Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Excitement is brewing across Christchurch as One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha will finally open its doors on Friday.

Christchurch City Council Senior Project Manager Dr Richard Gibbs joined Canterbury Mornings and discussed the part he has played in producing the world-class turf at One NZ Stadium, and his thoughts on the lack of horses that won't be moving with the Crusaders to their new home.

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I can’t think of one negative impact people moving here from overseas have had on my life. 

Not one. 

I can tell you plenty of good things. But not anything negative. 

Which is why I'll never understand why immigrants get such a bad rap. It’s an easy excuse, though. Not happy about something? Blame the immigrants. 

And it’s NZ First’s Shane Jones is talking the nonsense he is. Warning us of a “Butter chicken tsu...

The Green Party wants us to electrify everything, saying the current fuel crisis is a good reason to produce as much of our own energy as possible. 

Which, by the way, is kind of ironic don’t you think? The Greens wanting us to produce our own energy, but not wanting us to drill for oil and gas? 

Nevertheless, that’s what co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said in the party’s State of the Planet speech yesterday. 

She wants t...

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 ...