool if the carpet in existing homes needs replacing.   Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says Kāinga Ora has managed to get a deal th...

I’m not exactly sure where to start with this, because it is just so tragic and there is so much to it.  I could start by ripping into the people who run Hillmorton Hospital, in Christchurch, for not doing more to try to prevent one of their patients murdering a woman at her home in Mt Pleasant – because I want to rip into them.   I could start with the thought that ran through my head w...

Labour's leader says Te Pati Māori should focus on the issues most New Zealanders care about.   Parliament last week voted to hand down the harshest suspensions in history to three MPs over a haka performed during the Treaty Principles Bill vote.    Labour's Willie Jackson and Adrian Rurawhe argued the punishments were too harsh, but also suggested the Party could compromise or say...

How would you feel if the Government came out and said solar energy is the future and it was going to throw everything at it?   Because that’s something I think it needs to seriously consider doing.   For me, there would only be one fly in the ointment – I’ll get to that. But it’s not enough for me to say that the Government shouldn’t be ploughing money into solar energy.   Lodeston...

“A complete balls up”. How about that for what might be quote of the day?   That’s how Christchurch city councillor Andrei Moore is describing the council’s handling of the housing intensification row.  It’s a row that has been shut down for good by Housing and Resource Management Minister Chris Bishop, who has rejected Christchurch’s bid to have its own, separate housing intensification...

Imagine a school having $800,000 in the bank.  Imagine all the things a school could buy with that amount of money.   This is a state school I’m talking about, not a Flash Harry private school that can put the call-out to the old boys and the old girls when it needs cash to do something.   So a state school with $800,000 in the bank, and this state school has to spend that money fix...

John was joined by Matt Doocey and Tracey McLellan this week for Politics Friday. They discussed the situation with Shirley Boys High School, who have spent $800,000 to move their school away from the modern learning model. Is it fair that schools have to foot the bill for this? The decision has been made around punishment for Te Pati Māori, does this affect Labour's view of working with them in f...

I love this idea the Commerce Commission and the Grocery Commissioner have come up with, of supermarkets giving us everyday low prices instead of the ever-changing, so-called “special prices”.  The supermarket specials that really brass me off are the ones where you might see meat in one of the fridges, and they’ll have a sign showing the price per kilo. That means absolutely nothing to me. M...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger joined John MacDonald this morning for their regular catch up.  In the wake of Raf Manji’s comments about capping rate increases, how does the Mayor feel about its achievability?   ECAN is making a case for a passenger rail in Canterbury – is it a good move? And is selling off Lichfield Street car park a wise decision?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudi...

I am really torn. Because when it comes to facial recognition technology, I’ve always been of the view that if you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about.   But, at the risk of sounding like I’m going a bit “civil liberties” on it, I’m starting to change my tune a bit.     Which I’ll admit is a bit weird considering the Privacy Commissioner has announced that he...

Leeann Watson, CEO of Business Canterbury, joined John MacDonald to give a quarterly update.  Are we seeing signs of recovery in Canterbury? What would a commuter train mean for the city business scene?  And will the Government’s new approach to WorkSafe make a difference for local businesses and how they operate?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

If there’s anyone who shouldn't be told they can wind things back on the health and safety front, it’s a New Zealander.   Because generally, we are absolute shockers when it comes to this sort of thing and our health and safety laws are the only thing standing between our “she’ll be right” attitude and misery and tragedy.   Especially when you consider that —even with the health and safe...

Today on Politics Friday John MacDonald was joined by National’s Hamish Campbell and Labour’s Duncan Webb to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week.  The Government will soon be issuing fines to parents of repeatedly absent students – will this work? Is it a new idea?  Campbell almost manages to explain the RMA changes in one sentence, but what do they mean for New Zealanders?&n...

I can’t find an exact figure but from what I have seen online, I’m pretty confident in saying that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid fines in New Zealand, and that figure is about to rise even further.   Because the Government is dreaming if it thinks people fined for not sending their kids to school are going to suddenly start sending their kids to school, and that they're...

I hope Environment Canterbury isn’t bothering listening to Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.   He’s not impressed that the regional council is going to spend money doing a business case for a rail passenger service between Rangiora, Christchurch, and Rolleston.   Matt Doocey says it’s nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky idea and, given we’re in a cost-of-living crisis, he says ECAN should stick...