Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

How do you feel about being told you need to spend more money?

That’s what the Reserve Bank’s chief economist wants you to do.

As expected, the bank’s governor announced yesterday that there would be no change in the official cash rate because the bank doesn’t want to do anything that could put the brakes on the economic recovery.

Which some people are feeling the benefits of, while others aren’t. Which the Reserve Bank describes a...

Bic Runga is back with her first new album in fifteen years.

She spoke with John MacDonald about her new album, Red Sunset, and touched on what genres inspired the album.

"I'm always inspired by anything from the 60's and 70's especially."

She also spoke about her biggest hit Sway, and its everlasting popularity thirty years on.

"It found a life of its own, I never thought that would happen."

Runga embarks on an Australas...

One of the problems with politicians is that they often stake their political survival on big infrastructure projects.

Which is why we’ve got Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey and Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon jumping up and down saying like hell, there’ll be no Woodend Bypass.

The thing that’s got them excited is the new national infrastructure plan released by the Infrastructure Commission which, in a nutshell, says we should be building...

Chris Hipkins says we need to take the politics out of the Infrastructure Commissions National Infrastructure Plan.

The Leader of the Opposition told John MacDonald that he thinks the Commission has done a "really good job" on their recent report, and we need to focus on the basics.

"They've pointed out we have an over reliance on shiny new things, and we haven't done the basic maintenance of the things we've already got."

"We need...

NZ First is on the up, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.

The result out last night had Winston Peters’ party on 10 percent - its highest rating in that particular poll since August 2017.

It comes just a few weeks after a Taxpayers’ Union poll ranked NZ First the third most popular party in Parliament.

Ask NZ Herald chief political reporter Jamie Ensor and he’ll tell you more and more voters are liking the party because of ...

Isn’t David Seymour the guy who got himself into government at the last election and then went and set up a new government department?

But, despite the irony, I agree with him that we need fewer government departments and fewer Cabinet ministers.

Previously, the ACT leader has described the public sector as "a big, complicated bureaucratic beast".

There are the numbers to back that up. We have 82 cabinet portfolios, 28 ministers an...

This week on Politics Friday John MacDonald was joined by National MP for Banks Peninsula Vanessa Weenick, and Labour List MP Tracey McLellan.

They covered the latest national and local issues, including NZ First's announcement to campaign on a Māori electorate referendum, whether all events at One NZ Stadium should have a levy, electric e-trail bikes that are speeding around the city, and more.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/liste...

Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson thinks we should all pay a special levy when we buy tickets for all events at Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium.

And he won’t be getting any argument from me.

Yani can’t believe the news today that a levy is only going to be charged on tickets for concerts by international artists.

He says it is “inconceivable” the levy won’t be charged for all events, including rugby matches and ...

Do you think there is anyone in New Zealand who believes the Government’s line that it’s a coincidence the findings of its inquiry into the Reserve Bank’s COVID-19 response will be released a few weeks before the election?

As the NZ Herald’s political editor, Thomas Coughlan, puts it: the inquiry will ask the right questions at the wrong time.

Because this has election campaigning written all over it. 

The official line is tha...

Is there anything about the Government’s free trade deal with India that anyone likes?

The prime minister and the trade minister love it. Winston Peters doesn’t. And it seems Labour leader Chris Hipkins is coming around to thinking that he doesn’t like it, either.

He’s concerned about the prospect of an unlimited number of Indian students being allowed to come here and work and the impact that could have on the job market.

Which th...

A lawyer believes the Christchurch couple who found $200,000 in their ceiling space should keep the cash that they found in their property.

However, the High Court has decided that the couple are not owed a cent of the money, even though they handed it in with good faith.

They uncovered the cash sealed in plastic bricks and concealed in insulation in 2021 and reported their discovery to police.

Lawyer and former police officer Matt...

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has fallen into the trap that I could very easily find myself falling into if I didn’t think a little bit more carefully about this plan by the Government to set-up a new shipping terminal in Taranaki to import liquified natural gas.

This is the gas that’s needed to generate power, alongside the other ways we generate power in this country - hydro, coal and wind.

It’s going to cost somewhere north of $1 ...

I’ve done a few things in my time. But one thing I haven’t done is serve on a jury.

For a long time, I put it down to me working in the media. But I was out of the media for a long time, as well. So I don’t know why I haven’t had the call up.

But, apparently - according to defense lawyer John Munro - I might be somewhat unusual in my enthusiasm.

He says people don’t have the same sense of civic duty as they used to and aren’t keen ...

Do you feel better off than you did three years ago?

With it being election year, that’s the question politicians are going to be asking you. It’s the question I’m asking you too in light of the latest unemployment numbers - which are the highest in more than a decade.

That’s the overall number. In Canterbury, things are a little bit better. The unemployment rate here is down and we’ve got 12,000 extra jobs. That was in the three m...

I think the Government is making a terrible mistake ditching the second practical test for new drivers.

I like some of the changes it’s making to the driver licensing system. But getting rid of the second practical isn’t one of them. I’ll tell you why. But, first, what bits do I like? And what is missing from the changes? 

For starters, I like the idea of a zero-alcohol limit for all new drivers. At the moment, this only appli...

How on earth did we get to the point where we’ve got schools saying today that kids are starting school without some of the most basic skills?

And when they say basic, they mean basic. According to the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association, there are five-year-old kids starting school who can’t talk, who can’t feed themselves and who haven’t been toilet trained.

I think I’ve got a partial solution to this problem. Which would me...

I am liking the sound of a law change being introduced in New South Wales, where they are no longer going to allow good character references to be factored into court sentences.

You know the drill. Someone is found guilty of a crime, they get their mates to write to the judge saying what a great person they are and how they’ve done all these good things.

The judge reads all these glowing references and, when it comes to handing dow...

Talk about déjà vu. 

The smell from the burnt-out wastewater treatment plant at Bromley has been a shocker this week and people have had a gutsful. 

City councillor Yani Johanson says making people wait for another three years is totally unacceptable and the council needs to get it sorted sooner.

I think it’s ridiculous that it has taken over four years for the problem to still exist.  I agree that it should be fixed...