x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

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

news politics

All Episodes

10:17

Phil Mauger: Christchurch Mayor on capping rates...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/06/05

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger joined John MacDonald this morning for their regular catch up. In the wake of Raf Manji’s comments about capping rate increases, how does the Mayor feel about its achievability? ECAN is making a case for a passenger rail in Canterbury – is it a good move? And is selling off Lichfield Street car park a wise decision? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

5:56

John MacDonald: Privacy Commissioner says facial...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/06/04

I am really torn. Because when it comes to facial recognition technology, I’ve always been of the view that if you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about. But, at the risk of sounding like I’m going a bit “civil liberties” on it, I’m starting to change my tune a bit. Which I’ll admit is a bit weird considering the Privacy Commissioner has announced that he’s all good with the facial recognition trial that Foodstuffs supermarkets have been doing in the North Island. But

en-US

12:38

Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO on signs of...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/06/03

Leeann Watson, CEO of Business Canterbury, joined John MacDonald to give a quarterly update. Are we seeing signs of recovery in Canterbury? What would a commuter train mean for the city business scene? And will the Government’s new approach to WorkSafe make a difference for local businesses and how they operate? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

5:39

John MacDonald: The dangers of tinkering with Health...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/06/03

If there’s anyone who shouldn't be told they can wind things back on the health and safety front, it’s a New Zealander. Because generally, we are absolute shockers when it comes to this sort of thing and our health and safety laws are the only thing standing between our “she’ll be right” attitude and misery and tragedy. Especially when you consider that —even with the health and safety laws we have at the moment— our workplace fatality rate is 60% higher than Australia’s and more than 500% higher

en-US

18:43

Politics Friday: Duncan Webb and Hamish Campbell talk...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/30

Today on Politics Friday John MacDonald was joined by National’s Hamish Campbell and Labour’s Duncan Webb to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week. The Government will soon be issuing fines to parents of repeatedly absent students – will this work? Is it a new idea? Campbell almost manages to explain the RMA changes in one sentence, but what do they mean for New Zealanders? And is there a place for more dairy cows in Canterbury, along with a passenger rail? LISTEN ABOVESee

en-US

4:57

John MacDonald: Finger-wagging won't get more kids...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/30

I can’t find an exact figure but from what I have seen online, I’m pretty confident in saying that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid fines in New Zealand, and that figure is about to rise even further. Because the Government is dreaming if it thinks people fined for not sending their kids to school are going to suddenly start sending their kids to school, and that they're even going to bother paying the fines. They won’t. They’ll just ignore them. They won’t pay up. Because if

en-US

5:32

John MacDonald: All councils should learn from ECAN's...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/29

I hope Environment Canterbury isn’t bothering listening to Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey. He’s not impressed that the regional council is going to spend money doing a business case for a rail passenger service between Rangiora, Christchurch, and Rolleston. Matt Doocey says it’s nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky idea and, given we’re in a cost-of-living crisis, he says ECAN should stick to its knitting and focus on getting costs down and reducing rates. But what Matt Doocey should be doing —instead

en-US

5:07

John MacDonald: Sometimes a ban isn't the answer

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/28

It would be very easy for me to say that the organisers of those ridiculous Run it Straight combat sport events have blood on their hands after the tragic death of 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite. And I would be saying that if Ryan had been involved in an official event. The thing is, he wasn’t. That’s not stopping other people from piling in though. There are experts saying today that we need to ban the whole thing. But I don’t think that’s realistic. Because for starters, banning officially

en-US

33:23

James Meager: Minister for the South Island on his...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/28

James Meager is responding to Chris Hipkins’ comments about the Minister for the South Island role. The Labour Leader called the position a “PR job”, saying there would be no need for Meager’s role if the Government was actually prioritising the South Island. Hipkins says Meager's not doing anything because he has no budget or decision-making ability, and this is just a way of telling the South Island it hasn't been forgotten. Meager has hit back, saying it speaks volumes that Hipkins thinks the

en-US

8:22

Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader on Winston Peters ruling...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/27

Labour's yet to rule potential coalition partners in or out. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is refusing to work with Chris Hipkins next election, but has not entirely ruled Labour out. On social media, Peters posted a Government of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pati Māori would be a "circus" and a "radical woke show". Hipkins told John MacDonald that they actually ruled out working with Peters before the last election, and he’s said since that that’s unlikely to change. However, he says

en-US

5:01

John MacDonald: Have we lost the retail crime battle?

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/27

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” That’s the message cops have been given about shoplifting. And the powers-that-be can say as much as they like about their memo to staff about only bothering with shoplifting worth more than $500 not being worded as well as it could have been, but the message is very clear. You steal stuff worth less than $500 and you’re going to get off scot-free. If I was a retailer, I’d be really brassed off. I’d be brassed off with the cops and I’d be brassed off with the Police

en-US

6:10

John MacDonald: The community work sanction is an...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/26

The Government is describing the 20 hours unpaid community work that people on the Jobseeker benefit will be made to do from today if they don’t follow the rules, as a penalty. And there’ll be no shortage of people cheering on from the sidelines, who will also be seeing it as a penalty. I think it’s great too. But not for the obvious reasons. The Opposition doesn’t like it, saying it will mean people getting stuck on the benefit for longer; that it could push people into homelessness, and they’re

en-US

17:52

Politics Friday with Megan Woods and Matt Doocey:...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/23

Today Megan Woods and Matt Doocey joined John MacDonald following the release of the budget. They discussed the key aspects of it including changes to KiwiSaver, will there be an announcement on the retirement as it sound like Matt is hinting towards? Should parents really support 18 and 19 year olds if they aren't working? And what is in the budget for Canterbury? LISTEN ABOVE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

5:15

John MacDonald: We're not going far enough with...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/23

Quite a well-known chief executive and finance guy told me once that, in business, you should always make use of other people’s money first. Which is exactly what the Government is doing with the KiwiSaver changes announced in yesterday’s budget. It wants more of our money going in from our wages and salaries and less of its money going in through government contributions. Although, that’s our money too when it comes down to it. But the gist is, the minimum contributions are going to increase from 3

en-US

4:34

John MacDonald: Do we even need speed limits around...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/22

There’s a danger that when the new stadium opens in Christchurch next year, we'll have no idea exactly what speed we should be going when we drive around the area. At the moment, the council wants it to be 30kph on Madras Street, Tuam Street, Lichfield Street, Duke Street, Hereford Street and St Asaph Street. But now it’s being told by the Government that it can’t do that, and I think they should just make it 50kph. I’ll explain why shortly. There are also parts where the council wants the limit

en-US

8:05

Phil Mauger: Christchurch Mayor on the speed limit...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/21

There's consultation on speed limits around Christchurch's Te Kaha stadium - once again. New Government rules are forcing the City Council to ask for public feedback for a second time. A 30 kilometre-an-hour limit was approved for multiple surrounding streets but can no longer be implemented because of the changes. Mayor Phil Mauger told Canterbury mornings although this feels like over-consulting, this needs to be right to ensure public safety. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy

en-US

5:03

John MacDonald: Unsafe health workers need more than...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/21

Let’s call it and say that workers going to and from Christchurch Hospital at night-time deserve better. This is after what’s being described as a “very violent” assault on a staff member heading home after work last weekend. It’s understood the woman had been on a shift at the birthing centre, on Antigua Street. What we know at this point is that security around the hospital’s birthing unit has been bolstered and, as a temporary measure, security escorts are being provided for staff, student

en-US

5:11

John MacDonald: $600M for rail is a good start, but...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/20

In an ideal world, I would love us to have more trains. In an ideal world, I think it would be great if all our big cities had rail passenger services. Not just Auckland and Wellington that Transport Minister Chris Bishop was talking about when he announced this morning that there’s $600 million in this week’s Budget going into rail. I won’t go all scratched record on it and start asking where the money is for the Greater Christchurch area, but I would love to see money going into commuter rail

en-US

5:56

John MacDonald: Why no more after-hours funding for...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/19

Here’s a story someone told me this morning about what happened within the last six-or-so weeks, when a Christchurch woman took her teenage daughter to the after-hours surgery. I’m telling you this because the Government has announced that there’s going to be increased funding in Thursday’s budget for after-hours medical care. Which is great. I’m not going to bag the Government for that. And the fact that people in rural areas are going to get better access to urgent healthcare is great. But there’s

en-US

6:31

John MacDonald: Gun salutes and c-bombs don't belong...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/05/16

"I've seen some bad times in this house, but this is one of the lowest I've ever seen. When you go to that sort of standard of language, nothing's beneath you after that, is it?" That was Winston Peters yesterday after his coalition colleague, Brooke van Velden, used the c-word in parliament. And I’m with him 100%. He said he was disgusted that the word was said in Parliament, and he was disgusted that the word was used in a newspaper article at the weekend – which is why it came up for

en-US

1,124 results

Similar Podcasts

DW Noticias

DW

JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

時事通信社

Legal AF by MeidasTouch

MeidasTouch Network

Mark Levin Podcast

Cumulus Podcast Network

朝日新聞AJW 英語ニュース（The Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch）

朝日新聞ポッドキャスト