Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

I remember years ago when the Anglican Church was being bullied by every Tom, Dick and Harry about fixing up the Cathedral in Cathedral Square after the earthquakes, and I was having a conversation with a person who was involved in the campaign with Jim Anderton and all those guys. And he was telling me how imperative it was that the cathedral be rebuilt or restored, how it was part of the fabric...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John was joined by Labour's Sarah Pallett and National's Nicola Grigg for Politics Friday. They discussed the Stuart Nash situation, Red Zone land on the Port Hills being sold and the Vatican getting involved in the rebuild of the Catholic Cathedral. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Christchurch judge has sent an 18-year-old guy to prison for two-years-11-months and I don’t know whether the judge has done the right thing or the wrong thing. I mean, talk about judges being all over the show when it comes to sentences. Let me give you a bit of background. Straight up: I think the guy sounds like a real piece of work. That’s putting it politely. There are other words I’d like...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald was thrilled to talk to Graham Gouldman of hit English rock band, 10cc. The band will be performing in Christchurch at the Issac Theatre Royal on June 1st as part of their 'Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour'. John spoke to Graham about the tour, the bands long history and his journey of songwriting. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

The Minister of Muscles Stuart Nash might need a few extra protein shakes after last night’s drama. It was about 7 o’clock when the Prime Minister fronted the media and announced that he had stripped Nash of all his ministerial responsibilities and he was no longer a Cabinet Minister. And he never would be again. Remember Nash was on his final, final, final, final warning after getting all cocky o...

Here are some official stats about violence in this country. When it comes to sexual violence convictions, Ministry of Justice data shows that 46 percent of offenders are European New Zealanders and 29 percent are Maori. Numbers that were probably ringing around in Marama Davidson’s head when she said after the transgender protest in Auckland on Saturday that white men are the violent ones. That’s...

Next time I spill tomato juice down the front of my shirt, I’ll know what it was like for Posie Parker on Saturday. Posie is the gender activist that most of us had never heard of until she arrived in Australia on her so-called “speaking tour” and had a bunch of far-right clowns turn up and do the Nazi salute. It was all over the news which meant that, as soon as word got out that she was heading...

There’s that old line, isn’t there, about it taking a village to raise a child. If I think about the literal meaning of that - I think about the mini communities or villages we have in our lives. School communities. Sports communities. The types of things that, generally through our kids, we meet and spend time with other people pretty much in the same boat. So, if you think about a school communi...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John was joined by Labours Sarah Pallett and Nationals Gerry Brownlee. They discussed Nationals education plan, is it really the answer the education system needs? Water bottling looks to be returning to Christchurch, what do they feel about it? And Wayne Brown has withdrawn Auckland from Local Government New Zealand, is this a good move or not? LISTEN ABO...

Whenever in the past I’ve been in positions that have involved hiring staff I’ve always known that, when you decide to appoint someone, you need to know clearly in your head why you’re appointing them and what it is about them that makes them the best person for the job. You do that for a couple of reasons. Firstly, just to double-check your thinking and to make sure that the person you think is t...

I’m still getting my head around the fact that, after all the logistics of getting the boats and the competitors here from around the world and all the planning and disruption, the actual SailGP races on Saturday and Sunday only lasted a total of about an hour or so. Three races on Saturday and three races yesterday. And this is what was going through my head and what we were talking about as we d...

I reckon Stuart Nash would benefit from having a bit more time to spend in the gym. I don’t know how many times this week I’ve seen stories about him being known around Parliament as the “Minister of Muscles”. But it’s the way he muscles in where he shouldn’t be that’s got him in hot water. It all started on Wednesday morning when he was on Newstalk ZB bragging about cracking down on gangs. And it...

Newstalk ZB's Canterbury Mornings was thrilled to host Charlie and Craig Reid of The Proclaimers live in the studio today.  John talked to the Scottish legends about their musical journey, the new album 'Dentures Out', and their concert tonight in Christchurch, which is part of their biggest New Zealand tour to date.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police Minister Stuart Nash says, when it comes to sentences for gang members, judges in our courts need to "read the room better". Comments, I think, are just as relevant to other cases. Such as the one which wound up in the High Court in Christchurch yesterday with 18-year-old Khanye Te HeuHeu being sent to prison for five-and-a-half years for killing 16-year-old Zion Purukamu at a birthday part...

A billion dollars. That’s how much Prime Minister Chris Hipkins slashed from the Government’s spending plan yesterday. Not that it’s going straight into the bank, because it’s a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul. The money will go instead into the bread and butter things Hipkins has been talking about since he became leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister seven weeks ago. And, as a result...

Have you ever nicked anything from a shop before? The reason I ask, is this news out today about retail crime going through the roof. Let’s start with the numbers, which have been obtained and released by the National Party. Overall, the rate of retail crime increased last year by 39 percent. Break that down to a day-by-day number, and every day last year the police received nearly 300 calls about...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald was joined by Duncan Webb and Gerry Brownlee. Had Duncan done any further work on the investigation about Water Use Charges being fair for Christchurch residents? What will National do about the consultant spend in Government should they win the election? And what do they think about the current fight between the Christchurch Council and dev...

I don’t think anyone will disagree that the heart and soul of Christchurch's post-earthquake rebuild - especially in the central city - has been delivered by the private sector. Sure, a truckload of public money has gone into things like the Te Pae Convention Centre and the Margaret Mahy Playground. But, if you ask most people, I reckon they’ll say it’s things like Riverside Market, Little High, T...

Greg Murphy doesn’t mince his words, does he? I suppose you get like that when you make a living out of driving cars around race tracks at breakneck speeds. Not much time to overthink things. Respond fast. Which is why it is so refreshing to hear someone like him. Firstly, because he knows what he’s talking about. If you want to talk to someone who knows what cars and driving are all about, you ta...

Beloved Kiwi Comedian Dai Henwood joined John MacDonald on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings ahead of his Unity speaking engagement in Christchurch tonight. The event is part of Unity Week, and Henwood will be speaking about his cancer journey and what it has taught him about life. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve been to Christchurch Hospital anytime recently, chances are you’ve come across gang members either inside the building or outside in the car park area. I was there the other week and there were four Mongrel Mob guys out in the car park. But that was nothing compared to what I saw about 18 months ago when I was visiting the hospital daily for about a week. There were Mongrel Mob guys all...

I could be imagining this, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that long ago that Transport Minister Michael Wood was thumping the desk in Wellington demanding answers over the state of our roads. He was making all the right noises. Then we had another summer when a lot of us were travelling all over the place and seeing with our own eyes how bad things are out there. But at least we thought the message...

Today, the school students are out on the streets for another climate change strike. And, while they’re doing that, there’ll be an environmental disgrace happening beneath their feet. Those of them in Christchurch, anyway. Because it’s been revealed that, because of leaky pipes, we’ve lost 14 billion litres of water in a year, or 38 million litres a day, in Christchurch. 27 percent of our water, g...

John MacDonald spoke to Poto Williams and Gerry Brownlee about the news that Christchurch is losing 38 million litres of water every day due to leaking pipes and broken infrastructure. Is this good enough from the Christchurch Council? Is Andrew Coster still up to the job as Police Commissioner, and does he have Poto Williams' support? And is Wellington getting too heavy handed when it comes to lo...

You’re never going to get me saying the police have it easy. And, likewise, you’re never going to hear me saying being Police Commissioner is a cushy number. You imagine being the top dog in charge of the police force. Not an easy gig. But, pretty much like every job that most people wouldn’t want to do, there are always others willing to put their hand up and give it a go. Police Commissioner is...