Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

So, five o’clock on Friday afternoon, it was announced that the big new Metro Sports Facility in Christchurch isn’t going to be finished anytime soon. This is the massive building which, at the moment, looks like a stage at an outdoor rock concert. It’s looked like that for a while, actually. So much so, that - to me anyway - it’s looked like not much progress has been made for quite some time. An...

Whenever a child is murdered and I see their photo online or in the paper, I always find myself staring at it thinking ‘you poor little thing, how the hell did things go so wrong’. And today there’s yet another little face I’ve been looking at, thinking exactly the same thing. Today’s “poor little thing” is Malachi Subecz, who was five years old when he died in hospital in November last year after...

How often do you go into the central city in Christchurch? I did a few things in town yesterday afternoon and, I’ve got to be honest with you, there were parts of it that were just dead. There was a cruise ship in town yesterday and I saw a few of those people walking around the place but, as someone in one of the shops told me, even with the cruise ship here - the place was really quiet. And it’s...

This one is a real conundrum. Health New Zealand is going to court today to get guardianship of a 4-month-old baby boy who needs open-heart heart surgery, but whose parents are refusing to give permission for him to receive blood during the operation that’s been donated by people who have had the COVID-19 vaccination. And so the health authority wants guardianship so it can give the permission tha...

There’s a saying I refer to when someone tries to deny there’s a problem by putting up a whole lot of stats as some sort of defence or excuse. And that is exactly what we’ve got happening in relation to crime in Christchurch. The saying goes like this: “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” Which is the message I’m giving to Canterbury area police commander Superintenden...

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger has some answering to do. The first question he has to answer, is how does he think he’s going to get away with his statement over the weekend that keeping rates increases to four percent or less next year is going to be a challenge? Because this is the guy who said before the local body elections last month that he would be the man to keep rates increases down. At v...

So, after failing miserably with Kiwibuild, the Government thinks the solution is to let people squeeze more places onto single sections. Which is why it wants councils around the country to start letting people build three, three-storey properties on one site. Which is something the last Christchurch City Council - before the recent local body elections - flipped the bird at, and told the Governm...

After a 20-year battle, New Zealand band Tadpole has finally gained access to its recordings and today is releasing a special four-album compilation. Best known for hits such as ‘Alright’, ‘Better Days’, ‘Blind’ and ‘Backdoor’, l ead singer Renee Brennan joined John MacDonald on the show today to talk about looking back at Tadpole's days of rock, and the impact the music had on her and the band. ...

John MacDonald spoke to Gerry Brownlee and Poto Williams for Politics Friday about housing density and mediation, Three Waters by Christmas being a possibility and who is going to fix our rising crime rate? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr announced another hike in the official cash rate, taking it to the highest level since 2008. So, in technical terms, it’s now at 4.25 percent - up 75 basis points from what it was this time yesterday. And when you hear economists talking about it and getting all breathless about numbers, it can start to get a bit blah, blah, blah on it, can’t it. That’s...

Yesterday, health authorities announced a delay in the decision whether to close an in-patient mental health unit at Hillmorton Hospital, in Christchurch. There are 15 beds at the Tupuna ward and there’s a proposal to close it because Hillmorton only has about half the number of staff needed to run it. Tupuna is what’s called an “extended care unit”, and is for people with mental health issues who...

I love it how when a 16-year-old does something like ram-raiding a shop or stealing a car, people bang on about them being old enough to know that what they did was wrong and how they made the decision to do whatever they did. But then if we talk about voting, suddenly 16-year-olds have got no idea. Not capable of making decisions on their own, too young, no life experience. And that’s exactly wha...

It was a shocking weekend on the roads, wasn’t it? Lives ended and other lives changed forever. And, yet again, we’ve got the police saying - as they have time and time again - that their road safety messages just aren’t getting through. These are the messages we’ve been told for years now: don’t drink and drive, drive to the conditions, slow down, wear your seatbelt. All the usuals. And we’ve bee...

At the same time the National Party was announcing its plan for boot camps and ankle bracelets for young offenders from the age of 10, a 14-year-old Christchurch boy was in the Youth Court admitting 48 criminal charges after a spate of car thefts and assaults in the city last month. You’ll remember all the stuff that was going on. Some this kid was involved in, some he wasn’t. And the stuff he was...

John MacDonald was joined by Megan Woods and Gerry Brownlee for Politics Friday. They discussed National's policy to deal with youth offenders, and if Labour has any other ideas on how to deal with our rising youth crime. Are there more police on the beat in the CBD now after the Prime Minister's promise last year, and the Government has appointed a mediator to work with the City Council around ho...

When it comes to having a view or an opinion it can, sometimes, come down to what you really think versus what you think you should think. I suppose a better way of putting it is ‘head versus heart’ or ‘logic versus gut instinct’. And this is how I’m feeling after reading an opinion piece on nzherald.co.nz written by Cheryl Adamson, who is general manager of the Parnell Business Association, in Au...

Gin Wigmore is part of the star-studded line up at Selwyn Sounds next March, and spoke about how the death of her father impacted her music career and helped her to win an international music competition. They discussed how her path has led her to the United States, and how much she is looking forward to performing in Canterbury next year.  Legendary Kiwi singer-songwriter Gin Wigmore joined John...

Did you know there is a Vaping Regulatory Authority? Well, there is. And, in my view, it has shown itself to be a nutbar organisation. I’ve come to that view after reading its response to Christchurch woman Jane Gardiner’s concerns about her local dairy building a small kiosk or pantry inside the premises, and running it as a separate vape shop. The Thorrington Dairy on Colombo St is just down the...

If we can be thankful for anything today, it’s the fact that Waka Kotahi isn’t in charge of aviation. If it was - and a plane fell out of the sky - it wouldn’t do anything about the plane, it would just make it compulsory for plane passengers to put on lifejackets before they take off from the airport. Because that is exactly what it’s doing with its latest announcement that it wants speed limits...

What an amazing game the New Zealand Women's Rugby Team played on Saturday night - beating England 34-31 in the World Cup final. Did you notice, then, that I didn’t call them the Black Ferns? That’s because I don’t think they should be called that anymore. I think they have well-and-truly earned the right to be known as the Women's All Blacks. We’ve had the Men's All Blacks since the early 1900s....

I can’t believe the Christchurch City Council. Just weeks after causing a huge outcry with its announcement that it wants to spend $33 million upgrading the streets around the site of the new stadium, Te Kaha, it’s decided behind closed doors to press on. Let me remind you exactly how nuts this whole thing is. It wants to take away dozens of car parks. 49 car parks to be precise. There are current...

Last night, we were driving into town. It wasn’t late - there was still plenty of light. And so we were heading down the road and there was a cyclist ahead of us on the left side of the lane we were travelling in. One of the teenagers was driving and thank goodness they had their wits about them because, before we knew it, this cyclist had veered right in front of us as we headed towards an inters...

I was talking to someone yesterday who was asking what’s going to happen at his place with the Christchurch City Council’s new excess water charges because he doesn’t have his own water meter. He’s got a meter that he shares with other neighbouring properties. And I was able to tell him that he’s in the clear. Because, if you don’t have your own water meter, there’s no way the council can work out...

It’s the biggest harness race in Australasia, and today’s IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington Raceway has been labelled the most even race in recent years.  Arna Donnelly is the trainer of Cambridge-based horse, Kango, who won the final lead up race to the Cup when successful in the Kaikoura Cup last week. Arna spoke to John MacDonald on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings about what it means to have a h...

If you have teenage children, or if you don’t have kids, or if you’re on a pension - chances are you’ll be feeling a bit left out of the Government’s cost-of-living rescue package. Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said childcare is one of the most significant costs facing families and said the Government is here to help, and is going to spend an extra $189 million on childcare subsidies. I...