Articles by John MacDonald
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Don't dismiss the Christchurch supercity idea
Wednesday, 3 December 2025, 12:59pmA couple of advisors at the Christchurch City Council have ripped into the Government’s plan for regional councils and have...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: The alternative to ditching regional councils
Wednesday, 26 November 2025, 12:39pmYou know how at work you can get people leaving and, instead of hiring new people, they just dish out the work to other people? Then...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Reasons to be nervous about the Govt's building changes
Tuesday, 25 November 2025, 12:59pmThis move by the Government to change who is ultimately liable for repairs to defective building work on new houses up to...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: In terms of scandals, this one is right up there
Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 12:35pmWhatever you thought of Andrew Coster as Police Commissioner, you probably felt you could trust him to do the right thing....
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Housing intensification is the future
Tuesday, 11 November 2025, 1:20pmBe careful what you wish for. That’s how I’m feeling about the Government giving Christchurch an exemption from the new...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Money for restaurant reviewers, but not for Lifeline
Friday, 7 November 2025, 1:17pmSlightly ironic, don’t you think, that on the day people up and down the country are turning up at work and school wearing...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Does taking more sick leave mean we're sicker or slacker?
Thursday, 6 November 2025, 12:55pmThere are two types of people in this world. There are the ones who have no qualms calling in sick, when they’re not. The...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: No protests outside homes? Yes, but where else?
Tuesday, 7 October 2025, 12:47pmForeign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has had a gutsful. And I don’t blame him. I’d be the same if I had protesters outside...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Is it the Govt’s job to make energy prices cheaper?
Friday, 26 September 2025, 12:57pmI got an email from the power company this week, telling me about my weekly electricity use and how much of that is used...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: What's your advice to the new Reserve Bank Governor?
Thursday, 25 September 2025, 1:16pmWhat’s your message to the new Reserve Bank Governor? Dr Anna Breman is moving from Sweden to take up the job and will...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Christopher Luxon's people don't even get him
Wednesday, 24 September 2025, 1:02pmYou know how the Prime Minister does a very good job of batting away poll results and saying that his focus is fixing up...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Nitrate emergency? Do me a favour
Thursday, 18 September 2025, 1:24pmI wonder if the person who called me a tofu-eating, sandal-wearing, treehugger yesterday will have a bit of a re-think when...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Don't let the fun police spoil the dance party
Tuesday, 16 September 2025, 12:34pmGet a grip. That’s my advice today to the people complaining about the music festival planned for the area near Bottle Lake...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Guilt until innocence proven would be a slippery slope
Thursday, 11 September 2025, 12:48pmI’m no apologist for shoplifters. I think it is appalling that retail crime costs retailers $2.6 billion a year. And that...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: What does kicking out overstayers actually achieve?
Friday, 5 September 2025, 12:44pmWhat does kicking overstayers out of the country actually achieve? With just under 21,000 overstayers in New Zealand, the...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: We'd be mad to pull out of the Paris agreement
Wednesday, 3 September 2025, 1:10pmWe would be mad to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. ACT leader David Seymour thinks differently though,...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Who isn't talking to who at Christchurch City Council?
Tuesday, 2 September 2025, 1:33pmAt one point after the earthquakes, I had the insurance company telling me that it wanted to replace the driveway before...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: The KiwiSaver divide that needs sorting
Tuesday, 26 August 2025, 2:20pmI think it would be very easy to push-back on Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson’s call for changes to the KiwiSaver...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Why is performance pay such a no-no for teachers?
Wednesday, 20 August 2025, 12:45pmYou won’t get me tooting for the striking high school teachers. Because I don’t think they’re reading the room at all. On...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: How I feel about armed cops after this week's shootings
Friday, 15 August 2025, 1:17pmWhen I first heard about the police shooting and killing someone they had actually gone to help, like most people, I wondered...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Boris fronted-up to a Covid Inquiry - why aren't our lot?
Thursday, 14 August 2025, 1:34pmI can recall a conversation I had about a month ago with Labour leader and former Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins about Part...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I asked an AI bot how it felt about marking exams
Wednesday, 6 August 2025, 1:01pmWith the Government wanting artificial intelligence to be used to mark high school exams, I asked a ChatGPT bot how it felt...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I like the NCEA changes, but...
Tuesday, 5 August 2025, 12:32pmYesterday, when the Government announced that it was getting rid of NCEA, my immediate reaction was that it was a mistake....
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Gang numbers are up - so what next?
Wednesday, 30 July 2025, 12:30pmThe gangs were right, the Government was wrong. That’s one way to interpret the news that, for the first time, the number...
