Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Sometimes I look at security guards and think ‘the only difference between you and me, is that you’re the one wearing the uniform’. No disrespect to security guards, but you do wonder sometimes what they would actually do if there was trouble. Because it seems when it comes to security guards there are two types: the ones who look like the real deal who you wouldn’t take on, and the others, who ha...

John MacDonald was joined by National's Gerry Brownlee and Labour's Dan Rosewarne. They talked about the big topics of the week, including the Pegasus fire - does this mean a ban on fireworks?  What was their reaction to the Mayors Proposal for Three Waters, and should security guards have more power to make arrests to help deal with the rising crime issue in the CBD and stores? LISTEN ABOVE See o...

Fireworks are thought to have set-off the big fire in North Canterbury and I think the time has come for us to get rid of them. It’s also time we stopped this ridiculous celebration of Guy Fawkes Day because it has absolutely no relevance to us here in New Zealand. What is relevant to New Zealand, is the fact that climate change is causing more extreme weather and letting any Tom, Dick or Harry ge...

Fireworks are thought to have set-off the big fire in North Canterbury and I think the time has come for us to get rid of them. It’s also time we stopped this ridiculous celebration of Guy Fawkes Day because it has absolutely no relevance to us here in New Zealand. What is relevant to New Zealand, is the fact that climate change is causing more extreme weather and letting any Tom, Dick or Harry ge...

The line about never looking a gift horse in the mouth has never been more appropriate than it is today. Because that is exactly what Starship Hospital has done, missing out on a $570,000 donation from a New Zealand horse breeder because it doesn't want to accept money associated with horseracing or gambling. And so, because it’s been so choosy, the money has gone to a charity in Australia, instea...

Yesterday, two of the three mayors in the Greater Christchurch area joined forces with their Auckland counterpart and announced that they have come up with what they think is a much better version of the Government’s Three Waters reforms. These are the reforms that some of us have described as a government takeover of water services - which I think is a very fair description - because the Governme...

Is a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old capable of deciding who they think should be on their local council? Of course they are. Just like I think they’re capable of deciding who runs the country. But this is about local government, because the outfit that represents councils - Local Government New Zealand - has come out and said that it thinks the voting age in local body elections should be 16. And I...

Hang your head in shame Christchurch. Because I am absolutely appalled that the first cruise ship passengers to arrive in Lyttelton in more than a decade are being forced to pay US$30 each, that's NZ$51.30, to ride in a cruddy old ex-public transport bus if they want to travel from Lyttelton to Christchurch. That's what passengers on the first large cruise ship to visit Lyttelton in more than 10 y...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald had the pleasure of interviewing Hoodoo Gurus frontman, Dave Faulkner. Hoodoo Gurus are the headline act at Selwyn Sounds in March next year, and Dave discussed the bands background, the sound of the band and how that has evolved, and the messages behind the music over the decades.  A must listen for music fans! LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio...

Yesterday, 33 young people were due to appear in the Youth Court in Christchurch. Of those, two-thirds of them were facing charges of unlawfully taking and/or using cars. Or, as you and I would say, about 20-or-so of them were accused of breaking into cars and driving off in them, or jumping into a car that one of their mates had stolen and going for a cruise. And that was just yesterday’s line-up...

John MacDonald spoke to Superintendent Lane Todd regarding the spate of crime in Canterbury. Should the police pursuit policy change? Why are there more car thefts by youth at the moment? And should Canterbury bring back the police helicopter? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I saw something terrifying in central Christchurch on Friday night. We’d been out for dinner and we were heading along Manchester Street, it must’ve been around 10 o’clock. I didn’t pay much attention to the time because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We pulled up to the lights on the corner of Manchester Street and St Asaph Street, and this car came screaming down St Asaph the wrong way. S...

The Christchurch City Council is getting a good rev up from me today. This is because I think it’s appalling that it’s told the Central City Business association that it doesn’t have any money available to pay for security patrols in the central city - and so the association is going to have to cover the costs itself - at least for the rest of the year. And let’s not beat around the bush. When I s...

Life in Christchurch is not as good as it was 12 months ago. That’s according to the findings from the latest Nielsen Quality of Life survey. It’s a nationwide survey that talks to people in nine cities around the country about all sorts of things that have a bearing on how they feel about life in their neck of the woods. There are a truckload of different things they ask people about. But, overal...

John MacDonald spoke to National Leader Christopher Luxon about the Quality of Life survey. How would National help Cantabrians feel more settled financially, and safer on our streets? They discuss inflation, and also the plans for National to repeal and replace Three Waters should they be elected next year.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I never thought I’d say this, but good on Wayne Brown. The new Auckland mayor has told his council and Auckland’s water company to stop doing any more work on the Government's Three Waters reforms and I think other councils should do the same. They should all do what Auckland is doing and tell the Government they’re not going to waste anymore time, effort and money on Three Waters. Wayne Brown is...

When it comes to knowing what it should be prioritising, this government is hopeless. If you want evidence, where would you like me to start? Centralised control of the health system. A priority? No. Centralising all the polytechs around the country. A priority? Wouldn’t of thought so. Restructuring water services up and down the country. A priority? Maybe in some places, but not everywhere. That’...

Going by the warnings out today from the trucking and transport sector, it may not be long before we get our local councils telling us that rubbish collections can’t happen as often as they do now and getting stuff transported around the country will be more difficult than it is already. Chris Carr, who runs the Carr and Haslem trucking company , has been flying drivers to the South Island every w...

John MacDonald spoke to Matt Doocey and Duncan Webb in the studio about the big topics of the week for Politics Friday. We have a huge shortage of truck drivers at the moment, so why are they not considered skilled workers with immigration? Should Gloriavale be allowed to operate still given the findings about abuse within the community? What is happening with maternity care in Canterbury with mot...

Earlier this year, more than 30,000 people signed a petition calling for the birthing unit at St George’s Hospital in Christchurch to be kept open. It all happened after the hospital announced it was going to close the unit because it didn’t have enough staff but, subsequently, agreed to keep it running until April next year, when its current contract with what used to be known as the Canterbury D...

I can’t help thinking that when it comes to climate change and emissions, New Zealand is like the good guy who does all the right things and when he asks a girl out he doesn’t do it with just one thing in mind - but then loses out to the bad boy who comes from the ‘treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen’ approach to life. So we’ve got James Shaw saying all the right things about how he’s going to look afte...

Poor old Phil Mauger. After winning the Christchurch mayoralty on Saturday and saying on Sunday that he wants a transport plan for the city that is good for everyone - including motorists - yesterday, his council released details of its plan to spend $33 million upgrading the streets around the site of the new stadium, Te Kaha. And in the process, it wants to take away dozens of car parks. There a...

Prior to the weekend, I was confused about what Phil Mauger’s priorities actually were. And, since he won the Christchurch mayoralty over the weekend, I’m even more confused. A few weeks ago, I asked him what he thought the greatest challenges facing Christchurch were. Top of his list were climate change and inflation. But then, in the next breath, he said he wanted to pull the plug on cycleways....

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch's new Mayor, Phil Mauger.  They discussed the result, and what the main challenges are ahead for Mauger as Mayor. What will he focus on first? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John MacDonald was joined by Gerry Brownlee and Dan Rosewarne in the studio for Politics Friday.  They discussed Tax, Oranga Tamariki and its alleged failings recently, Nitrates in Canterbury Water and the local election voter turnout - how do we fix it? LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.