Articles by John MacDonald
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Isn't enrolling on election day better than not voting at all?
Friday, 25 July 2025, 1:04pmElection Day is like Christmas Day, with some of us not getting ourselves organised until the very last minute - even though...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: What do sport gender guidelines have to do with the price of butter?
Thursday, 24 July 2025, 1:27pmThere will be no shortage of people today thinking that it's a brilliant move by the Government to ditch official guidelines...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: The hardline stance on student loans is backfiring
Friday, 4 July 2025, 12:47pmI didn’t do any study after I left school —no university, no polytech— so I’ve never had a student loan. I know about debt...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Ferry privatisation would just be excusing KiwiRail's shortcomings
Tuesday, 1 July 2025, 12:58pmI don’t like this idea David Seymour’s pushing of privatising the Interislander ferry service and getting a private operator...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: All councils should learn from ECAN's open mind on rail
Thursday, 29 May 2025, 12:49pmI hope Environment Canterbury isn’t bothering listening to Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey. He’s not impressed that the regional...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Do we even need speed limits around the new stadium?
Thursday, 22 May 2025, 1:14pmThere’s a danger that when the new stadium opens in Christchurch next year, we'll have no idea exactly what speed we should...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: $600M for rail is a good start, but it's just a start
Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 12:55pmIn an ideal world, I would love us to have more trains. In an ideal world, I think it would be great if all our big cities...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Why no more after-hours funding for Christchurch?
Monday, 19 May 2025, 12:38pmHere’s a story someone told me this morning about what happened within the last six-or-so weeks, when a Christchurch woman...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: What I would do if I was running the new truancy service
Wednesday, 14 May 2025, 1:09pmWell done to the Government for making all the right noises about dealing with truancy. It’s going to spend $140 million...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I've got a solution for the power bill problem
Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 1:22pmThis poll out today saying nearly half of us are more concerned about power prices than we were a year ago, is nonsense. Because...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: There will always be cars and idiots
Monday, 12 May 2025, 12:40pmThere are two things certain in this world. There will always be cars and there will always be idiots. That’s why this move...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I'm not normally anti-bottle store, but...
Monday, 28 April 2025, 1:00pmI’ve surprised myself with my reaction to this plan to open a bottle store right across the road from the bus interchange,...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Is prison the wrong place for some offenders?
Monday, 7 April 2025, 12:52pmI’m liking what Sir Ron Young is saying about prison sentences today. He’s really challenging us, saying that we need to...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: New ferries by 2029? I'll believe it when I see it
Tuesday, 1 April 2025, 12:57pmFour more years. That's how long we’re going to have to wait for KiwiRail's new interisland ferries. But I reckon it will...
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Audio
John MacDonald: Has the Grocery Commissioner checked out?
Monday, 31 March 2025, 12:30pmWhere's the grocery commissioner? Wasn’t he going to get cheaper groceries for all of us? That was the idea. But he hasn’t. So...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: We shouldn't be in the dark to the reality of bullying
Monday, 17 March 2025, 12:40pmIsn't it crazy that schools don't have to report how much bullying is going on? The Chief Children's Commissioner thinks...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Shopping for trouble at the mall
Monday, 3 February 2025, 12:38pm“There are dropkicks everywhere”. That's what someone said to me when we were talking about this situation around Eastgate...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: The get-stuff-done guy is on a collision course
Monday, 20 January 2025, 1:23pmIf you believed the Prime Minister when he said yesterday that he still has confidence in the now-former health minister...
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Opinion
John Macdonald: Free speech rules shouldn't stop at universities
Friday, 20 December 2024, 2:16pmHere’s how I would sum up the Government’s changes to the free speech rules for universities. It wants more Posie Parkers...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Health and Safety is off the rails
Friday, 8 November 2024, 1:33pmYou'll have your own way of describing this crazy situation where we’ve got KiwiRail telling the Christchurch City Council...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Mike King was right. But he was wrong too
Thursday, 31 October 2024, 2:04pmIt’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...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Does the government really think this is going to work?
Tuesday, 22 October 2024, 12:51pmSometimes you just have to resort to cliches, because there are times when there’s just no other way to say it. Or no better...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Why are we building in dumb places?
Tuesday, 1 October 2024, 12:49pmStop building houses in dumb places. That’s the message the Insurance Council is giving the Government. That bit about...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: People are time-wasters in and out of the office
Tuesday, 24 September 2024, 1:32pmI don’t know where Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis get this idea from that you can only do a hard day’s work if you’re...
