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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

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All Episodes

5:49

John MacDonald: Trump's economic vandalism is staggering

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/10

I saw a brilliant cartoon the other day which had America’s founding fathers sitting around a table writing up the country’s constitution - and they had agreed that the US wouldn’t have a king, but they were thinking about having a drama queen instead. And after what we saw overnight, I think it would be pretty hard to argue that the current US president is anything but a drama queen. He’s also an economic vandal. Donald Trump has announced that he’s pausing his global trade tariffs for 90 days

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10:30

Phil Mauger: Christchurch Mayor on the Erebus...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/09

John MacDonald was joined today by Mayor Phil Mauger. They discussed the potential for Christchurch to be home to the delayed Erebus Disaster memorial – is Christchurch an appropriate home? The central city has been overrun by birds and their droppings, does the Council have a plan to deal with the mess? And what measures will the council take regarding the new build’s in the city’s east, given the recent findings that houses may sink in some areas? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for

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5:09

John MacDonald: Do politicians' religious beliefs...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/09

If the MP for Ilam, Hamish Campbell, thinks he’s going to get away with not saying anything more about his involvement with this underground religious group, then he’s dreaming. It doesn’t have an official name, but it’s known as the “Two By Twos” and it’s being investigated by the FBI and the police for child abuse. One of its former ministers here in New Zealand has admitted 55 child sex abuse charges over three decades against young boys and, from what I’ve seen, there are about 2,500 members

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5:01

John MacDonald: $12 billion on defence? I'm good with...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/08

It would be great if we didn’t have to spend $12 billion on our defence force. But we do, and I’m good with it. To be honest though, while we’d known the Government had some sort of plan to increase defence spending, I was still blown away a bit by the scale of it when the announcement came through. So, $12 billion over the next four years. There’ll be new helicopters, more missiles, autonomous vessels, the air force’s clapped-out 757s will be replaced. And that’s just the start, because it’s all

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5:20

John MacDonald: Is prison the wrong place for some...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/07

I’m liking what Sir Ron Young is saying about prison sentences today. He’s really challenging us, saying that we need to re-think what we do with people given sentences of two-to-three years. He’s talking about not sending them to conventional prisons and giving them conjugal rights. This is how they deal with things in Scandinavian countries. He thinks we should do the same here. And I reckon we should too. He’s the outgoing head of the Parole Board and he’s saying that short prison sentences

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4:53

John MacDonald: I'm not going anti-America over the...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/04

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reckons people in Australia are going to feel dumped-on by the United States after yesterday’s trade tariffs announcement. And he thinks that Australians will feel differently about Australia's relationship with America. Like us, imports into the United States from Australia are going to be hit with a 10% tariff. And Albanese —who is on the campaign trail— is talking tough, saying that the tariffs are “not the act of a friend” and Aussies won't be taking

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17:32

Politics Friday with Reuben Davidson and Vanessa...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/03

John MacDonald was joined in studio by Vanessa Weenink and Reuben Davidson to delve into some of the biggest political stories of the week. The US President has rolled out tariffs of at least 10% on almost all imported goods – what will this mean for our export market? Is the need for housing in Canterbury so great that intensification is inevitable? And will the supermarket announcement make a tangible difference for Kiwis at the till any time soon? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for

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5:15

John MacDonald: Greater housing density is the future...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/03

We were all standing up and cheering the Christchurch City Council three years ago, when it flipped the bird at the Government over housing intensification. Because there was no way we were going to agree to three, three-story houses being built on one section. But I’ve changed my thinking. Eventually, the city council kind-of pulled its head in. But it’s still dragging the chain a bit and wants more time before agreeing to what the Government wants. But one city councillor, at least, thinks we

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5:23

John MacDonald: Here's how to get big events to NZ

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/02

The Prime Minister has lived up to his talk of being a great negotiator, saying “thanks but no thanks” to Team New Zealand. Because a great negotiator is always prepared to walk away if the negotiations aren’t going their way, and that’s what the Government has done. Telling Grant Dalton and Team NZ that putting $75 million of taxpayer money into hosting the next America’s Cup would be a nice-to-have, not a must-have. I think the Government has done the right thing and the wrong thing. It’s done

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5:33

John MacDonald: New ferries by 2029? I'll believe it...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/04/01

Four more years. That's how long we’re going to have to wait for KiwiRail's new interisland ferries. But I reckon it will turn out being longer than that. The Government says it will be December 2029. By then, we will have had two elections. But I don’t think it will happen in that timeframe, because I listened this morning to someone who knows a bit about this. Mark Thompson’s his name. He was in charge of the Government’s ferry ministerial advisory group. He reckons the Government is a bit on

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5:14

John MacDonald: Has the Grocery Commissioner checked...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/30

Where's the grocery commissioner? Wasn’t he going to get cheaper groceries for all of us? That was the idea. But he hasn’t. So is Nicola Willis going to do it? My prediction, is she won’t. Because, no matter how much we would all like to pay less at the supermarket, the two ideas she announced yesterday are duds. And I’m picking that, if you did a grocery shop yesterday afternoon, the Government’s announcement-of-an-announcement yesterday morning did nothing to soften the blow when you went through

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5:49

John MacDonald: Duty of care? Do me a favour, Christian

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/28

Some people think a 90-day trial for new workers is tough, but what about a two-day trial? Which is what’s happened with Liam Lawson. And like his Red Bull teammate, world champion Max Verstappen, I think it stinks. Verstappen thinks Lawson should have been given more than two races to prove himself, and I couldn’t agree more. Red Bull are dressing it up, saying that they’re dumping Lawson as part of their “duty of care” obligations. Red Bull boss Christian Horner said overnight: “We have a duty

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22:41

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

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/27

National’s Matt Doocey and Labour’s Megan Woods joined John MacDonald in studio to discuss some of the biggest political stories of the week. Green MP Tamatha Paul has been under fire for her comments about beat police – does their presence really make people feel less safe? And how do her comments bode for Labour, given they’re potentially coalition partners? Is it fair the new Christchurch stadium could have a levy for ‘out-of-towners', since ratepayers funded the build? And will the proposed

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5:37

John MacDonald: Roadside drug testing? Great. Will...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/27

I’m sure you’ll tell me if you think I’m stuck in the past, but I reckon that with the police now being expected to do roadside drug tests —as well as everything else— I think we should bring back the old MOT. The old traffic cops. Officially, it was known as the traffic safety service, but we all knew it as the MOT. And, yes, I know the police are struggling as it is to get the 500 new cops by the end of the year that the government has promised. But if they are now going to be expected to do

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13:52

Ben Elton: British Comedian talks comedy, his career,...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/26

British comedian Ben Elton is returning to Christchurch this May, in what will be his final show in his Authentic Stupidity tour. He joined John MacDonald for a chat about his outlook on life after years of writing comedy and how he feels about performing in Christchurch – plus, an exclusive reveal about his upcoming autobiography. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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10:11

Phil Mauger: Christchurch Mayor on the restoration of...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/26

Christchurch's Mayor says he was shocked by the $400 thousand bill to restore Cathedral Square's Chalice. The City Council's investigating ways to reduce the cost for work, including a complete re-paint and corrosion repairs. It's the first maintenance work to the Chalice since installation in 2001. Phil Mauger told John MacDonald options include touching up the Chalice leaves but leaving the actual structure as-is. “The person that we’re dealing with, we’re working with them to see if we can lower

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5:04

John MacDonald: One stadium, one ticket price

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/25

Even though I live in Christchurch and pay rates in Christchurch, you’re not going to hear me saying that I should pay less to get into the new One NZ Stadium when it opens next year. But I bet there’ll be no shortage of Christchurch people thinking that’s a brilliant idea, but I don’t. It’s something that the council-owned company that will run the stadium says could happen. People who live in Christchurch city could pay less than people from anywhere else. The reason being —or the theory being—

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5:56

John MacDonald: Meth use doubles and here's what...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/25

I’ve never used meth. And I hope I never do. I say “hope” because I think that’s as certain as you can be about a drug like that. Because none of us know what’s going to happen in the future and whether we might just find ourselves in a position where we might just feel a bit differently about using it. I don't know how many times I’ve read stories about people saying they had no idea they'd end up using meth. And there’s no shortage of them, with use of the drug in New Zealand increasing by 96%

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5:00

John MacDonald: Are we really that scared of saying...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/24

At the same time as Winston Peters is declaring war on wokeism, we’ve got a Christchurch community board member saying we are too scared to say things these days in case we offend people. Ali Jones is the community board member and she’s firing back at criticisms that comments she made online about mobility car parks were "shocking". I’ll get to her comments and the reaction but, let me say first, that I don’t agree with her that we are too scared to say things these days. I would say the only

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5:45

John MacDonald: How to honour Chch Cathedral's past...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2025/03/21

Here's an idea that I’m quite excited about. It’s quite raw – it only occurred to me at about 5:30 this morning. But I reckon it could be a solution to something that has gone on for way too long, with no sign of it ending. There is a one-day exhibition being held inside the Christchurch Cathedral today, of miniature models of buildings that went in the earthquakes. It’s happening today-only at the cathedral and will move to the Arts Centre next week. But I reckon this is what we should be doing

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1,140 results

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