Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

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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 understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector.Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

  1. 2d ago

    John MacDonald: What's so scary about 16-year-olds voting?

    How do you feel about 16 and 17-year-olds voting? I’m all for it. Labour leader Chris Hipkins is, too. Although, I’d go further than what he’s talking about. He’s announced that, if Labour forms the next government, it will allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in local body elections. But, if you’re going to do that, why not let them vote in general elections too? Make It 16, the group that’s been campaigning for youth voting rights, is pretty pleased with Labour. It says allowing young people to vote would strengthen democracy. And I couldn’t agree more. The reason Labour isn’t going as far as I think it should, is because changing the voting age for general elections can only happen if it’s supported by 75 percent of the MPs in Parliament. But it should happen. Especially, when you consider the Supreme Court ruling back in 2022 which said that not letting 16 and 17-year-olds vote in New Zealand breaches the Bill of Rights. But, for whatever reason, some people think 16 and 17-year-olds couldn’t possibly be trusted with this burden of responsibility that is voting. Very serious business. Not for kids. They’re probably the same people who think 16 and 17-year-olds who commit crimes should face the same consequences as older criminals. Because you hear that all the time, don't you? When a 16-year-old does something like ram-raiding a shop or stealing a car, people bang on about them being old enough to know that what they did was wrong and how they made the decision to do whatever they did. But then, if we talk about voting, suddenly 16-year-olds have got no idea. Not capable of making decisions on their own, too young, no life experience blah blah blah. The thing is, if we give young people voting rights, it will only be the ones interested enough to vote who will vote. And, dare I say it, I think some of these younger people would be way more informed than some of us older voters. Because, potentially, the younger you are, the more likely you are to support candidates who are prepared to take the long view and not just dish out lollies for gullible voters. In my experience, the 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds of today are so much more advanced in their ability to think more broadly about the world around them, than I ever was at their age. Which is where I think the problem lies in terms of convincing a lot of us that someone who is 16 has the capacity to choose who to vote for. Because, naturally, we think back to what we were like when we were their age. And a lot of us probably think we wouldn’t have had a clue back then and assume the teenagers of today are no different. But they are very different. And that’s why I have no problem with them voting. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. 2d ago

    Election 2026: Dale Stephens and George Hampton on why they should be the next Christchurch Central MP

    The first Politics Friday Election Special focused on Christchurch Central. The candidates, Dale Stephens from National, and George Hampton from Labour, made their pitch about why they want to become the next Christchurch Central MP. They discussed what can be done with the Airbnb's in the CBD, the cost of living, homelessness in the city, and how to revive Cathedral Square. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  3. 3d ago

    John MacDonald: There's nothing strategic about strategic voting

    When you vote in November’s election, are you going to be voting for a party or are you going to be voting for a coalition? According to Harry Mowbray, father of the Mowbray billionaires, you should be voting for the coalition you want running the place. As he puts it on the website he’s set up, there’s an opportunity in this year’s election to change the make-up of Parliament and have a centre-right coalition governing the country for what he calls “the foreseeable future”. But he says that can only happen if people vote strategically. He says MMP has come of age and, instead of voting for individual parties, we need to vote for the coalition we want. You’re not going to get me involved in this strategic voting nonsense. Because that’s what it is. I’ll explain why. But the obvious example of strategic voting that fits Harry Mowbray’s interests would be people voting to get the National/ACT/NZ First coalition back in government. A so-called strategic vote would be voting for National in your electorate and voting ACT or NZ First with your party vote. And then, if National got more electorate seats than their party vote result entitled them to, they’d have more MPs and there’d be the overhang. Where there are more than the standard 120 MPs in Parliament. But, as Sir John Key pointed out at the National Party campaign launch, that could mean people from minor parties that no one’s ever heard of ending up in government. And senior MPs such as Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee being out of Parliament, because they’re list-only. The thing that puts me off this so-called strategic voting is that it’s not strategic at all, for several reasons. For it to be strategic, all voters wanting a similar outcome would have to be in tune with each other. For example: you might want a centre-right coalition back in government. But do you want it to be National-led or not? Or would you rather see NZ First or ACT have more sway? The other reason you won’t get me voting strategically to try and get a particular coalition is that, with MMP, voting is just the start. We get the results and then the horse trading begins. You imagine someone thinking they were voting strategically back in 2017, wanting a National/NZ First coalition. The numbers on the night made it look as if they were going to get what they voted for. But then Winston Peters announced he was going with Labour. There’s your strategic vote wasted. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  4. 3d ago

    Veteran broadcaster Brendan Telfer remembers Phil Gifford

    Legendary broadcaster and writer Phil Gifford has passed away at the age of 79. A veteran broadcaster and sports journalist with his career spanning over fifty years, Gifford worked across print, radio and television. Phil was also a host on Newstalk ZB, more recently on the afternoons show alongside Simon Barnett between 2019 and 2021. They reunited after hosting local Christchurch breakfast shows over the 90s and 2000s. Someone who worked with Phil back in the glory days of broadcasting was fellow veteran sports broadcaster, Brendan Telfer, who joined John MacDonald to remember Phil. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  5. 4d ago

    John MacDonald: Does the Govt deserve another three years?

    I’m no fan of the current Government. In fact, I’m no fan of any of the political parties at the moment. That said, you’ve got to give the current lot credit for what we saw in yesterday’s Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU). Is it enough for them to get another term? I’ll tell you what I think shortly. But the overarching result is that the government’s finances are better than expected. The books could be out of the red a year earlier than forecast. With a $4 billion surplus, $1.5 billion higher than was forecast just a few months ago, expected within three years. When I first heard those numbers, I thought, “Why would you change course now?” For me, there is a lot not to like about the current government. Despite what it says, I think it has a general disdain for people who are down on their luck. ACT, especially. And that doesn’t sit well with me. Then there’s all the culture war nonsense pushed by NZ First. Making English an official language. Laws to define what a woman is. Proving you’re Kiwi enough to live here. So there’s a long list of all the things I don’t like about the current government. But you’ve got to give them credit for the state of the books. So do I think they deserve another term? Based on yesterday’s results, I would say yes. Reluctantly. But there’s another reason too. I think Labour has blown it and doesn’t deserve to be back in government. I’ve got no idea what they’ve been doing these last three years. It seems that Chris Hipkins thinks all he has to do is start swearing in speeches and get fired up during interviews and he’ll be Prime Minister again. He’s dreaming. And the state of The Government’s books could be the final straw. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  6. 5d ago

    Chris Hipkins on PREFU, working with Greens and Opportunity, death of Adrian Rurawhe

    Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has admitted he hasn't yet read the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) in full, but he is confident the funding for his party's policies is there. Speaking to Canterbury Mornings, Hipkins says Labour will take time to crunch the numbers before coming out with their fiscal plan, which will be out by the end of next week. "You've got to give us a little bit of time to digest it. There's a lot of numbers in it and you want to take the time to do that properly" Hipkins also discussed his views on Green Party Co-leader Chloe Swarbrick calling for big portfolios if they create a coalition government, and his reaction to the passing of former Labour MP and Speaker of the House, Adrian Rurawhe. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  7. 5d ago

    John MacDonald: Sort out pay equity, but don't rush it

    I’m all for pay equity for women, but. Which I’ll get to. First, though. At a public meeting in Christchurch last night, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was asked what the most important thing a Labour-led government would do for girls and women. He said reversing last year’s pay equity changes. And that he would do it within his government’s first 100 days in office. He said: "I think probably the most reprehensible thing I have seen in my time as a member of Parliament was the Government's decision last year with no notice, with no warning, with no consultation, to pass under urgency a law that cancelled pay equity for tens of thousands of women." I agree with him there. The way it played out was appalling. There were about 180,000 workers with pay equity claims underway. They were all dismissed pretty much overnight under urgency. Hipkins went on to say: "I want to give you a reassurance that within the first 100 days we are back in Government we will reverse that change." Adding that care and support workers will be first in the queue, because he says they have waited long enough. That’s because when the coalition rushed through its pay equity changes, and there were those tens of thousands of workers with pay equity claims underway, about 80,000 of them were care and support workers. It was May last year when the Government announced it was pulling the plug on any existing claims and was going to make it harder for any future claims to get through. Saying it was doing it because the pay equity rules were “muddied and unclear”. The truth was, it was doing it to save $12.8 billion and save Nicola Willis’ skin. Because it was just days out from the Budget. ACT leader David Seymour was even crowing that Brooke van Velden had single-handedly rescued the Budget. So it was smoke and mirrors and, the way it was done, was an absolute shocker. I’m all for pay equity. I find it so dismissive of people who say “Oh yeah, equal pay and all that but, sorry girls, we just can’t afford it.” So no argument from me that something needs to be done to make good for that appalling move by National, ACT and NZ First. But I can’t support the way Chris Hipkins wants to go about it. And, instead of the usual 100 days’ nonsense, I want to see this thing looked into properly. I want to see a thorough select committee process, or something similar, used to get the facts. Which would then allow an approach to be developed to sort out real inequities in a realistic way. So it’s a yes from me. But do it properly. Don’t rush it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  8. 6d ago

    John MacDonald: I hope NZTA is listening

    How shocking is it that a woman died on a stretch of State Highway 1, in South Canterbury, that NZTA had known was dangerous but hadn’t done anything about it? I’ll run you through the details. But I hope NZTA is listening to the coroner who is saying today that a median barrier is needed where the crash happened. I also hope NZTA wakes up to the fact that median barriers are desperately needed on a lot of other roads, as well. In fact, there was supposed to be a median barrier where this crash happened. But it didn’t go ahead because the money for it was used on something else. So in January 2018, Kellyanne Pattinson was driving south and was killed when a truck veered across the road and hit her car. It was on State Highway 1, near Pareora in South Canterbury. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. No excessive speed. No alcohol. The truck driver wasn’t in the wrong, either. But he lost control, veered across three lanes and crashed into her. That happened because it had been wet and excess bitumen had come up to the surface of the road, turning it into a bit of a skating rink. Technically, it’s known as “flushing”. And, the thing is, NZTA knew about this problem, but hadn’t done anything about it. In the six years before this crash, there had been five other crashes within 250 metres of where Kellyanne died. All of them involving northbound drivers losing control of their vehicles. Not long before it happened, a contractor had raised concerns about this issue with the excess bitumen floating to the surface in the wet and making the road slippery. I don’t know when the median strip that was supposed to have been installed on this stretch of State Highway 1 would have been installed if the funding hadn’t been pulled or spent elsewhere. So I can’t say whether Kellyanne would still be alive if it had gone ahead, as originally planned. But Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame is saying today that it’s still needed. Apparently, there was also a plan to install one earlier this year. But NZTA told the coroner it didn’t happen because it didn’t “align with Government priorities”. Which isn’t good enough, as far as the coroner is concerned. She’s saying today: “Had the project proceeded, I would have been satisfied that adequate steps had been taken by NZTA to ensure public safety and to reduce the chance of further deaths occurring at the crash site.” Which is her way of saying that enough hasn’t been done and the road is still dangerous. So a median barrier is needed there to stop head-on collisions. But that’s just a start. Because I reckon they are the only way to prevent vehicles from crashing head-on and we should have them on a lot more roads. The only other options are to keep our fingers crossed, as we do at the moment on most roads around the country, and hope some clown doesn’t do any dodgy overtaking. Or keep our fingers crossed and hope it doesn’t rain and make the roads slippery. Neither of those are good enough for me. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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About

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 understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector.Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

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