Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

I think the animal welfare people are clutching at straws with this last-minute legal action they’re taking to try and stop this weekend’s feral cat hunt.

You’ll know the event. It’s all part of the North Canterbury Hunting Competition. Which raises funds for Rotherham School.

It hit the headlines a few years back when people got all excited that wild cats were going to be included.

As they should be. Becaus...

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins is open to working with the Government on a bill banning social media for under-16s.

Speaking to Canterbury Mornings, Hipkins said any social media ban should go through the select committee process, and New Zealand should take lessons from Australia's recently introduced restrictions.

"We've got to do more to keep our kids safe online, but the Aussie experience has shown that it's not easy".

Hipkins als...

Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has come out firing today, saying that China’s nuclear-capable missile test yesterday was smack bang inside the South Pacific nuclear-free zone.

Just hours after giving the New Zealand Government a heads-up, China launched a long-range ballistic missile from a submarine into the area. It’s not saying where it was launched from, nor where it landed.

I get where Wayne Mapp is coming from...

I enjoyed the temporary seating set-up at One NZ Stadium on Saturday night so much, that I want to give it a name.

I’ll admit that, after being told by stadium boss Caroline Harvie-Teare that those of us in the temporary area would only have access to the internal hospitality and toilet facilities until 6pm, I had my doubts.

But I have to say, the experience was brilliant.

We were perched right on the try line and, like many ...

All Blacks legend-turned-All Blacks Tour Guide Ian Jones joined Canterbury Mornings ahead of the first test against the French in Chirstchurch.

Jones now wears many hats, one of them is being the General Manager for the All Blacks Experience in Auckland - taking tourists and rugby tragics alike through the motions of what an All Black or Black Fern experiences before a test match.

He also touched on the improvements in awareness of...

The Inkster company owns a large portfolio of local pubs, bars and restaurants across Christchurch, and they are soon set to have another pub right across the road from One New Zealand Stadium, affectionally called "The Lancaster".

Nick Inkster joined Canterbury Mornings to talk about his journey from moving out of home and straight into buying his own property with his brother, his time working in Western Australia, and how he got...

The temporary seats are up at One New Zealand Stadium ahead of the first All Blacks test, and Venues Otautahi CEO Caroline Harvie-Teare joined Canterbury Mornings to hear about the excitement brewing for tomorrow night. 

She was asked about the fee that Christchurch paid to lock in the test under the roof, and why those on the temporary stands can only use the stadium bathrooms until 6pm on the night.

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What were the people at Wolfbrook Property Group thinking when they decided to fill the holes at the Pegasus Golf Course with concrete?

As if they haven’t put enough noses out of joint with their plan to build houses on the site. They’ve now gone and rubbed those noses in the dirt with this carry-on, which one resident is describing today as childish.

And I completely agree.

Yes, I get it that this land is now theirs. I...

Yesterday, Treasury released a whole lot of documents showing the advice it gave the Government during the early days of the fuel crisis.

One of the key things was a recommendation not to cut fuel taxes or road user charges, because it didn’t think it was needed.

The Government went with the advice. But, you might also remember, that the Government went a step further than that and said that the fuel tax increase - due to kic...

Can we all just accept now that David Seymour’s school lunch programme is a dog’s breakfast?

With this report out from the Auditor-General saying only 50 percent of the lunches are up-to-scratch on the nutrition front and about 20,000 meals a day aren’t being eaten.

The Associate Education Minister has hit back of course, using his usual tricks of discrediting the report and going on about how much money he’...

I think the people at the NZ Initiative thinktank need to have an away day in Christchurch

Then they would understand why I’m poo-pooing this claim they’re making today that having multiple local councils in close proximity to each other is a good thing.

Because if there’s one thing that proves how wrong they are, it would be the disjointed situation we have with housing developments in Christchurch, Selwyn and Wa...

I’ve never been on a sickness benefit. But I imagine that, for anyone who is, the government telling you what you can and can‘t spend your benefit money on, and spying on you to make sure you toe the line would be pretty degrading.

Tell that to the ACT Party, though.  

Not only that. In this policy announced yesterday, instead of your own GP signing you off for the sickness benefit, you'd need to see a government-a...

I don’t know what to make of the fact that thousands of people have put their name to this petition calling for the Christchurch City Council’s rates increase to be paused and put to a referendum.

I don’t know what to make of it for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I’m not a petition guy. Because I don’t think they achieve much.

It’s very easy to stick your name on something. But does it achiev...