Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Nov 05 2024 857 ep. 7 mins 764

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald Podcast artwork

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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John MacDonald: What my gut instinct is telling me about the US presidency

Nov 05 2024 5 mins

Historic. Knife edge. Too close to call. That’s what they’re all saying about today’s presidential election in the States. What you never see though, splashed across the screens on CNN and Sky News and BBC, is “gut instinct”. My gut tells me that it’s going to be Donald Trump. And, this is the great thing about gut instinct, it doesn't really matter whether you’re wro

Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader on the US Election, Treaty Principles Bill, AI use in schools

Nov 05 2024 7 mins

Labour is lamenting the Treaty Principles Bill even seeing the light of day. David Seymour's controversial bill will be introduced in Parliament tomorrow. Labour Leader Chris Hipkins says if implemented it would throw away years of legal precedent. He told John MacDonald that National allowing the bill to get this far is irresponsible. Hipkins says Labou

John MacDonald: Boot camps must not add to our abuse shame

Nov 04 2024 5 mins

The plan to give “use of force” powers to the people running the Government’s new boot camps for young criminals is getting a bit of attention today. Or military academies as the Prime Minister was calling them this morning. The Children’s Minister has got this idea that, if you’re involved in running a boot camp, you should have the same powers as the police and you shou

John MacDonald: Don't panic about the police mental health call-out changes

Nov 03 2024 6 mins

From today, the police don’t intend to respond to every mental health callout. But I don’t think we’re going to see any major difference. I’ll tell you why shortly,. And it’s based on an experience I had on Friday night. So if you’re worried about the police saying “not our department” if you call up, as of today, about someone having a mental health issue - don’t

John MacDonald: We need to ditch this obsession with uni degrees

Oct 31 2024 5 mins

I didn’t go to university and there’s a bit of a dad joke that I trot out about that now and again. I say that I’m a student of life, in no rush to graduate. So maybe I’m coming at this with a biased view of the world, but I agree with this academic at the University of Canterbury who is saying today that universities have just become factories that pump out people w

Richard O'Brien: Kiwi Writer and Actor on the Theatre Royal Variety Gala, The Kingdom of Bling, and his career

Oct 31 2024 13 mins

A beloved Kiwi writer and actor will be featuring in the upcoming Theatre Royal Variety Gala. Richard O’Brien, the mind behind The Rocky Horror Picture Show, will be taking the stage as they celebrate a decade since the theatre reopening after the Christchurch quakes. Richard joined John MacDonald for a chat about the Gala, his new production, and his journey since t

Politics Friday with Vanessa Weenink and Tracey McLellan: User-pays approach to health, single-patient rooms in hospitals, US Election

Oct 31 2024 19 mins

Today on Politics Friday, John MacDonald was joined by National’s Vanessa Weenink and Labour’s Tracey McLellan for a chat about the latest political happenings. The agenda today had a bit of a health skew, as they discussed whether it might be time for a user-pays approach to health and if single-patient hospital rooms are the way of the future. And, who do they thi

John MacDonald: Mike King was right. But he was wrong too

Oct 30 2024 5 mins

It’s Gumboot Friday tomorrow and the guy behind it, Mike King, seems to have put his foot in it. Although, I’m a little bit torn on this one. So what’s happened is we’ve got this charity fashion show being held in Dunedin to raise money for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. And, like most events, the organisers wanted to serve alcohol as part of t

John MacDonald: What's so wrong with slower traffic outside schools?

Oct 29 2024 5 mins

If I say to you “30 kph speed limit area”, chances are you can think of one. I can think of one straight away - on the southern end of Colombo Street in Christchurch. You’re cruising along at 50 kph and then —bang— it drops down to 30. No schools on that stretch of Colombo. There’s a school on one of the side streets, but it goes down to 30 —and it’s permanent— an

John MacDonald: Hi-de-hi campers! Christchurch's campervan clanger

Oct 28 2024 4 mins

When I heard that a campervan park is going to be up and running in central Christchurch, near Latimer Square —possibly in time for this summer— my first thought was that I’m glad I haven’t spent more than $500,000 buying an apartment around there. Not even the developer’s reassurances that campervan people aren’t “yahoo types” made me feel any more excited about it