Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

I had the joy of using State Highway 1, south of Christchurch, over the weekend. Which is a bit of a goat track. And it’s why there is a bit of excitement about the government announcing that it wants to look into making it a four-lane highway. At least between Christchurch and Timaru. Which, to many people, is a no-brainer. This is part of a wider study the government wants done into transport li...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is defending One New Zealand Stadium for its lack of facilities for general admission concert goers. Some of the 12-thousand people with standing tickets at Saturday's 'Once In A Lifetime' show, were surprised to have to use port-a-loos and food trucks outside the roofed venue.  The permanent facilities were designed for the seated capacity.  Mayor Phil Mau...

Sometimes it feels like an easy thing to say that politicians have no idea what really matters to us. What’s important to us - the people who put them in their positions of power. Today, it may be the easiest it’s ever been to say that sort of thing. Let’s start with Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Who, I think, said one of the most arrogant things I’ve heard any politician say. This happened yesterd...

Bruce Springsteen's  Born to Run album is going to be performed in its entirety in the first Come Together concert for 2026 at the Christchurch Town Hall on Friday 29 May.  One of the musicians involved is Christchurch's Adam McGrath, from local band The Eastern . He joined John MacDonald on Canterbury Mornings ahead of the big gig and he took his guitar along to cover one of "The Bosses...

I’ll make a bet with you. These 9,000 job cuts in the public sector that the government’s announced won’t happen. It’s easy to say. But making it happen is a completely different story. There’ll be some, for sure. But the whole 9,000? They’re dreaming. Because, from what I’ve seen and heard so far, they are flying blind. At the moment, there are about 65,000 people working in the public service. C...

First world problems and all that but, is it really ok to make people use portaloos outside Christchurch’s new $683 million One NZ Stadium? Some people who were in the general admission standing area at Saturday night’s “Once in a Lifetime” concert don’t think so. And I agree. As you may have heard - or found out yourself if you were there on Saturday night - people who didn’t have seats but were...

When I first heard about Winston Peters’ idea to give every newborn baby $1,000 so they can have a KiwiSaver account from birth, I liked the sound of it. Until I did some numbers. Which I’ll get to. Announcing the NZ First policy yesterday, he said it would be compulsory for every newborn to be signed-up to KiwiSaver and the state would throw in $1,000 to get things started. He said the policy wou...

I can understand why people living at Pegasus, north of Christchurch, are upset about the golf course there being sold to a large property developer. But, at the same time, how long can anyone expect the area they live in to stay the same? And, while I might not make friends with the Pegasus people saying this, I think they are just going to have to accept it. What happened is we got a tip-off ear...

Matiu Walters and Marlon Gerbes from Six60 joined Canterbury Mornings ahead of "Once in a Lifetime" at One New Zealand Stadium - the first ever music gig at the new stadium. They discussed their journey as a band so far, the excitement to headline the first gig at the new stadium, and the look back at their first performances in Christchurch from years gone by. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/list...

National's Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Reuben Davidson joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.  They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from fast-track projects, Air New Zealand being deep in the red, and if Pharmac should fund weight loss drugs such as Wegovy. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where do you think government spending should be prioritised? According to new survey findings, a third of us reckon health funding and access to medicines is most important and must be given top priority. And I find it hard to argue with that, because we’re all involved in the health system in some way, shape or form, aren’t we? This is at the same time as we have the Prime Minister and the Finan...

Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins wouldn't say whether his internal polling indicates he would need Te Pāti Māori's support to form a government if Labour is successful in this year’s election. Speaking to Canterbury Mornings, the Labour Party leader said the internal polling he receives shows Labour in the “high thirties”, and he is confident the party is on the right track to win in November. "My...

Why do councils bother with public consultation when, it seems, they don’t even listen to what people have to say? I’m asking that after the announcement by the Christchurch City Council that it wants to put another $15 million into the reinstatement of the Anglican Cathedral. That’s on top of the $10 million the council has already committed to the project. I’m asking because, even though only a...

When I was a first-home buyer, I can honestly say that I never expected any parental assistance with the finances. Now, granted, my father was no longer alive and I probably thought it would be a stretch for my mum to help out. But I had no expectations. And, as far as I can remember, I didn’t grow up with any expectation that the Bank of Mum and Dad would be there to get me onto the property ladd...

Labour leader Chris Hipkins won’t be loving the news out today that the coalition government is on its way to a second term, but Christopher Luxon shouldn’t be either.   According to the NZ Herald - Motu research Poll of Polls, there is an 88.3 percent chance of the coalition getting back in this year.  Election results from the last 12 years have been run through 4,000 simulations, and...

I have my reservations about the Government’s new fast-track laws, because it encourages that whole “do something for the sake of doing something” mentality. And my reservations are only being amplified with this news that Christchurch City Council staff want to use the fast-track legislation to get on with the job of rezoning the land where the old temporary stadium is, in Addington, so it can be...

National's Hamish Campbell and Labour's Tracey McLellan joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.  They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from the OECD's latest report, The Government's plan to introduce a test for citizenship, and if the high number of short-term-rentals are ruining Christchurch's CBD. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Quite rightly, people living in the central city in Christchurch have had a gutsful of the number of places being rented out as Airbnb-type accommodation. They’re speaking out today, saying they don’t want to live in what they call “pretend neighbourhoods”. And they want action. And I’m with them. Because I reckon the council has sat on its hands way too long on this one. It seems to me that it’s...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has defended the co‑governance model of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Committee, which is investigating potential regeneration of the residential red zone. He says progress had stalled, and locals wanted the council to “get on with it.” “It was going round in circles, so we decided to grab it by the throat, sit down, and get on with it and make decisio...

I heard Barry Soper say yesterday that, despite all the hard talk, the Government’s so-called fast-tracking of local government amalgamation won’t actually happen anytime soon.  Certainly not before the election. Which is true. Because this is a big change the Government wants to see happen.  But, in my mind, it can’t happen soon enough.  The fast-tracking bit is the councils being...

If you woke up this morning hoping things had somehow sorted themselves out in the Strait of Hormuz, sorry to disappoint.  It’s still the cluster it was yesterday. In fact, worse, actually. With hostilities ramping up overnight.  Which will probably have Singapore's Prime Minister saying “told you so” to anyone who poo-pooed the comments he made after meeting with Christopher Luxon yeste...

ACT Leader David Seymour seems to be going all Winston Peters on it, with his party’s new immigration policy.  There’s stuff in it I think is ok. But there’s one part I don’t think is okay. This ridiculous idea of banning immigrants from getting any sort of benefit until they’ve been here for at least five years. I’ll tell you why shortly.  But essentially, ACT doesn’t want immigrants ge...

National's Matt Doocey and Labour's Duncan Webb joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.  They covered some of the biggest topics from the week from Coalition dramas, the medias behaviour in Parliament, and if the Residential Red Zone should be built on again. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it a flip flop? Is it a sign of things to come? Or is it just something Labour leader Chris Hipkins said off the top of his head when he was asked about it yesterday? Means testing the NZ Super pension. Because, back in 2023 - when he was Prime Minister - Hipkins completely ruled out the idea of means testing the pension. Now, though, he’s saying he’s open to the idea. And thank goodness he is....

Winston Peters has gone too far this time.  Last week, Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis were telling us not to trust him.  They‘ll be saying it even louder now. After the NZ First leader released emails to the media which show how the Prime Minister was talked out of expressing “explicit public support” for the war in Iran.  And I'm in no doubt that peters has betrayed Luxon's tr...