Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald
Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays. It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking. If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio. With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector. Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.
Episodes
I didn’t do any study after I left school —no university, no polytech— so I’ve never had a student loan. I know about debt though, thanks to the mortgage.
And I reckon it would be very easy for me, as someone who has never had to pay off a student loan but who knows what it’s like to have the responsibilities of a mortgage, to dismiss what a former IRD prosecutor is saying today.
A former IRD prosecutor who says we ne...
Today on Politics Friday, John MacDonald was joined by National’s Vanessa Weenink and Labour’s Reuben Davidson to break down the biggest issues of the week.
They discussed student loan repayments – is there something that can be done to bring overseas loan holders back to New Zealand?
Global companies like Uber are paying minimal tax over here – are we being ripped off?
And ACC is planning to be more scrupulous wh...
When there’s an election campaign happening, how much do you care about the cost of the policies the political parties are pushing?
Or, more to the point, how willing are you to trust the politicians when they say they've done the numbers, and they all stack up?
My willingness to trust them is very low. Which is why I think we will be all the poorer for ACT and NZ First voting down the plan for a publicly-funded outfi...
Questions over Christchurch City Council planning to spend $200 thousand on a shuttle bus study.
Environment Canterbury wants to stop the proposed resurrection of a free inner-city shuttle, saying 1800 bus movements each weekday is enough.
A 2023 law change means ECan will get the final say.
Mayor Phil Mauger admits he voted for the costly study.
But he told John MacDonald ECan didn't mention anything until ...
Having sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, legendary English rock band 10CC is celebrating their anniversary in style, their world tour bringing them to New Zealand’s shores.
They’ll be hitting up Christchurch on the 10th of July, performing at the Isaac Theatre Royal.
Co-lead singer and base player Graham Gouldman joined John MacDonald for a chat about life in the band, as well as reflecting on his growing appr...
The Government has obviously decided that its law and order week. It started with tougher sentences for people who attack first responders and prison officers – which is a good thing.
Then it was tougher sentences for people who dish out coward punches – that can’t come soon enough.
And the latest are these tougher measures to try and do something about the rate of shoplifting. Again, something I’ve got no argum...
I don’t like this idea David Seymour’s pushing of privatising the Interislander ferry service and getting a private operator to run it, instead of KiwiRail.
And if I was to sum up why I’m opposed to it as succinctly as I could, it would come down to just two words and one number. State Highway 1.
Tell that to the ACT leader and Deputy Prime Minister, though.
He’s saying the Government doesn't need to own ...
The Government’s plan for tougher sentences for people who don’t think twice about assaulting first responders and corrections officers is great. But I think there are some other people who should be included.
Doctors and nurses. These are the people who, it seems, can be at just as much risk of being attacked.
It’s brilliant that the Government has got the ambulance paramedics in their thinking. But the threat doesn’t necess...
Today on Politics Friday, John MacDonald was joined by National’s Vanessa Weenink and Labour’s Megan Woods to delve into the biggest stories of the week.
Parliament's pressed pause to remember Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp after she died yesterday as a result of kidney disease – what will happen going forward?
Doctors are unhappy with the Government’s new virtual GP service, are they right to be?
And what ar...
How do you feel about the prospect of paying higher income tax rates and more GST?
I think it’s inevitable. So does the Inland Revenue Department. Because of our ageing population.
Especially if people think we can have a whole lot more of us 65 and over —which is going to happen— and still provide the same level of assistance and support that is provided now.
So IRD is making its case for more tax in wha...
The Infrastructure Commission's draft 30-year plan is the kind of big picture thinking we’ve been saying is needed, instead of the ad-hoc, politically driven approach we have at the moment.
Essentially, the Commission says we’re going to need less schools and more hospitals because of the ageing population.
It also says we’re going to need more roads and better roads, and we’re going to have to do some serious thinkin...
The Opposition Leader has laid out his view of what's needed for peace in the Middle East.
A wavering ceasefire remains between Israel and Iran after scolding from the US President, although both claim breaches by the other.
Donald Trump claims his country's strikes this week destroyed Iran's nuclear programme, but early US intelligence indicates it's only set it back by months.
Chris Hipkins told John MacDonald d...
If we choose to ignore or downplay this new information out today about kids taking weapons to school, we’ll be doing it at our peril.
Because what do you hear people say time and time again when something terrible happens? These are people in the news who might be commenting about a stabbing or a shooting, or something like that. What is it we hear them say time and time again?
“We never thought this sort of thing wo...
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is in campaign mode for this year’s elections, saying that he thinks the Government might be onto a winner with its idea of forcing councils to put a cap on rates increases.
I’m wondering if Phil does actually think it’s a good idea, or whether he’s just saying it.
Because I think it would create havoc for local councils having Wellington telling them how much they could increase rates ea...
The US air strikes on Iran yesterday are a disaster. A disaster that New Zealand needs to stay well clear of.
Before yesterday, the prospect of it happening was a disaster-in-the making. And, now that it’s happened, it’s an absolute disaster.
Not because of what might happen today, tomorrow or the next day. But, what will happen when the world least expects it.
Not just in terms of what Iran itself will do. I’m talking...
The Government’s been making it increasingly clear over time that it doesn’t really give two-hoots about local democracy.
But, in the last 24 hours, it’s gone next level.
First up, we’ve got housing minister Chris Bishop, who announced yesterday that he’s going to be given special powers to ride roughshod over council plans if he doesn’t like them.
Essentially, if he thinks a council has a district plan that doesn’t s...
Christchurch’s Mayor is back with John MacDonald to discuss the biggest stories from the week that was.
The Government is giving the Housing Minister the power to overrule local councils, and Phil Mauger has some strong opinions on the topic.
Housing intensification is still on the docket, but he’s made it clear they’ll be pushing back against it all the way.
And why are there so many leafblowers out and about? Is...
How weird is it that there are different rules or expectations regarding life jackets, depending on where you are in the country?
I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird. A coroner who has looked into the drownings of a 10-year-old boy and his mother thinks it’s weird too, and is calling for change.
And instead of local councils being responsible for setting lifejacket rules, she wants there to be a single rule for...
It was bad enough that a patient at Hillmorton Hospital who had threatened to kill was still allowed to come and go and ended up killing an innocent woman at her Christchurch home.
The fact this person had killed someone else previously, before taking the life of Faye Phillips last year, makes the circumstances behind the tragedy worse.
On both occasions he was a mental health patient, which is why Ruth Money —w...
I’ve surprised myself a little bit with my reaction to the news the police are looking at introducing body cameras.
Generally, I’m all for it. But the civil liberties people have raised some very good points about them being misused.
One example they’re giving is the potential for the cameras to be combined with facial recognition technology. Which I'm torn on, after finding out about facial recognition being used at th...
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