Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Surprised but not surprised. That’s what I’ve been saying to people who have asked me how I feel about the closure of Newshub.   They announced it yesterday and they’re doing the two-week consultation thing. But we all know that’s not going to change anything.   I see even the New Zealand boss of Warner Brothers Discovery —which owns Newshub— is saying people shouldn't get their hopes up that anyt...

Christchurch Airport is stopping any further work on the Tarras Airport project, the pipedream it’s had to build an airport 400 kilometres away in central Otago. 400 kilometres from the city it serves. And 400 kilometres from its majority owner - the Christchurch City Council. The council owns 75 percent. The Government owns 25 percent. And it seems the project will only go further, if the airport...

Following the news today that Christchurch Airport will pause plans for the Tarras Airport until it can get more public and private money, John MacDonald spoke to Queenstown Airport CEO Glen Sowry about his reaction. Is this just patch protection? Or has the right decision been made?   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When I heard that former Police Minister Stuart Nash was spilling the beans on what happened when he tried to get a zero limit on how much property gang members could keep if it was the result of illegal activity, I thought he should pull his head in.   Because, call me old fashioned, my thinking is that once someone has retired from politics, they should keep the skeletons to themselves.   But am...

Did you see Police Minister Mark Mitchell on TV last night? He was asked how-on-earth the Police are going to manage to implement these tough new anti-gang measures and he did what politicians do all the time, and started going-on about why they’re doing it. We know people have had a gutsful of gangs - I’ve had a gutsful too - so the Government doesn’t need to keep telling us that. That’s the “why...

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern once said that ending child poverty was the reason she got into politics.   I wish someone had told her at the time that she was dreaming, because a politician standing-up and saying they’re going to end child poverty is like those appalling old Miss Universe competitions where the contestants stood around in their togs saying they wanted world peace.   World p...

It's Politics Friday once more and this week John MacDonald was joined by National's Hamish Campbell and Labour's Reuben Davidson to wrap this week's political hits. On todays agenda was child poverty, did Labour drop the ball? Can it be eradicated? They also discussed the success of the fees free campaign, and the future of Oranga Tamariki.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

If you’re a parent of any age or stage —you might have little ones or you might be a grandparent, or somewhere in-between— you might find this a bit weird.   But I think the time has come for us to start treating people who are about to become parents the way we treat people who want to drive a car or a truck or a motorbike.   We’re dreaming if we think we’re doing enough just teaching them about...

The 13th anniversary of Christchurch's 2011 Earthquake marks a new horizon for the city.   Much of the CBD has new buildings, and projects like Te Kaha Stadium and the Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre are well under way.   Mayor Phil Mauger told John MacDonald that Christchurch has finally shed its 'unsafe' image.   He says it's no longer the damaged city and has come of age.   A small civic...

Today marks the 13 th anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake.   Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is visiting the city both to mark the day, and for an update on the ongoing fire in Port Hills. Luxon joined John MacDonald on Canterbury Mornings to discuss the anniversary, the rebuilding of the city, and where it’s heading.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Late last year we heard that work on the Christchurch Cathedral reinstatement had slowed down.   We’d had a tip-off from someone who had a mate working on the project, that some of the workers had been told they were being moved to other jobs because the money was running out.   Our news team had made some enquiries and was told “nothing to see here, everything all G.” But we knew there was some s...

Guess what I was accused of the other day? I was accused of elder abuse.   Now, this wasn’t for real. It was from someone who got a bit overexcited about what I was saying about people over-65 getting the NZ Super pension when they still earn more than $100K a year.   A bit extreme, I thought. But there you go.   But I bet the same person who was accusing me of elder abuse won’t be accusing the Go...

Yesterday, I drove from Christchurch to Picton, and back again. And I don’t think any of these extra speed cameras that NZTA wants to bring-in would have made the journey any safer. I took a couple of the kids up to the Inter-islander. They’ve headed back to university in Wellington and, if they’d flown, they would have had to charter their own plane. Not that I was complaining. Because I love tha...

Hands off the Police. That’s my message to the Government. In particular, the Finance Minister who is asking all government departments to cut spending by at least 6.5%.   I’m saying it after Police Commissioner Andrew Coster warned yesterday that he can’t rule out job losses if he’s to deliver the savings being demanded   This has all come from his comments to Parliament’s Justice Select Committe...

It’s Politics Friday and John MacDonald was joined by Labour’s Tracey McLellan and National’s Matt Doocey to wrap this week 's politics. Should Police be exempt from any cost cutting exercises given our shortages at the moment? Matt explains how the government will tackle the growing need for youth mental health services, and what do the make of the ACT Party wanting to fine parents for not sendin...

Quick actions from firefighters in Christchurch have so far saved properties from being damaged by the 630-hectare blaze in the Port Hills.   The massive effort involves 80 firefighters, 13 helicopters and two planes, with a fire break stretching from Worsleys Spur to Dyers Pass Road.   It's spread to the Adventure Park, with no details yet how badly it's affected.   A state of emergency was decla...

Why should one person’s lifeline be another person’s beer money?   That’s how I’m feeling about this stat that’s come through from the Retirement Commission, that there are about 50,000 people claiming the NZ Super pension while also earning more than $100,000 a year.   Which has the commission saying that maybe it’s time we thought about testing people to see if they really need the NZ Super. But...

Three Waters is finally getting the axe.   Labour Leader Chris Hipkins joined John MacDonald to discuss the repeal and the impact he thinks it’ll have on New Zealanders.   The state of the emergency call system is also in the news, John asking if Hipkins’ government really pushed back its upgrade.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I reckon the current government is going to be hauled across the coals just as much as the last government was for wasting public money.   It’s going full steam ahead ditching the 3 Waters reforms, which would have taken control of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater away from local councils and handed it all over to new water authorities. The reforms would also have taken away ownership of...

If you own your own home and you’ve just spent most of the weekend doing stuff around the house, how about this for a statistic? 85 percent of us would be keen on renting the places we live in, if we didn't have to deal with quarterly inspections; if there weren't strict rules on customising rental properties to make them feel more like home; and if there wasn’t the risk or threat of having to mov...

Remember the days when we used to build things in New Zealand like harbour bridges and hydro schemes and tunnels through to places like Lyttelton? These days we talk about building these kinds of things. But not a hell of a lot seems to actually get done. And Auckland mayor Wayne Brown is saying that even less is going to get done up his way after the Government announced yesterday that the region...

If you're after a bit of beneficiary bashing, then you’re probably going to be disappointed.   But if you want to know why I think someone getting the Jobseeker unemployment benefit is now expected to spend an average of 13 years on a benefit, then keep reading.   I’ll explain what I mean, but the key word for me is “confidence”. Which I’ll get to shortly.   But I know there will be no shortage of...

A major mountain bike event is coming to Canterbury for the first time. The Crankworx Summer Series will give new and upcoming cyclists a chance to race against and international heroes this March. Ariki Tibble is the CEO of Crankworx, and joined John MacDonald to chat about the huge surge in the popularity of mountain biking, and how Cantabrians can watch the event live. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystud...

You know that line about the first offer being the best offer? I reckon we’re going to start thinking that way pretty soon about 3 Waters - Labour’s doomed effort to try and sort out the shambles stormwater, wastewater and drinking water has become in New Zealand. There seems to be no shortage of disaster stories. Wellington’s been in the spotlight over the last few weeks and, today, it’s Christch...

How many times over the past couple of years have we said that our local MPs are next to invisible and not doing enough to push our case up in Wellington?    You don’t need to come up with a specific number. But, trust me, it’s somewhere between truckloads and truckloads.    And what about local councillors? How many times have we said that they’re doing nothing either to remind Wellington that we...