Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

The political angst over kids on social media has gone next level with this idea David Seymour is pushing today.

He’s saying that, instead of banning kids under-16 from social media, we could just ban them from having smartphones.

Quite rightly, he thinks it would be too easy for kids to get around a social media ban, that the likes of National are in favour of.

And I couldn’t agree with him more on that.

But banning ki...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has pushed back on a Councillor's suggestion the city's relationship with central government is failing.

Heathcote Councillor Nathaniel Herz Jardine says the council is still waiting for a reply after writing to South Island Minister James Meager in February.

According to Herz Jardine, the lack of communication is creating uncertainty around infrastructure planning and future collaboration with the Go...

Paul Henry is everything Christopher Luxon isn't. He’s everything Chris Hipkins isn’t. He’s everything his potential new boss, ACT leader David Seymour, isn’t.

Which is why his announcement that he’s standing in this year’s election has taken a lot of people by surprise. And has got some people excited.

But aren’t we over celebrity politicians? I certainly am.

Nevertheless, if there was a p...

Fresh off the announcement he's headlining Selwyn Sounds 2027, British musician and co-founder of the iconic group Eurythmics Dave Stewart joined John MacDonald ahead of the tenth anniversary for the popular all-day music festival.

They discussed the new sound of Eurythmics all-female band, and how he started creating the renowned 1983 album Sweet Dreams in his bedroom. 

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If only the people who run Mt Hutt Ski field were also in charge of our roads up and down the country.

Because I think it’s brilliant what they’ve done after a few muppets turned up there at the weekend and decided the request to use chains on the access road didn’t apply to them.

Which meant, of course, they got stuck.

Not only that. They got stuck and caused something like a two-hour delay for a lot of the other...

Yet again, the South Island is taking a back seat to the North Island.

With Transport Minister Chris Bishop announcing that the Government had done a re-think on all the new roads it promised before the last election.

And for us here in the South Island, that means none of the ones we were promised going ahead anytime soon - including the much-anticipated Woodend Bypass.

More than 20,000 vehicles go through Woodend every day and lo...

Whatever happened to this country’s ability to think big on the energy front?  

And why is it that we’re not doing the same with solar energy and why are our politicians relying on households to do the heavy lifting?

I mention thinking big intentionally. Because that’s what we did back in the 1970s and 1980s, especially with the big hydro power schemes.

These days, though, instead of thinking big about energy...

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...