John MacDonald: Politicians and gangs have hung out before

Let me say from the get-go that I despise gang culture and everything it stands for and represents. I despise gangs for the misery they inflict on people with their drug dealing and the way they treat the people desperate for the poison they peddle. I despise gangs for the other heinous crimes th…

John MacDonald: Opportunity's time has come

Qiulae Wong’s night couldn’t have gone better last night. Just before the Opportunity leader joined the other leaders for the minor parties TV debate, a new poll came out putting her party well and truly in the position of kingmaker. According to the 1News-Verian poll, Opportunity is sitting on 8…

John MacDonald: Don't give me a tax cut. Do this instead.

I thought the tax cuts we got after the last election were a complete waste of time. And I suspect that, by now, most people feel the same. Which is why I am in no way excited about this talk from National about possibly further cuts. At some stage. When the party released its fiscal plan for th…

Superintendent Tony Hill: Canterbury District Commander on police response times, youth offending, and move on orders

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill joined John MacDonald to take listeners questions about the issues that local police are facing in the community. Superintendent Hill discussed the recent homicides in Christchurch, youth offending, police response times, public concerns about…

John MacDonald: Is forcing kids to stay at school longer the answer?

If a 16-year-old doesn’t want to be at school anymore, is it worth forcing them to stay until they’ve completed Year 11? At the moment, they can leave as soon as they turn 16. But National says, if it’s re-elected, it will make it compulsory for students to stay until the end of Year 11. Irrespec…

John MacDonald: If you're over 50, be wary of National's plan

Anyone over the age of 50 should be very wary of this plan National has to reduce benefit payments for people on the Jobseeker benefit longer than two years. I’ll tell you why. But first, here’s what it wants to do to save taxpayers $572 million over four years. A single person receiving the Jobs…

Election 2026: Matt Doocey and Dan Rosewarne make their pitch to be the MP for Waimakariri

This week's Politics Friday Election Special focused on the Waimakariri electorate. The candidates, Matt Doocey from National, and Dan Rosewarne from Labour, made their pitch about why they want to become the next local MP. They discussed their backgrounds before getting into politics, and what i…

John MacDonald: What's wrong with letting kids be kids?

Let kids be kids. That’s what I thought when I read about a very successful young guy with 12 university degrees, who thinks we need to be pushing Kiwi kids harder from a younger age. Jamie Beaton is co-founder of Crimson Education, which helps Kiwi students get into the top universities around t…

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger on council led NRL team bid, Airbnb crackdowns, potential Enable sale

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger says the Council’s feasibility study into a South Island NRL team must remain under wraps due to commercial sensitivity. Speaking to Canterbury Mornings, Mauger said the numbers cannot be released until the NRL reveals its decision, but insisted ratepayer money is be…

John MacDonald: The real winners in last night's TV debate

I’ll tell you who I think came out the winner from last night’s TVNZ leaders' debate. It was the first of four TVNZ debates and the only one involving just National’s Christopher Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins. So it was the big chance, for each to them, to convince those of us watching why the…