Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Here’s a stat for you: 25 percent of cigarettes sold in New Zealand are from the black market. They’re being smuggled into the country and criminals are making millions selling them on Facebook Marketplace and construction sites. All over the place. And you probably don’t have to go far to find a dairy selling them, either. That figure has been put out by the tobacco industry in New Zealand. Altho...

I love the way David Seymour is describing the size of cabinet and the number of government departments.  He says the whole lot are "a big, complicated bureaucratic beast". And he is spot on.  Here are the numbers that say it all: we have 82 portfolios, 28 ministers, and 41 separate government departments and agencies. If that doesn’t sound like a complicated beast, I don’t what does.&nb...

If you think it’s expensive to travel around the country now, it’s about to get more expensive with KiwiRail ditching one of its ferries.   But even though flying isn’t cheap, KiwiRail can forget about me making any interisland ferry bookings. Because why would ya?   Two dungers —either of which can be out of service on any given day— no thanks.   This all goes back to the decision...

Get ready for what we now know will be a winter of discontent after the announcement by Nicola Willis that she is slashing government spending.  Which shows us once and for all, that the income tax cuts were a dreadful mistake. Because it’s not just ideology driving these budget cuts - it’s need.  The Government has much less money coming in the door through taxation - which means it’s g...

The Labour Leader is pushing back against criticism of emergency housing motels amid an increase in reports of concern to Oranga Tamariki. It estimates its seen a 45% increase in reports in the year to April, and data shows that as of March 31st, there were 1,391 children overdue to be given a social worker.  Chris Hipkins is rebuking the idea the situation is a legacy of the previous Labour...

I reckon a lot of us in Canterbury won’t be as excited as people elsewhere in the country about the Government’s plan to let builders, plumbers and drainlayers sign-off their own work. I say that because of the bare-faced lies a lot of us were told by builders after the quakes. So this is going to apply to the construction of simple, standardised houses to try and reduce the need for so many counc...

I reckon a lot of us in Canterbury won’t be as excited as people elsewhere in the country about the Government’s plan to let builders, plumbers and drainlayers sign-off their own work. I say that because of the bare faced lies a lot of us were told by builders after the quakes. So this is going to apply to the construction of simple, standardised houses to try and reduce the need for so many counc...

I’ve surprised myself with my reaction to this plan to open a bottle store right across the road from the bus interchange, in central Christchurch. But I think it’s a terrible idea. And it’s a gut thing. Seeing all the stuff that goes on in the central city, my gut tells me that that’s probably the last place you’d want a bottle store. I’m surprised by the way that I feel about it because, normall...

Is it ever-so-slightly ironic that, on the same day that the first highway in the South Island had its speed limit increased to 110 kph, we had the Government announce that it wants to make it easier for people to get their driver’s licence?  The highway is the main drag that runs between Christchurch and Rolleston. And the proposed driver licence changes are a range of things to make it easi...

The Treaty Principles Bill is history. Done and dusted. But ACT leader David Seymour, who came up with the bill in the first place, has no regrets.    And it’s not done and dusted, as far as he’s concerned.   He could bring it back again. But I think what he’s most likely to do is make it a campaign issue in next year’s general election, or try to get a more explicit equality provis...

There's a lack of enthusiasm for a ferry service between Wellington and Lyttelton.  According to Local Democracy Reporting, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon believes the Government should consider reinstating the service, which ran from 1895 to 1976.  National Party's Vanessa Weenink told John MacDonald the idea is harking back to the old days.  She says she’s unsure what the business c...

There's a lack of enthusiasm for a ferry service between Wellington and Lyttelton.  According to Local Democracy Reporting, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon believes the Government should consider reinstating the service, which ran from 1895 to 1976.  National Party's Vanessa Weenink told John MacDonald the idea is harking back to the old days.  She says she’s unsure what the business c...

I saw a brilliant cartoon the other day which had America’s founding fathers sitting around a table writing up the country’s constitution - and they had agreed that the US wouldn’t have a king, but they were thinking about having a drama queen instead.   And after what we saw overnight, I think it would be pretty hard to argue that the current US president is anything but a drama queen. He’s...

John MacDonald was joined today by Mayor Phil Mauger.  They discussed the potential for Christchurch to be home to the delayed Erebus Disaster memorial – is Christchurch an appropriate home?   The central city has been overrun by birds and their droppings, does the Council have a plan to deal with the mess? And what measures will the council take regarding the new build’s in the city’s e...

If the MP for Ilam, Hamish Campbell, thinks he’s going to get away with not saying anything more about his involvement with this underground religious group, then he’s dreaming.   It doesn’t have an official name, but it’s known as the “Two By Twos” and it’s being investigated by the FBI and the police for child abuse.   One of its former ministers here in New Zealand has admitted 55 chi...

It would be great if we didn’t have to spend $12 billion on our defence force. But we do, and I’m good with it.    To be honest though, while we’d known the Government had some sort of plan to increase defence spending, I was still blown away a bit by the scale of it when the announcement came through.    So, $12 billion over the next four years. There’ll be new helicopters, mo...

I’m liking what Sir Ron Young is saying about prison sentences today. He’s really challenging us, saying that we need to re-think what we do with people given sentences of two-to-three years. He’s talking about not sending them to conventional prisons and giving them conjugal rights. This is how they deal with things in Scandinavian countries. He thinks we should do the same here. And I reckon we...

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reckons people in Australia are going to feel dumped-on by the United States after yesterday’s trade tariffs announcement. And he thinks that Australians will feel differently about Australia's relationship with America.   Like us, imports into the United States from Australia are going to be hit with a 10% tariff.   And Albanese —who is on the...

John MacDonald was joined in studio by Vanessa Weenink and Reuben Davidson to delve into some of the biggest political stories of the week. The US President has rolled out tariffs of at least 10% on almost all imported goods – what will this mean for our export market?  Is the need for housing in Canterbury so great that intensification is inevitable? And will the supermarket announcement mak...

We were all standing up and cheering the Christchurch City Council three years ago, when it flipped the bird at the Government over housing intensification. Because there was no way we were going to agree to three, three-story houses being built on one section.   But I’ve changed my thinking.   Eventually, the city council kind-of pulled its head in. But it’s still dragging the chain a b...

The Prime Minister has lived up to his talk of being a great negotiator, saying “thanks but no thanks” to Team New Zealand.    Because a great negotiator is always prepared to walk away if the negotiations aren’t going their way, and that’s what the Government has done. Telling Grant Dalton and Team NZ that putting $75 million of taxpayer money into hosting the next America’s Cup would b...

Four more years. That's how long we’re going to have to wait for KiwiRail's new interisland ferries. But I reckon it will turn out being longer than that.   The Government says it will be December 2029. By then, we will have had two elections.   But I don’t think it will happen in that timeframe, because I listened this morning to someone who knows a bit about this. Mark Thompson’s his n...

Where's the grocery commissioner? Wasn’t he going to get cheaper groceries for all of us? That was the idea. But he hasn’t. So is Nicola Willis going to do it? My prediction, is she won’t. Because, no matter how much we would all like to pay less at the supermarket, the two ideas she announced yesterday are duds. And I’m picking that, if you did a grocery shop yesterday afternoon, the Government’s...

Some people think a 90-day trial for new workers is tough, but what about a two-day trial? Which is what’s happened with Liam Lawson.   And like his Red Bull teammate, world champion Max Verstappen, I think it stinks. Verstappen thinks Lawson should have been given more than two races to prove himself, and I couldn’t agree more.   Red Bull are dressing it up, saying that they’re dumping...

National’s Matt Doocey and Labour’s Megan Woods joined John MacDonald in studio to discuss some of the biggest political stories of the week.   Green MP Tamatha Paul has been under fire for her comments about beat police – does their presence really make people feel less safe? And how do her comments bode for Labour, given they’re potentially coalition partners?  Is it fair the new Chris...