Articles by John%20MacDonald
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I could never be a teacher
Thursday, 28 March 2024, 1:03PMOne thing I know with absolute certainty is that I could never be a schoolteacher. A few more people might be saying that...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: What a bunch of pushovers we are
Wednesday, 27 March 2024, 12:20PMI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We are the People’s Republic of Pushovers. This time, we’ve been pushovers over...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: The cyclone review findings that astound me
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 12:57PMI am astounded by what’s come out of this review into how well-prepared Civil Defence was prior to Cyclone Gabrielle and...
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Politics
Simeon Brown blasts 'red tape and green tape', names five key issues for Auckland
Thursday, 21 March 2024, 3:09PMThe minister responsible for Auckland issues and transport says he’ll slash “red tape and green tape” and flatten speed bumps. Simeon...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Government's refinery inquiry is pointless
Thursday, 21 March 2024, 1:18PMIt was only November last year when the owner of the Marsden Point oil refinery told the incoming government to forget about...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Cut costs, for sure. But leave the police out of it
Wednesday, 20 March 2024, 1:09PMIf you think Chris Cahill from the Police Association is talking out of his ear, well, he’s not. And I’ve got a story to...
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Business
The Warehouse to sell online platform, posts $23.7m loss
Wednesday, 20 March 2024, 10:28AMThe Warehouse Group made a $23.7 million net loss in six months amid some grim retail conditions and a poor performance from...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Let’s hope Kāinga Ora gets the message
Tuesday, 19 March 2024, 12:52PMThere seem to be three main points of view when it comes to the Government’s crackdown on cruddy state housing tenants. We’ve...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Bonding medical graduates isn't realistic
Thursday, 14 March 2024, 12:27PMShould we be bonding new doctors so they can’t just disappear overseas as soon as they leave medical school? One doctor...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Police have had a gutsful, and rightfully so
Wednesday, 13 March 2024, 12:28PMWho would be a cop? Not me. Especially after all the things we’ve been hearing about how disgusted they are with the pay...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Why not keep the gang's charity money?
Tuesday, 12 March 2024, 12:30PMThis is a moral dilemma and, maybe, an over-reaction at the same time. At Wellsford, the local Head Hunters chapter had...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: 100 days and they're still together
Friday, 8 March 2024, 12:45PMEvery government minister will be going for the takeaways and cracking open a bottle of something tonight, won’t they? They...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Landlords aren't the emergency housing solution
Thursday, 7 March 2024, 12:29PMThe Government says it wants to see less people living in emergency accommodation in motels. My response to that: who doesn’t? It...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: No body, no parole is a no brainer
Wednesday, 6 March 2024, 12:51PMThe only problem I’ve got with the sentence handed-out yesterday to Christchurch man David Benbow for murdering his childhood...
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Business
Exports struggle to get good prices but NZ trade deficit still shrinks
Monday, 4 March 2024, 1:37PMWe exported more but got less bang for our buck in the last three months of 2023. And we imported fewer things but still...
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Audio
Guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel opens about his life and experience of a higher power
Sunday, 3 March 2024, 8:15PMTommy was born in New South Wales, Australia. He received his first guitar in 1959 (at age four) and was taught by his mother...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: More proof that local government is broken
Friday, 1 March 2024, 12:41PMWe’re about one month away from the halfway mark in the current term of the Christchurch City Council and its latest residents...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Newshub's demise no free ride for TVNZ
Thursday, 29 February 2024, 1:00PMSurprised but not surprised. That’s what I’ve been saying to people who have asked me how I feel about the closure of Newshub. They...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Labour soft on gangs? Nash says no, no, no, yes
Tuesday, 27 February 2024, 12:59PMWhen I heard that former Police Minister Stuart Nash was spilling the beans on what happened when he tried to get a zero...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Politicians can fix child poverty. As if
Friday, 23 February 2024, 12:30PMFormer Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern once said that ending child poverty was the reason she got into politics. I wish someone...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: We need to prepare people better for parenting
Thursday, 22 February 2024, 1:03PMIf you’re a parent of any age or stage —you might have little ones or you might be a grandparent, or somewhere in-between—...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Like it or not, our broken cathedral needs more public money
Wednesday, 21 February 2024, 12:28PMLate last year we heard that work on the Christchurch Cathedral reinstatement had slowed down. We’d had a tip-off from...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: Is it beneficiary bashing or just accountability?
Tuesday, 20 February 2024, 12:44PMGuess what I was accused of the other day? I was accused of elder abuse. Now, this wasn’t for real. It was from someone...
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Opinion
John MacDonald: I am not convinced extra speed cameras will make roads safer
Monday, 19 February 2024, 1:07PMYesterday, I drove from Christchurch to Picton, and back again. And I don’t think any of these extra speed cameras that NZTA...