Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Road rage is getting worse according to survey results out today, and I think it’s time we made road rage a specific criminal offence.   

I’ll come back to that but, first, how about this for a story? A guy’s driving around Governor’s Bay when this boy racer starts tailgating him, then stops in front of him, pulls out a baseball bat and starts smashing the guy’s windscreen.  

That was a week ago.   

Then we...

I don’t like this idea of dangling bigger carrots in front of people who own land that the government or your local council might want for big infrastructure projects.  

But I'm more concerned about denying people who object access to the Environment Court. Instead of the court, if someone isn’t happy about compulsory sale of their land, they’ll have to complain to the Land Information Minister or their local council – dependi...

Winston Peters had no option when it came to sacking Phil Goff from his job as High Commissioner in London, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy with it.  

I think he’s done the right thing. But he’s done the wrong thing, as well.  

Because it just shows how scaredy-cat the world is of Donald Trump. But we better get used to it – this is how it’s going to be for the next four years.   

That’s why I accept that it nee...

I'm neither happy or unhappy that Adrian Orr is no longer Reserve Bank Governor, but I do have a piece of advice for whoever ends up taking over from him.  

Just be the complete opposite.   

Because I reckon he fell into a trap that ended up with him getting too big for his boots. Which, maybe, is very hard to avoid when you’re in a job like his, but the next person needs to make sure they stay in their lane and keep...

I’m still getting over the Prime Minister saying if people don't like the food provided by the school lunch programme, they should make a marmite sandwich.  

And quite rightly, his comments are being described by the principal of a school in Kaiapoi as “absolutely disgraceful”. And I couldn’t agree more.  

Jason Miles is the principal of Kaiapoi North School and he’s bang on – that talk from the PM was disgraceful.  

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins joined John MacDonald this morning to dig into the latest. 

They discussed the latest from Ukraine and the potential for Trump to introduce agricultural tariffs in the wake of his over 20% tariffs on key trade partners. 

Is talking to an overseas GP on the phone really a good solution to our lacking services? 

And what on earth has gone wrong with the school lunch system? Is a marmite sand...

I am so glad that I’m not a member of the local rainbow community. Because if I was, I would be despairing at the weasel words the Christchurch mayor and the city council are trotting out about the Destiny Church's despicable disruption of the pride month opening event in Christchurch on Saturday.  

And it just tells me that people are either scared of taking on the Destiny Church or they somehow think their hatred is okay. &n...

What we saw at the White House at the weekend was nothing short of vile. But we shouldn’t be surprised.

Watching it, I was blown away. But I wasn’t surprised. And I reckon that, despite all the talk coming from European countries since Saturday, I reckon that Ukraine’s president will realise he has no option but to give Trump what he wants.

But let’s go back to what happened in the Oval Office on Saturday.

And it wasn’t just Donald...

When the Government announced yesterday that it wants to have a binding referendum on a four-year parliamentary term here in New Zealand, I was all for it.  

I've been all for it for a while now. 

But I’m totally against the idea that we do the same with local councils. In fact, I’m so against it, that it could be enough to put me off voting in favour of a four-year parliamentary term.  

That’s how strongly I feel ab...

Today on Politics Friday, John MacDonald was joined by Labour’s Megan Woods and National’s Matt Doocey to delve into some of the biggest topics of the week.  

Four-year parliamentary terms could be on the table – what are the benefits of an extra year? What would be the potential downfalls for councils? 

Would either of them make a citizen’s arrest?  

And is it true Labour cut the budget for the defence force? 

...

Don’t you get it?  

I’m not saying this to you – I’m saying it to the Christchurch City Council, which thinks there is no need to have locals on this new committee its setting up to oversee the red zone on the east side of Christchurch.  

This is the 600-hectare Ōtākaro/Avon River Corridor which has attracted all sorts of controversy since the government took it over after the earthquakes.  

Tens of thousands of peop...

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger joined John MacDonald live in studio for their regular catch up. 

Community members of Christchurch’s red zone are outraged over their exclusion from a governance group overseeing the future development of the area – why have they been left out? 

The age-old question of who has the right to a quiet night has reared its head once again. Inner city noise limits are being reviewed, but if the b...

I’m 50/50 on this idea the Government’s got of letting people do citizens arrests.  

For security guards? Yes. For every other member of the public? It’s a definite no for me. 

Let’s start with security guards and why I think these powers would be good for them.  

How long have we been saying that they need more teeth to do their job? Ages. 

And what we’ve meant by that, is the ability or the right to actually p...

Who would want to be Andrew Bayly today? 

The disgraced, now former minister, resigned because he touched a staff member during what he’s describing as an “animated discussion”.   

And now his political career is toast. As it should be, because in 2025, you just don’t touch people in the workplace.  

You don't touch people in the workplace when you’re happy with them, and you certainly don't touch people in the ...

Spend up large. That’s my message to the Government. Go large, spend up big and drag our military into the 21st century.

That’s not me having a go at the military, by the way. Anyone reading this at Burnham Camp, for example, might feel like I’m having a go at them. But I’m not.

But, what I am saying, is that we need to be spending more on defence - and I’m not saying that just because of what’s going on out in the Tasman, with tho...

Do you know why the Government has failed to meet all of its child poverty targets?  

The overarching reason I’m talking about here. Because this is really complex and there are all sorts of reasons why kids end-up living in poverty and why politicians, generally, fail to fix the problem.  

So the main reason why nothing seems to be achieved in this area. Why do you think that is?  

It’s because of us. Those of us wh...

Today on Politics Friday, John MacDonald was joined by Matt Doocey and Duncan Webb to delve into some of the topics listeners are most interested in. 

They mark the anniversary of the Christchurch Earthquake, which occurred 14 years ago tomorrow.  

Rangiora’s after-hours clinic is still not underway, but some certainty has been gained after the Waimakariri District Council has offered to bankroll the project. 

Child ...

Adrian Orr. Champion of the people.  

Well, that might be going a bit too far. But the Reserve Bank Governor was speaking my language when he says that dropping the Official Cash Rate, like he did yesterday, is just the start and that the banks have to do their bit too. And I couldn’t agree more.  

He was having a dig at their profit margins. But for me generally, I don't give two hoots how much profits the banks make. Be...