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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

5:39

John MacDonald: Labour's stupidity in robbing Peter...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/18

I reckon Labour has completely lost the plot this week. It started on Monday with its daft idea of taking GST off fruit and vegetables. And then, yesterday, it announced that it wants to sting us for more tax on fuel to help pay for all the new roads it wants to build. A plan which I think National is quite rightfully calling a copycat plan - given that, what Labour is talking about, is pretty much what National is already promising if it forms the next government. National says there’s a truckload

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6:43

John MacDonald: Lauren Dickason - murderer and victim

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/17

I know you won’t disagree with me that Lauren Dickason’s story is a complete and utter tragedy. Found guilty of murdering her three daughters - two-year-old twins Maya and Karla; and their six-year-old sister Liane - at their home in Timaru in September 2021. Nearly two years ago. Just weeks after the family had moved to New Zealand from South Africa. As it’s been reported, of all the evidence and expert opinions and comments by Lauren Dickason herself, it was what she said during a police interview

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4:58

John MacDonald: The Covid rules that should have gone...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/15

I would say that, for most of this year, I’ve thought it nutbar that we have still had to isolate for seven days if we get Covid. That’s all changed though. Because, as of midnight last night, there’s no more isolation and masks are out the window in most places too. Although, healthcare facilities are still on the list of places where we’ll kind of be expected to wear one. I say “kind of” because that’s been my experience recently. I’ve visited a couple of people in hospital and the mask

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5:14

John MacDonald: If you believe this, you'll believe...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/14

If you believe Grant Robertson's sales pitch for taking GST off fruit and vegetables, you’ll believe anything. Because we know he has always been opposed to the idea. Today, though, he's saying he's “come around to the idea". Which is hardly a ringing endorsement, is it? What he really means is he’s come around to the idea because Chris Hipkins says it's his way or the highway. There might, I suppose, be some people who will want to believe that Grant Robertson has had some sort of moment of

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5:42

John MacDonald: The $5 bet that I look like losing

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/11

On Wednesday, a caller to the show - Murray - brought Winston Peters into the conversation. And we ended up agreeing on a $5 wager as to whether or not Winston Peters would be back in Parliament after the election. I said $5 he won’t. Murray said $5 he will. Now I don’t know if Murray has a hotline to the outfits that do the political polls - because, if he does, I’ll claim insider trading - but, since making the bet, another political poll has come out giving NZ First more than five percent

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4:39

John MacDonald: Home detention- the chickens are...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/10

I was asked yesterday whether I'll ever be happy with any policy announcement by any political party. And, wouldn’t you know it, just 24 hours later it’s actually happened. And it’s the ACT Party of all parties that’s managed to do it. Because it’s released details of its Justice Policy which I’m finding pretty hard to argue against. I’ll be honest with you. Even though I like the sound of it, it’s not the type of approach that I would always have argued for. That’s because I get all the

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5:08

John MacDonald: Banning mobile phones at school -...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/09

Most of the time when you see a young person on their phone, do you jump to the conclusion that they’re just wasting time? Or maybe you assume they’re planning their next ram raid or whatever. Well if that’s you, then you will love National’s plan to ban mobile phones in all schools. No ifs or buts. No phones at lunchtime. No phones during recess. No phones at school. That’s what’s going to happen if National is in government after the election in October. Which I think is one of those ideas that

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5:12

John MacDonald: The tax arguments don't stack up

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/08

If I said to you, there was one thing all the political parties need to stop doing straight away, what do you think it would be? One thing that pretty much every party is doing. The ones on the left. The ones on the right. The ones in the middle. They’re all doing it. What do you think it would be? It would be these ridiculous promises that, if they’re part of the next government, we’ll be paying less taxes. They’re all doing it. We’ve got the Maori Party talking about no GST on fruit and veggies

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4:34

John MacDonald: Fluoridation more achievable than a...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/07

Are you the sort of person who goes to the dentist like clockwork, even if you think there’s nothing wrong? Or, are you like most people, and only go when you’re in agony or when you break a tooth trying to eat a Mintie or something like that? I’m not even one of those types. So maybe there are three types. The ones who go to the dentist even if they think there’s nothing wrong. The ones who only go when they know for sure something’s wrong. And the ones who know there’s something wrong but still

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4:42

John MacDonald: Another judge gets it wrong - again

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/04

If you’re sick of people being let off the hook because of their past, how do you feel about people getting off the hook because of their future? This is nothing new, of course. We’ve all heard stories about law students, for example, doing something silly on a night out, getting arrested, going to court, and not being convicted because what they did wasn’t bad enough to damage their career prospects. And most of the time - even if you disagree with that approach - most of the time you just shrug

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4:54

John MacDonald: Cycleway opponents need to get a grip

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/03

You’ll remember all the noise about the Rolleston Avenue/Park Terrace cycleway when some Christchurch city councillors and the mayor claimed they’d been blindsided and didn’t know it was going to happen without them having the chance to give it the green light. And the mayor went ballistic saying that council staff were running amok and needed to be reined in. And Aaron Keown and James Gough chimed in, making the same claims that they know nothing. When it turns out they did. Which is why the head

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5:07

John MacDonald: There's more to life than qualifications

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/02

We are obsessed with qualifications. If you want evidence, take all the noise we’re hearing today about the news that the number of students leaving school with NCEA Level 2 or above dropped again last year to the lowest level in a decade. People are jumping up and down because the OECD reckons that if someone’s going to be employable, they need at least Level 2 NCEA. Which fuels even further this obsession with getting good qualifications. Which, I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of too. Especially when

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5:32

John MacDonald: Don't treat the South Island like a...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/08/01

If you’re driving on State Highway One south of Christchurch anytime soon, be aware that it's as good as it's going to get. I remember someone telling me once that they were driving that piece of road with a person visiting from overseas who asked my friend why they weren’t taking the main highway. And my friend had to say that they were actually on the main highway. I also remember last election and then-National Party leader Todd Muller announcing that, if he led the next Government, a new

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5:03

John MacDonald: Chch councillor deserves everything...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/31

There’s something going on at the Christchurch City Council at the moment that raises a very interesting question about how we expect or want people elected to our local councils to behave. So, even though strictly speaking it’s a Christchurch City Council thing, this is actually relevant wherever you live. The story begins with Christchurch councillor Aaron Keown, who is in the dog box for saying bad things about other councillors and council staff on Facebook. Or maybe “implying” bad things is a

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5:11

John MacDonald: Labour's fruitloop thinking on GST

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/28

How likely is it, do you think, that when the Australian Prime Minister jumped on the plane yesterday after his visit to Wellington and headed back to Canberra, Chris Hipkins wished he was on the plane too? You know, like kids, they’ll have a playdate with one of their mates, but they don’t want the party to end and then they want to turn it into a sleepover. I reckon that’s how Hipkins will have been feeling yesterday when he saw Anthony Albanese’s plane heading down the runway. Or maybe it was US

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5:41

John MacDonald: I'm happy for public e-scooters to...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/26

New Zealand would have to be the undisputed health and safety champion of the world. Which is why I’ve always found it weird that we’re quite happy for any Tom, Dick or Harry with a smartphone to jump on one of those rental e-scooters and go for it. Lime Scooters. Flamingo scooters. You know the ones I’m talking about. Right now, you can find one of those things, get your phone out, scan the code on the scooter, and you’re away laughing. No previous experience required. No helmet required. There’s

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5:37

John MacDonald: Football Ferns have more of a chance...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/25

Is Chris Hipkins in the Beehive? Or is he in la-la land? Because, after everything that’s happened with his government since he took over at the start of the year, he seems to think Labour can still win this year’s election. Even after the most-recent calamity, with now-former minister Kiri Allan being over the legal alcohol limit, crashing a car and failing to accompany a police officer on Sunday night. She’s the fourth government minister to go in less than four months. There’s also been Stuart

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6:13

John MacDonald: Kiri Allan is a victim of Labour's...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/24

Do you remember back when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was over in China, and he said he was having such a great time that he didn’t really want to go home? I reckon he’s wishing he was still in Beijing, with the news that Kiri Allan has resigned from Cabinet after being charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest in Wellington last night. She was also over the legal alcohol limit. But she wasn’t over the limit enough to be charged, so she got an infringement notice. It all started around 9

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5:34

John MacDonald: Shooter in wrong place and should've...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/21

“You don’t know what I’m capable of.” That - or words to that effect - is what Matu Reid said to his partner back in 2021 after he’d pushed her off a chair, thrown an object at her head, kicked her in the stomach - sending her flying backwards - stood over her, and grabbed her throat for about 10 seconds. During which time she couldn’t breathe. Well, we now know exactly what he’s capable of. Or was capable of. Because yesterday morning, he turned up at the building site in central Auckland where

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4:16

John MacDonald: Don't send 12-year-olds to court -...

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald ·

2023/07/20

Another day and another rushed law and order policy announcement from Labour. Yesterday’s one was the third this week, and pretty much focused on ram raids and what to do with 12 and 13-year-old kids who get involved in them. As the week’s gone on, I’ve thought Labour’s policy announcements have been pretty lame and yesterday’s was no exception. Labour thinks treating 12 and 13-year-olds as criminals is going to stop them driving cars through shop windows and helping themselves to whatever they find

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1,152 results

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