Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

After hearing Chris Bishop on Newstalk ZB this morning, there are two things about the National Party and its leader that I am in no doubt about.

I am in absolutely no doubt that Christopher Luxon has to stand down before he’s pushed.

I’m also in no doubt that, if that happens, National will be toast in this year’s election.

But, when you weigh it up, there’s no way this speculation and doubt about the prime minister of...

I’ve never had a problem with the chlorine that’s been in Christchurch's water. 

Which is why I'm not at all upset at the news that it’s going to be in the water forever. 

What’s happened, is city councillors have been told that - even if they spent $1.5 billion on infrastructure upgrades over the next 20 years - the chlorine would most likely still be needed. 

That’s because of all the hoops that have to be jumped t...

Do we need more taxes? 

There are two ways we can look at it. Does The Government need more tax revenue? Yes, I think it does. Which is why those tax cuts after the last election have backfired so badly. 

And do we want to pay more tax? When push comes to shove, probably not. But that’s human nature, isn’t it? 

But, if we look beyond human nature - beyond gut reactions to the tax question - maybe, one day, enough peo...

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says ministers did not receive key advice about myocarditis risks for 12 to 17-year‑olds during the COVID response. 

Speaking on Canterbury Mornings, Hipkins was questioned by John MacDonald about the findings from the Royal Commission into COVID‑19, which said expert advice on vaccine mandates for teenagers was delayed in being provided to ministers.  

Hipkins said the advice, produced by a te...

Two questions: what does “woke” mean to you? And are states of emergency “woke”? 

The reason I'm asking is that the Mayor of Wairoa thinks they are. Which I think is a load of old nonsense. 

Unlike other mayors in other North Island areas - who declared states of emergency in anticipation of Cyclone Vaianu at the weekend - Craig Little didn’t. Because he thought it was all a bit over the top and not necessary. 

He we...

After what happened at the weekend, I think Christopher Luxon needs to take a leaf out of Anthony Albanese's book, jump on a plane and head over to South Korea to make sure we don’t run out of fuel. 

With negotiations between the U.S. and Iran falling over, President Donald Trump has announced that he’s now in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, with the U.S. Navy blockading the vital trade route. 

He’s also talking about sto...

Finally, someone has come up with an idea for the Anglican Cathedral in Christchurch that makes a load of sense. 

It doesn’t involve running to the Government cap-in-hand. And it doesn’t involve asking ratepayers to fork out more money. 

Sound too good to be true? I know - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

But I think this is an exception. And a brilliant exception, at that. 

So, what’s happened...

Anyone who thinks the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran is going to last the full two weeks is dreaming. 

How many reasons can I give you? Because there are plenty. 

First up, there are these conflicting reports coming through this regarding the Strait of Hormuz. The stretch of water that is the reason why diesel users in this country are paying more for fuel than petrol users. Why Air New Zealand and...

The Mayor of Christchurch thinks the site of soon to be retired Apollo Projects Stadium should be sold on when it's returned to the council's ownership. 

Phil Mauger told Canterbury Mornings he believes the land is best suited for housing, stressing that any redevelopment should respect the site’s past. 

"The common-sense use is for housing. Not massive intensive housing, just normal intensification. It'll need a bit of a...

After pretty much telling us to calm the farm over the fuel situation, I can’t believe the government is getting all antsy about its fuel tax increase - due to kick-in at the start of next year. 

Yesterday, when Finance Minister Nicola Willis gave her regular fuel update, she said it is “very unlikely” that the Government will go ahead with the 12 percent-per-litre increase in January. 

Why’s that? Because the Government ...

I bumped into a mate at the supermarket yesterday and one of the first things he said to me was, “Where’s Christopher Luxon?”. 

And I knew straight away what he was getting at. 

He was echoing the sentiment of political commentators over the weekend who were asking why the Prime Minister isn’t front and centre of the government’s response to the fuel situation. 

Not that Nicola Willis seems to be complaining. She app...

I think Chris Hipkins’ time could be up. 

He said to me last week that he’d had better weeks, after his ex-wife made those claims about him on social media. 

But, if he thought things were on the improve this week, that’s probably all come crashing down again this morning with the Herald reporting that he knew more about the Covid vaccine risks than he has let on. 

And I think this could be the end of his push to be ...

The head of the construction company who built the new One New Zealand Stadium is pleased the stadium has been delivered to the city ahead of time and on budget. 

Mark Baker, CEO of Australian firm BESIX Watpac, is in Christchurch for the ribbon cutting ceremony at the new stadium and joined John MacDonald for a chat during his short visit in Christchurch. 

"it's been a while in the post COVID era where we're able to say ...

MPs are debating whether New Zealand should get involved in securing and opening up the Strait of Hormuz to shipping again.

Labour is arguing that the Government was too quick off the mark signing an international statement which expressed New Zealand's readiness to do its bit. 

Labour says New Zealand needs to be weary of getting involved because of the way the U.S. might go about things. 

But I think New Zealand has no ...

The Mayor of Christchurch isn't too worried about the impact of fuel prices on the council at the moment but is keeping a close eye on things. 

Phil Mauger told Canterbury Mornings that costs will be affected by the Middle East conflict, but a lot of the council's infrastructure runs on electricity. 

"A lot of our fleet is electric, the boilers in the building are changed over to electric, we've got solar on our galleries...

There are two ways you could look at the Government's fuel relief package. On one hand, you could say it shouldn't have bothered at all. On the other, you could say it should have bothered, but not the way it's doing it. Either way, it's got it wrong in my book.

But, despite what I might think, about 150,000 families with kids on low to middle incomes are going to be getting $50 a week in tax credits to help them deal with increase...