Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings

01/12/2025

How do you feel about the Government telling councils that annual rates increases must be no higher than 4 percent?

The new rates caps won’t come into effect until mid-2029. Although consultation will begin immediately.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it’s about forcing councils to “stop doing dumb stuff”. But local councillors are already saying today that the cap will mean some tough decisions will have to be made.

What’s your reaction?

Call John at 9am on 0800-80-1080.

Photo/George Heard

30/11/2025

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger wants to see land in Christchurch’s red zone used for housing as soon as possible.

The first cab off the rank would be land in the area already zoned for it, including land the council is going to lease to a housing trust so it can provide affordable housing on the east side of town.

Ten hectares is already zoned for housing and another 24 hectares is earmarked for trial housing areas, from a total area of about 600-hectares.

So is it time to have a re-think about what’s done with the residential red zone on the east side of Christchurch? Should we be looking into the feasibility of building houses there again?

Call John at 9am on 0800 - 80 10 80.

Photo/Geoff Sloan

27/11/2025

The daughter of one of the victims of the Erebus air disaster is disgusted that the memorial for the 257 people who died in the crash 46 years ago is going to be built at Cracroft Reserve, in Christchurch.

Simone Bennett, whose father David was on the Air NZ DC-10 plane, lives in Auckland and says she is furious that the memorial will be so far away.

How do you feel about the decision to build the memorial in Christchurch?

Call 0800 80 10 80 from 9am and share your thoughts.

The reserve overlooks the city and the Southern Alps, offering quiet reflection.

26/11/2025

How do you feel about Greenpeace telling us this week that nitrate contamination in drinking water supplies in parts of Canterbury are so bad that people are at increased risk of bowel cancer and premature births?

Associate Professor Tim Chambers from the University of Canterbury thinks it’s a government responsibility to provide up-to-date information on nitrate levels in our drinking water.

He says in some countries people can go online, type in their address and see the latest nitrate readings for their area, and he’d like to see the same thing available here.

What do you think?

Call 0800 80 10 80 and share your thoughts from 9am.

25/11/2025

What’s your reaction to the Government wanting to scrap regional councils?

The proposal announced yesterday would see regional councils replaced with Combined Territories Boards, made up of city and district council mayors.

As well as taking over the regional councils and running their own councils, these city and district mayors would also have two years to work out a new council structure for their area.

So how do you feel about the end of regional councils as we know them?

Tune in from 9am and call 0800 80 10 80 and tell us what you think about the end of regional councils.

24/11/2025

How do you feel about the Government’s plan to stop local councils being liable for fixing building defects?

Under new laws, expected to be introduced early next year, each party involved in the construction of homes up to three storeys and renovations costing $100,000 or more will be responsible for repairs for their share of the work.

How do you feel about that?

Call 0800 80 10 80 from 9am and share your opinion.

Minister Chris Penk is changing who is liable for defective building work.

23/11/2025

KiwiSaver providers are liking the National Party's policy to increase contributions, but one of them is saying this morning that we need to go further and make it compulsory.

National is proposing to increase KiwiSaver contributions to 12 percent (6 percent from employers and 6 percent from employees) by 2032, to bring us into line with Australia.

Across the Tasman, it’s compulsory for employers to contribute but not for workers.

National says it’s not in favour of making KiwiSaver contributions compulsory. But Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs it should be compulsory, because we have to make sure everybody is saving for their retirement while they're working. And making it compulsory is the only way to achieve that.

What do you think?

Call 0800 80 10 80 from 9am and tell us what you think.

Christopher Luxon has announced National's first election policy.

20/11/2025

The Prime Minister is rejecting any suggestions that the coalition government is falling apart, following Winston Peters’ promise to repeal David Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill - just days after NZ First supported it passing into law.

Peters has vowed to “get rid” of the legislation, which only became law two days ago, if re-elected next year.

The NZ First leader says the bill, which creates a Regulatory Standards Board to consider legislation against principles, was a degree of intervention “not fit for a modern democracy”.

David Seymour, though, says Winston Peters sounds like he's getting ready to go into cahoots with Labour again.

What do you make of it?

Call 0800 80 10 80 and share your views.

Winston Peters has promised to repeal the two-day-old Regulatory Standards Act.

19/11/2025

How do you feel about the $671 million that went down the gurgler after the Government pulled the plug on the iReX inter-island ferry project, now that we know we’re going to get smaller, more expensive ships and lower spec portside facilities, years later than originally planned?

The Government's announcement yesterday was light on detail about the portside infrastructure costs, which were blamed for the cost blow-outs in the first place. But Rail Minister Winston Peters assures us that it's a much better outcome.

What do you think?

Tune in from 9am and call 0800 80 10 80 to share your thoughts.

Peters says the $596m deal for two hybrid ferries has saved taxpayers billions.

18/11/2025

BusinessNZ is saying today that New Zealand’s population must double in size to 10 million to ensure the country can compete on the world stage.

It says by 2045, New Zealand will face a labour shortage of at least 250,000 people, meaning we will be unable to generate enough economic growth to sustain even a shrinking population and unable to pay for healthcare and pensions.

As well as saying we need twice as many people, it’s also calling for cross-party agreement to raise the retirement age and boost KiwiSaver contributions.

What’s your response to that?

Call 0800 80 10 80 from 9am and tell us what you think.

17/11/2025

Labour and the Greens are accusing the Government of putting more polluting cars on the road with its urgent changes to the clean car standards for imported vehicles.

But Transport Minister Chris Bishop says vehicle prices could have increased by thousands if action wasn't taken.

The Clean Car Standard was introduced in 2023 and imposes annual CO₂ targets for vehicle importers, who must balance higher-emitting models with enough low-emission vehicles to meet their overall target.

They face charges if they fall short but earn credits if they exceed it.
The Government will slash the charges for new and used vehicles to prevent $264 million in charges being passed on to vehicle buyers.

The EV sector is saying it will lead to New Zealand becoming a dumping ground for dirty vehicles. But how do you feel about it? Is it a practical step by the Government or a step backwards?

Call in on 0800 80 10 80 from 9am to share your thoughts.

16/11/2025

How do you feel about the Government wanting to charge tolls on existing stretches of road, not just new roads?

The organisation representing freight carriers says people have already paid for existing roads through their petrol taxes and road user charges.

The Government, though, is keen on corridor tolling - which is where you pay a toll to use an existing road if it's on the same corridor as a new road.

What do you think about that?

Tune in from 9am and call 0800 80 10 80 to share your view on toll roads.