Canterbury Mornings

A central Christchurch hotel has joined the growing list of facilities, being used to quarantine incoming New Zealanders.The Distinction Christchurch Hotel will close to the general public for the next six months.Housing Minister Megan Woods told Chris Lynch the hotel will need to meet strict criteria to prevent any chance of community transmission."There needs to be enough room in common areas to allow for the in-flow and outflow of people going in and out without breaking physical distancing rules."LISTEN ABOVE

A Union leader is taking aim at a widening pay gap between workers and senior leaders at Fletcher Building.The union believes Fletcher's CEO Ross Taylor earned $5.3 million last year - yet its steel workers get less than $43 thousand.E tū negotiator Joe Gallagher told Chris Lynch the company values its shareholders more than the people who make them their money.He says this was shown when they announced 1000 job cuts. Listen above.

David Clark has resigned from his role as Health Minister.He says the job has been a privilege and he's given it his all.National leader Todd Muller told Newstalk ZB's Chris Lynch his party had been calling for Clark's resignation, and welcomed it."Ultimately he had a job to do on behalf of the Government and on behalf of the people of this country."It is our view that he did not deliver that to the standards that we expected, neither through the lockdown or the border management in recent weeks which has been utterly shambolic."As difficult as that announcement was for him, it is the right thing to do and should really have occurred several weeks ago."LISTEN ABOVE

The Christchurch Art Centre is pleading for public cash, although no final decisions have been made on restructuring the organisation.Chief Executive Philip Aldridge told the Christchurch City Council several weeks ago the centre was at risk of closing.“We are in a really difficult situation, what we need is an indication that you’re going to help us.”The centre is run by a non-profit trust.In its 2019 annual report, the senior management team of 7.5 positions was paid a total of $968,771 - an average of $129,169 each.Mr Aldridge defended the pay on Newstalk ZB, saying “we have been running a 290 million dollar restoration project and you need to pay people the going rate, you can’t just get someone off the street.”Mr Aldridge told Chris Lynch, the centre has lost “five positions in the past year.”When asked if those positions were senior management, Mr Aldridge said it was “a bit of everything.”“That’s a restructuring that’s going on at the moment, and I don’t know how that will pan out.”He said they had a l

It’s back to the future for Christchurch hospital carpark users.The Christchurch hospital park-and-ride site is set to return to the Deans Ave site.Currently, hospital users are forced to use the Lichfield Street Christchurch City Council car park, parking their car, and wait for a shuttle to drop them at the hospital.In a resource consent by Fulton Hogan, and granted by the Christchurch City Council,  the application includes the construction and operation of a car parking lot comprising 350 at-grade car parks on a 1ha portion of 25 Deans Avenue.“The car park is limited in use to Canterbury District Health Board staff and patients and visitors to Christchurch Hospital.”The proposed car parking lot is intended to have a limited duration (five years) and is not part of a permanent activity occurring on the site.Canterbury District Health Board Chief Executive David Meates says while Christchurch City Council has approved a resource consent application in the name of Canterbury DHB on behalf of a private develo

Criticism of the Green Party's tax plan to tackle poverty.Its flagship election policy resets income support payments and guarantees a minimum $325 a week income for everyone not in full time paid work.It will be funded by two new income tax brackets and a wealth tax.  Those not in full time paid work, including students, will be eligible. Nexia New Zealand Tax Director Maggie Jaques told Chris Lynch wealth taxes have been ruled out in the past for good reason.She says they are overly complicated and the pay off might not be worth the complicating factors.Listen above.

The New Zealand Taxpayers Union wants Christchurch residents to have more options when it comes to the proposed rates rise.Consultation on rates closes tonight but the NZTU has provided an online tool giving voters broader options than the three the Council has offered.The Union's Jordan Williams told Chris Lynch the Council form is about endorsing its preferred rates increase - or higher.He says the council cries poverty but in actual fact, every household and business has been laser focused on cutting costs and the council should be doing the same.Listen above.

Cold snap on the cards for Canterbury with snow possible to 300 metres on Wednesday. Tony Trewinnard from Blue Skies Weather told Chris the ski fields should get good snow falls and recommends planning your ski trip for Friday or Saturday. Listen above.

Canterbury Mornings broadcast live from 1851 at the Crowne Plaza in the central city.Minister Megan Woods and Gerry Brownlee joined Chris on location for this week's edition of Politics Friday discussing border quarantine and Duncan Webb's council address suggesting an increase in rates.Listen above.

Mike Yardley joined Chris Lynch on location at 1851 at the Crowne Plaza in the central city to wrap the week that was.Listen above.

Christchurch's new conference centre is pivoting its business towards the domestic market until the border opens for trans-Tasman visitors.Builders are trying to make up for lost time caused by the Covid 19 lockdown to finish the Te Pae Christchurch Conference Centre.General manger Ross Steele told Chris Lynch he's still optimistic for the future of the conference centre despite the road humps of Covid 19.He says Australasian events are their target market and they will try to bring them across hopefully from September if there aren't any setbacks.Listen above.

Canterbury Mornings broadcast live from 1851 at the Crowne Plaza in the central city. Reinier Eulink, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Christchurch, spoke to Chris about running a hotel in a global pandemic. Listen above.  

Christchurch NZ CEO Joanna Norris joined Chris to discuss what is happening in the city following lock down and what work is being done behind the scenes to attract visitors to the city. Listen above.

Canterbury Mornings broadcast live from 1851 at the Crowne Plaza in the central city. Central city business man John Hutchinson, owner of Team Hutchinson Ford, joined Chris to discuss what business is like post lock down.Listen above.  

Prisoners serving a sentence of no more than three years will soon be allowed to vote.The Registration of Sentenced Prisoners Amendment Bill passed last night, 63 votes to 57.Professor of Criminology Greg Newbold told Chris Lynch it's a step in the right direction.He says denying prisoners the right to vote is gratuitous punishment and it's not justifiable.Listen above. 

Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb has expressed his “profound disappointment that council is taking an approach of austerity.”The Christchurch City Council is proposing to increase rates by an average of 3.5 percent, but Mr Webb says it should be more.He says the role of government in times of crisis is not belt tightening and knee-jerk alarmism leading to economic and social contraction and decay.He says the rates base should not be reduced.City Councillor Sam MacDonald spoke to Chris Lynch and says this completely out of touch from where the city is at.Listen above. 

It's too early to tell if Christchurch houses with hidden quake damage will become the next leaky home headache.Building reports are revealing hundreds of homes with botched repairs - but EQC compensation for this ends on August 14.Lawyer Duncan Terris told Chris Lynch there are many defective repairs still out there.He says hidden quake repairs are unlikely to be as great a problem as leaky homes - but only time will tell.Terris says buyers need to get their own building inspections done,  because there's no recourse if there's a problem with reports provided by sellers or agents.LISTEN ABOVE

The Christchurch City Council has agreed to trial a skydiving venture above Sumner Beach - but some residents aren't happy.They're concerned it'll mean helicopters buzzing overhead and some say it'd spoil the peace of the area while you walk along the beach.Port Hills MP Ruth Dyson told Chris Lynch the beach is a place where people go for pleasure and peace.She understands the appeal behind adventure tourism but thinks more people value the area for its serenity.LISTEN ABOVE

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel joined Chris in studio to discuss Regenerate Christchurch winding down early and the lighting displays planned to light up the city. Listen above.

A Gun City owner says new gun laws are dividing the good guys from the Government.New legislation around firearms registry is coming into effect this week - a continued response from police and the Government since the March 15 attacks.Christchurch store owner, David Tipple, told Chris Lynch it's vilifying law abiding citizens.He says while all the police energy is focused on the good guys, there's less attention on the bad guys - and he says we're suffering because of that change.