Podcasts about lianne dalziel

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government, a National Party member and currently volunteering for the party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis. Lianne Dalziel is a life member of the Labour Party and a former MP and Cabinet Minister. She ran as an independent for Christchurch's mayoralty in 2013 and was the city's mayor for three terms. She writes a regular column for Newsroom.co.nz.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government, a National Party member and currently volunteering for the party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis. 

I'm starting to wonder who isn't running for mayor in Wellington. Former Labour leader Andrew Little is the latest one joining the race to oust current mayor Tory Whanau. And, just in case you think so, I'm not endorsing Andrew Little in any way, shape, or form. But I do think having former MPs on local councils is a very good thing. Because whether we like it or not, local councils cannot operate in isolation and knowing how things in Wellington work is invaluable. Andrew Little isn't the first ex-MP wanting to get into local government. Former National MP Nick Smith is the mayor of Nelson. Phil Goff was mayor of Auckland. In Christchurch, former Labour politician Lianne Dalziel was elected mayor three times. Maurice Williamson —who was a National MP and minister— is on Auckland Council these days. John Banks. The list goes on. And they don't admit it at the time, but when these ex-MPs stand for their local councils, it's not just their political experience they're banking on. They also know full well that they're making the most of apathetic voters who look for a name they know and end up voting for them. When it comes to name recognition, I reckon an ex-MP has way more chance of being successful in the job than some of the other people you see milking their name recognition to get elected to their local council. People in my game do it. In fact, it seems to me that if media people don't go on to be marriage and funeral celebrants, they go on to be a local councillor. Not that you will ever catch me doing that. Last thing I'd want to do. Sportspeople milk their name recognition too. I'm not in Tauranga and don't know all the ins-and-outs, but I think it's pretty safe to say that the reason Mahe Drysdale is the mayor of Tauranga is because of his brilliant rowing career. He's got none of this so-called “business experience” that some people think is essential for someone to be good at running a town or a city. He's got no prior political experience. He's just a name. Voters obviously thought he was a good Kiwi bloke, he's done well in his sport, so they voted for him. Not that, from what I've seen, it's been all plain sailing for him so far. I've seen a few stories with him getting heat for stuff – and that is where people's lack of political experience shows. And why I think it's a very good thing to have people former MPs on our local councils. They're not perfect —Lianne Dalziel was far from perfect— but they know what they're getting themselves into. They generally don't set the world on fire, but I don't care about that. Because, whether we like it or not, local and central government are intertwined. Local government is way more dependent on central government than it would like to admit. Especially, when they're in the schtuck. When they need to get Wellington on their side. Which is why having people as mayors and councillors who know exactly how to get the government on side —because they've been there and done that— that's why it is so beneficial. And that's why I'll take an ex-politician over an ex-media personality or an ex-sporting hero any day, when it comes to who I want to see on my local council. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political commentators Lianne Dalziel and Liam Hehir discuss the Prime Minister's 'full court press' during the India trade trip, Winston Peter's Washington DC trip, and continued public service cuts.

This conversation between three former mayors of Christchurch was part of the Seeds Impact Conference and covered a wide variety of topics, hope you enjoy! Video of the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebNe7GApO8  Garry Moore interview on seeds https://theseeds.nz/podcast/garry-moore-on-the-power-of-public-debate-the-tuesday-club-and-community-housing/  Lianne Dalziel interview on seeds https://theseeds.nz/podcast/lianne-dalziel-on-being-the-mayor-of-christchurch/  www.theseeds.nz   

The state of the campaign, the struggling Chrises and the electorate battles to watch are all on the agenda as Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas take the stage at the Word Christchurch festival. Joining the trio is Lianne Dalziel, former cabinet minister and Christchurch mayor, to share her thoughts on the Labour campaign, the Christchurch electorates to watch and the local-central balance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phil Mauger has spent 10 months as the new mayor of Christchurch, and says the experience has made him appreciative of his predecessor Lianne Dalziel's tenure as he digs into it. He talks to Georgina about his pitch for the Commonwealth Games, if more national focus should be put on Christchurch, and what he's learnt on the job. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have no problem with chlorine in the water. And, while they're at it, I reckon they should stick fluoride in the stuff as well. Maybe I've just become used to the chlorine. Although we do have one of those filter jugs on the bench. Either way, it doesn't bother me. Christchurch City Council, though, thinks very differently. Last night, it put out a media release that - I have to say - would be one of the most fired-up statements I've ever seen come out from a council. This is what the headline said: “Christchurch councillors outraged to hear chlorine forced into water supply”. And then the statement went on to say that the council has been (quote) “led up the garden path” by the Government's water regulator. Strong stuff aye? The statement also says the mayor's been in touch with the water regulator and has demanded that its chief executive front up at a public meeting. So let's see what happens on that front. So city councillors are going ape because they reckon the national water regulator led them to believe that getting an exemption from putting chlorine in the drinking water was achievable. And, because of that, the council has spent time and money getting its infrastructure up-to-scratch so it can prove to the regulator that chlorine isn't needed to keep the water safe to drink. So that was the whole basis of the work. Get things up to scratch and get the exemption. Little bit of background: The Water Services Act (which was passed in 2021), makes it mandatory for councils to put chlorine in the water - unless, unless they manage to get approval from the water authority for an exemption. And it's the national water regulator that enforces the legislation. You might recall that getting an exemption from the chlorine requirements was one of Lianne Dalziel's major goals when she was heading towards the end of her term as mayor. So we can assume she'll be outraged as well. The current mayor is saying today that the goalposts have been changing all along and now they've changed again, to the point where he thinks there will never, ever be chlorine-free water in Christchurch. Never, ever. And right now, council staff are out getting ready to stick it in the water in areas that aren't already chlorinated. My understanding is that, in itself, is going to cost the council close to a million bucks. That's just to get the chlorine to where it isn't at the moment. Now just because I don't really care whether there's chlorine in the water or not - and, as I said earlier, I think there should be fluoride in the drinking water too. Just because chlorine doesn't bother me, I am with the council on one thing. And that's this enforcement that's going on. I'd go as far, actually, to say that what the water regulator is doing is 3 Waters in sheep's clothing. Because it's all very well the council still owning the infrastructure - for now anyway. But what use is that when it's being told by yet another centralised organisation what to do with its infrastructure? Especially, if the goal posts have kept changing. And that's where I think the Council should push back. Just like it did last year with the intensification rules that Labour and National started forcing on it. You'll remember city councillors saying “no thanks” over that last year. Or, as one councillor described it, they were “flipping the bird” to the Government. Which eventually led to Wellington sending-in the mediator - who was actually the enforcer - sending him in to bang some heads together at the Council. And that's exactly what Christchurch should be doing after being told to forget about an exemption from the chlorine rules. I see the mayor is saying today that they'll continue to fight and advocate for the people of Christchurch. Well, flipping the bird would be a good start, wouldn't it? Yes, we know the Government would just send in another one of its enforcers. But, surely, the Council should be going head-on over this if it really thinks it's been hard done by. If it really thinks we've been hard done by. Tell them where they can put their chlorine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does leadership look like in a disaster? David compares Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's leadership this week with how Bob Parker and Lianne Dalziel coped with the Christchurch earthquakes and terror attacks. He looks at how current Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger's council is faring and whether reality meets the rhetoric and what's happened to the city's Metro Sports facility, one of the anchor projects in the rebuild.

The undercurrent of hate directed towards women in leadership is quickly turning into a torrent.  Social media, the internet, and other online forums have seen an explosion in sexist and racist abuse levelled at women in central and local politics.  It's become a safety concern for many, with security plans being considered to ensure their well-being.  It has even prompted former MP and former Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel to form a support group to help them deal with it.  Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has copped a fair amount of abuse herself, telling Lloyd Burr on Wednesday afternoon she doesn't know why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, after failing miserably with Kiwibuild, the Government thinks the solution is to let people squeeze more places onto single sections. Which is why it wants councils around the country to start letting people build three, three-storey properties on one site. Which is something the last Christchurch City Council - before the recent local body elections - flipped the bird at, and told the Government it would not be approving and implementing the new housing density rules. Not surprisingly, the Government hasn't taken “no” for an answer and has brought in what it's calling a “mediator” to work through the issues. But we all know, don't we, that when a government says it's working through the issues, it actually means it's doing what it needs to do to get what it wants. So we've got something of a stand-off. The Government wants people to be able to build three, three-storey properties on a single section and the Christchurch City Council doesn't. It thinks Christchurch is a special case and needs to be treated like one. And the mediator - or the enforcer - has been brought in by the Government to bang some heads together and get its way. And we are learning a bit more about the enforcer's terms of reference. As part of his “investigation” (as the Government's calling it), the Enforcer is only being required by the Government to speak to three groups of people: city council staff, city councillors and Ngāi Tahu. But residents - or, in particular, residents groups, appear to have been left out. More than 20 residents' associations wrote to the city council a while back, calling on it to reject the Government's intensification plan. And, to its credit, the council did just that. But it appears the Government isn't quite as interested as the council was in what the residents' associations have to say because they're not included in the terms of reference for the investigator or “the enforcer's” work. Which I think is wrong. On several fronts. Firstly, because the Council that said “no” to housing intensification just over two months ago isn't the same council today. There are six new councillors around the council table following the recent local body elections and we have no idea what these six new councillors think about intensification. They're going to be able to tell the Enforcer where they stand, but we will be none the wiser. Secondly, if it wasn't for the residents' associations banding together and lobbying the city council, we possibly wouldn't be in the situation we're in at the moment because it's quite possible that the Council wouldn't have told the Government where to go if it hadn't had a rev up from residents groups. And, therefore, it's only right that these groups have their chance to have some sort of input into the Government's investigation process. Tony Simons from the Riccarton Bush-Kilmarnock Residents' Association is in the news today saying he doesn't expect the Government's investigator to consult every resident but thinks at least a group representing residents' groups should be included. And I couldn't agree with him more. The other reason why I think residents need to have input, is that I'm not seeing any evidence of this new open and transparent council we were promised ahead of the local body elections. Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is saying he thinks there should be some form of public participation, but he doesn't want to do widespread consultation. Let me quote the Mayor: “If you open it up, the next thing you've got 300 residents coming forward to you. You would be an old man before you ever got anything finished.” Well, I'm sorry Phil, you saying there “should be” some form of public consultation isn't enough of a reassurance for me. Because we've seen before, haven't we, how good the Government is at getting well ahead of itself - even when everyone else thinks it's still in a consultation phase. Three Waters is a prime example. Remember former Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel being blindsided by the Government pressing on with Three Waters when she thought it was still considering the views of the advisory group she'd been a part of? And that is exactly what will happen here, if we're not careful. It's all very well the mayor saying there “should be” public consultation, but what he needs to be doing is demanding that the Government include it in its terms of reference for its Enforcer. Because, at the moment, it's only requiring that council staff, city councillors and Ngāi Tahu be spoken to. There's a line in the terms of reference about the Enforcer talking to other stakeholders - if relevant. Which is just weasel words, isn't it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local politics isn't national politics necessarily, but the change that the polls have indicated is coming next year for the government, manifested itself in a small taster on Saturday. The country swung to the right, in some cases significantly so. I am convinced that if Phil Goff and Lianne Dalziel had hung about for another crack, they would have lost. Labour-backed Efeso Collins didn't just lose, he was thrashed. The bloke in Wellington was in charge of a shambles of a city whose pipes were exploding, and a Let's Get Wellington Moving programme that was comedic. The bloke who was allegedly the favourite to replace him was a Labour MP and was endorsed by our Prime Minister no less. He got thrashed as well. Who is electing a Labour MP to run anything? So, between Collins and Paul Eagle, that was zero for 2 for the Prime Minister, who went out of her way to put her political heft behind them. If those two results alone don't send chills down the spines at Labour HQ, nothing will. In Christchurch, a good, conservative, go-getting bloke who had run his own business got the job. The council also swung right. In Dunedin, the incumbent was booted out for a bloke and various members of his ticket that wanted more parking, fewer cycleways, and less messing with roads. In essence, we have had enough. The woke world of buses that don't come, cycleways that bugger everything up, we have had enough of it all. There are a lot of councils and a lot of individual stories, but overall, the message for change is impossible to escape. Plus, the relationship between central and local government is in real trouble now, especially over things like Three Waters. It wasn't up to much before Saturday. It is in even more dire straits now. This is yet another reason why I have argued all along the most contentious of Labour's policies around centralisation and ideology will, ultimately, never see the light of day. What central Labour love is telling you what to do, but not at the expense of not being in power. The messaging around their demise next year is real and growing stronger by the day. They are arrogant, but not entirely devoid of brain power, and you can't miss the writing on this particular wall. Collins and Eagle were poster boys for the Labour Party and look at what happened to them. The Labour brand is toxic and possibly permanently damaged. October 8th, 2022 was a warmup for September or October of 2023. It's the reddist of red flags.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phil Mauger has been announced as the new mayor of Christchurch. Phil is a one-term councillor and former construction company owner – he has won with a narrow majority of David Meates.  He takes over from Lianne Dalziel who decided not to run for Mayor this year after almost a decade in the job.  Phil Mauger is here to share his thoughts on the election win and what he plans for Christchurch's future. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week is set to be Chirstchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel's last week in office, as her replacement will be voted in during this current local body election. As such, she agreed to do an 'exit interview' here today, to reflect on her nine years as a public servant for the people of Christchurch.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are less than a week out from the 2022 local body elections. This year's election will bring to a close Lianne Dalziel's time as Mayor of Christchurch , a role Lianne has held for three terms.  Lianne has been in public service for around 32 years, 23 years in Parliament and the 9 as Mayor.  The city has been through an awful lot during her mayoralty, and to reflect, Lianne Dalziel is here with us now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our final chat with Lianne Dalziel as Christchurch Mayor, Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings spoke to her about the decision being made about the public holiday today to honour the late Queen. John asked the Mayor about the Kantar poll and customer satisfaction survey, where she revealed how frustrated she has felt in local government by decisions made for them by central government.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor, Lianne Dalziel. The discussed the housing intensity bill, and congestion charges which were included in the draft transport plan recently released. The council has also funded a patrol to control antisocial behaviour from homeless people in the city, and does the mayor support lowering the voting age? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nine to Noon continues to look at who's in the running to head up our biggest cities after local elections in October, with a focus today on the 11 candidates vying to be mayor of Christchurch. Three-term mayor Lianne Dalziel announced last July she'd be stepping down as mayor, having overseen nearly a decade's worth of the city's rebuild following the devastating earthquakes. The two major contenders for the role are Burwood city councillor Phil Mauger and former Canterbury District Health Board chief executive David Meates. Other contenders include the city's Wizard, a coffee boss, pro-gun pastor and a candidate who's stood in every election since 1971. For more, Kathryn is joined by David Williams, the South Island correspondent for Newsroom.co.nz.

Retiring Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel says she's been taken aback by some candidates' actions in the lead up to the elections. Mayoral hopeful Phil Mauger has donated to some city council candidates.  He's endorsed four out of 13, all running as as independents or under the right-leaning Independent Citizens banner. Dalziel told Newstalk ZB's Canterbury Mornings she's never donated to individual campaigns, nor endorsed candidates. She says the decision on who is elected lies with the public. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

32 New Zealanders have been indefinitely banned from entering Russia, with the country accusing the journalists, business leaders and defence officials of being ‘Russophobic'. Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry claims those on the list have been pushing an agenda since New Zealand slapped sanctions on Russia in response to the Ukraine war. It includes Auckland mayor Phil Goff, Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel, council members, university professors, and our very own Today FM political commentator, Josie Pagani...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's less than two months until voting opens in the local body elections up and down the country, and the candidates are all starting to come out of the woodwork aren't they? They include ex-MPs too. I saw this morning that former National MP Maurice Williamson is going to try and get elected to the Auckland Council. Another one of his ex colleagues, Nick Smith, announced yesterday he's going to run for mayor in Nelson. In Invercargill, there's a former NZ First MP running for council. In Wellington, they've got Aaron “do you know who I am” Gilmore trying to get elected and current Labour MP Paul Eagle wants to be the mayor of Wellington. As far as I'm aware, so far we don't have any former MPs trying to get elected to councils here in Canterbury, but we have had a former Labour MP as mayor of Christchurch for the past nine years. Before becoming mayor, Lianne Dalziel had been in Parliament for 23 years. She started off as Christchurch Central MP, and then she served as a list MP before becoming Christchurch East MP. During that time she was also a Cabinet Minister. And it was 2013 when she quit Parliament to run for mayor. And when she leaves council HQ in October, she will have served three terms. So quite a political career. But has being a former MP necessarily made her a good mayor? And if Maurice Williamson and Nick Smith and all the other ex-MPs get elected to their local councils in October, will the fact they've been MPs make them any better than anyone else putting themselves forward? I don't think it will. In fact, I think someone having such obvious political affiliations is a hindrance when it comes to local government. And, to be honest with you, whenever I see an ex-MP trying to get involved in local body politics, I either think to myself ‘can't you let go mate' or wonder if they just need a job. Because, let's face it, being in local government is a bit more lucrative than it used to be. That's why council meetings used to be held at night, because all the people around the table had day jobs as well. I remember as a young reporter in Dunedin sitting through endless meetings at Mosgiel and Green Island borough councils. And they'd go well into the night. But these days it's all different. Here in Christchurch we pay our councillors over $100k each and they have their meetings during the day. So, if you're an ex-MP, you probably look at your local council and see that you can make a decent crust doing what you probably know best. Especially if you're someone like Lianne Dalziel who, as I said just before, was in Parliament for 23 years before she became mayor. Same too for Maurice Williamson and Nick Smith who seemed to be central government politicians forever. But does it make them any good? I don't think it does. For the simple reason that, when someone is an MP, their politics are so black and white that I think it's impossible for them to be objective - even after they've been an MP. And once their political leanings are ingrained, I think it's impossible for them to think any differently. Lianne Dalziel is a case in point. As a former Labour MP, she was so anti-government because she disagreed with how the National government pretty much took over Christchurch - with the whole ECAN saga but especially after the earthquakes - and she was hell-bent on getting the Government out of Christchurch ASAP. It started when she became mayor in 2013 and continued even after Labour was elected in 2017. Which meant that when the Government offered to take over the stadium project in 2017 and 2019, she couldn't bring herself to do it, because she was so obsessed with this “get the Government out of Christchurch” thing. Which backfired big time didn't it. Because if Christchurch had accepted that offer back in 2017 or 2019, we'd have more than big holes full of water down there on Madras Street. And what started as an anti-National thing - because she was ex-Labour - just kept going. Even after her Labour mates became government. Once someone has been an MP, it is impossible for them to change their colours. And while that might work when you're up at Parliament, it doesn't work at local government level. If anything, it creates division around a council table when we actually elect and pay these people to think about the greater good - not the party manifesto.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel for the first time since the Court of Appeal water bottling decision, and got her reaction. Also discussed was the Coastal Pathway, Local Government New Zealand, stormwater and flooding. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ōtautahi born and bred, former MP, soon to be former mayor, but still current mayor Lianne Dalziel, beamed into Penny's Covid isolation at her parent's house to chat about various things. A advocate for the people of Christchurch for just over half her life, she discussed what she loved about wearing those mayoral chains and what she is looking forward to next. She patiently waited for Penny to wade through some covid soup and form questions, and they discussed her battle with body image, her menopause, the scourge of trolls on women in public service and how her late lovely husband always had her back. Penny has left some Covid muddling in this podcast in all its full glory. Lucky you.Support the show

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel spoke to John MacDonald on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings and commented on the decision to go ahead with the new stadium build at a fixed price.MacDonald asked about the recent decision to drop fines given to protestors in Cranmer Square, and who the Mayor is backing in the upcoming local elections. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christchurch's Mayor is welcoming the decision to continue its city stadium project.Councillors today voted to sign a fixed-price $683 million contract to build the multi-use Te Kaha arena.Thirteen voted for, and three against.Mayor Lianne Dalziel joined Andrew Dickens to discuss the background behind the decision. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've got an outstanding parking fine from the Christchurch City Council, don't bother paying it - just get yourself a meeting with the mayor and it will disappear. Just like that.In fact, not just parking fines, any money you might owe the Christchurch City Council - call them up today, book in some time in the Mayoral Lounge, and you'll walk out the door owing nothing.You might be one of those people with a city council rates instalment due on the 15th of August. You've got just over a month to get a fireside chat with the mayor organised and you'll save yourself a rates bill.That's how things roll at the city council these days.Because that is exactly what a chap by the name of Derek Tait managed to pull-off yesterday. He's the local Destiny Church pastor who was the mouthpiece for the Freedom and Rights Coalition, which held all the anti-vax and anti-mandate protests over summer.Remember those? They started in Cranmer Square week-after-week, which was also the spot where all the freedom fighters set-up camp in their little pup tents. And did their best to make life miserable for the people living in the Cranmer Square area.Who, quite rightly, are outraged that Derek Tait and his anti-mandate mates have been let-off paying the $50,000 they owe the Christchurch City Council for causing all that disruption.If we go back to March when the Council was making all the noise about charging the protesters the $50,000 because of the way they'd gone about things to cause maximum disruption, this is how the mayor was talking.“Members of the community and business owners have raised concerns about how intimidated staff and customers have been by hordes of people not wearing masks entering stores and yelling abuse.”She didn't sound like she had much time or sympathy for the freedom fighters, did she? That was back in March.Fast-forward to yesterday, and Lianne Dalziel had more than changed her tune and was more than happy to forget about the $50,000 and she even posed for a photo with Mr Tait.“Ah, Derek, don't worry about it. Let's just drop the whole thing. And when you get home, you just rip those invoices into little tiny pieces and you just concentrate on doing God's work.”Quite rightly, Cranmer Square residents are outraged.Here's a quote from one of them: “She (that's the mayor this resident is talking about) she did nothing for months while these things were going on, while they put tents and portaloos all over the square, made a massive nuisance of themselves and blocked roads with their marches. It was all the Destiny Church. I think it's absolutely wrong.”And I couldn't agree more. The Christchurch City Council - and, in particular mayor Lianne Dalziel - have shown that we're not just living in the People's Republic of Christchurch, we're living in the People's Republic of Pushovers.Derek Tait, the Destiny Church, the Freedom and Rights Coalition and all the other hangers-on - remember the National Front crew jumped on the bandwagon too - they were all involved in that shambles, and they've been let off in a way that you and I can only dream of.And let's not forget here that this $50,000 wasn't just a fine, it was the Council trying to recover costs it actually incurred because of the way the Destiny Church and the freedom fighters ran things.They wanted to cause maximum disruption which meant the council had to step in with full-on traffic management - the full cost of which was $50,533. But the mayor yesterday took it on herself to approve the Council effectively funding that protest action.It wasn't revenue-generating - like many fines are - it was cost recovery. Because the Council is out of pocket, as a result of the protest action. And if the costs aren't recovered, it's ratepayer money down the drain. And I have no idea what made Lianne Dalziel think yesterday that she could just waive the magic wand and...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel regarding the changes to this year's Santa Parade, which is now an indoor event with a ticket price of $15 per person.MacDonald asked if there would be a parade to celebrate the Crusaders winning yet another Super Rugby Championship and discussed Dunedin's plans around coastal retreat and sea level rises - should Christchurch be following their lead here?LISTEN ABOVE

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to mayor Lianne Dalziel about her upcoming trip to Adelaide which will commemorate 50 years of Christchurch and Adelaide being sister cities. He also pressed the mayor on the situation with the stadium, after 3,000 submissions were received on the first day on consultation after a $150 million budget blowout recently. Did the Mayor ever want a stadium built?LISTEN ABOVE

Something quite extraordinary happened yesterday.With 10 Christchurch City councillors writing to the head of Environment Canterbury regional council, asking her to get the mayors of Christchurch, Selwyn, Waimakariri, Ashburton and Hurunui into a room to talk about putting money on the table for the new Christchurch stadium, Te Kaha.By the way: are we still calling it the ‘new' stadium - or is it time we started calling it the ‘beleaguered' stadium. We can't be far off calling it that, can we?We've been talking about it for 11 years but there's nothing to show for all the talk - other than a big piece of empty land in the centre of town.And today there's more talking, with city councillors meeting to decide the next steps in this whole torturous process - which is consulting the public on whether it should put another $150 million of ratepayer money into the stadium after last week's budget blowout announcement; or scale back the design to keep it in budget; or put the whole thing on hold for a bit.But what was extraordinary about yesterday, was that - even before today's meeting - we had ten councillors taking it on themselves to get negotiations underway with the other local councils about having some skin in the game.This is something the mayor and deputy mayor should have done months, if not years, ago. But obviously these ten councillors are so frustrated that they've gone to ECan themselves and asked it to get all the councils in a room together.And they've done it without involving the mayor and the deputy mayor.If you want to know who these councillors are: they are Sam MacDonald (who we'll be talking to shortly), Jake McLellan, James Gough, Phil Mauger, Aaron Keown, Pauline Cotter, Yani Johanson, Tim Scandrett, Jimmy Chen and Catherine Chu.And let's not kid ourselves that these councillors are doing this solely for the benefit of the community. All but two of them are seeking re-election later this year, so we could easily make gags about them “grandstanding” and playing “political football” with the stadium issue.And I see that some of the councillors who didn't put their name to the letter are saying that their colleagues are jumping the gun because Lianne Dalziel has a meeting lined up with ECan next week. But these ten want all the councils brought into the tent.As they absolutely should be. There is no way Selwyn, Waimakariri, Hurunui and Ashburton should get away with putting nothing into the stadium.The other thing these ten councillors want ECan to do - as well as bringing the councils together to talk turkey - is to introduce a regional rate or regional tax to cover some of the costs of building the stadium.So that would mean any property owner living within ECan's area of jurisdiction - which is north of the Waitaki River up to the Clarence River, just up from Kaikoura and inland to the boundary with the West Coast.Anyone who owns a property within that ECan boundary would pay a compulsory regional tax to help pay for the stadium.This sort of thing was done to help pay for Forsyth Barr stadium in Dunedin and the Caketin in Wellington - so it's not unheard of, and I think it's a brilliant idea.Because, let's face it, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Hurunui and Ashburton aren't going to commit money overnight, are they? We've already had one of the mayors in the news this week saying “ooh, we'd have to talk to our ratepayers before we made any sort of commitment”.Which has election year written all over it, doesn't it?If ECan just went ahead and introduced a regional tax for the stadium, we'd be on much firmer ground financially, and the Christchurch City Council could box on and get things underway.You may have seen in the news too that even if it decided to scale-back the design to keep it within budget, the extra design work that would have to be done would cost an extra $30 million anyway. This is in a report that's been done by council staff for councillors.So it's looking more and more,...

So, the Christchurch City Council is asking us what it should do about the new stadium, Te Kaha, now we know that the cost has blown out to nearly $700 million.  So far, it's spent about $40 million on the project. As of yesterday, it's looking like it'll cost $150 million more than expected. And because it's looking at spending a truckload more money, it's required by legislation to consult the public and so there are three questions it wants to get our thoughts on whether it should just press on even though the budget has blown out by at least $150 million; scale-back the design to try and keep it within the existing budget; or, press the “pause” button – if not the “stop” button Very interesting to see that city councillor and mayoral candidate Phil Mauger thinks it should press pause until at least Christmas, maybe longer, to see if there's a prospect of the costs coming down before the Council commits to something which, in all reality, could still blow out to a billion dollars by the time the thing is built. He's saying that once the design work is finished and the site is ready, things should be paused, so they can see if there's any chance of costs coming down. Because, at the moment, there are all sorts of global supply issues sending costs through the roof all over the world. But as well as the questions about whether the Council should press on and spend the big bucks, scale the thing back so it costs less, or just stop the project (for the time being anyway), I think there's another question we have to ask ourselves. Is the Christchurch City Council up to the job and should it still be responsible for the stadium project from here on in? Based on its management so far, I don't think it is. Mainly because it's got politics written all over it. I remember laughing out loud last year when I saw Mayor Lianne Dalziel crowing on the TV news about the council committing to a 30,000-seat stadium and banging on about Christchurch being New Zealand's sporting capital. I laughed out loud because I think it's generally accepted that Lianne Dalziel was never a fan of the stadium project and it's part of the reason why the council kept kicking the thing into touch for so long. And here we are, 11 years after the earthquake, and we still don't have a replacement for the old stadium. Another factor was the Council holding out for a final agreement with the Government as to how much money it was going to put into the post-earthquake anchor projects. This was called the Global Settlement and that's where the Government's $230 million for the stadium comes from. But back to the politics. I remember in the years after the earthquake, the city council fell over itself telling the Government it wanted local control back in Christchurch and didn't want people flying in and out from Wellington running the show. The Council hated Gerry Brownlee when he was Earthquake Recovery Minister. The feeling was mutual for Gerry Brownlee too. And that's coming through in comments he's making about the stadium blowout.   “They were the people who constantly said they could do better and it should be left to them.” This is the council Gerry Brownlee's talking about “And look at what they've done. Just made a complete hash of it.” Now, as we know, the Council eventually got what it wanted and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) was shut down. But the Government didn't pull out completely and some smaller agencies were set up to take on some of the work CERA had been doing. And one of them was Ōtākaro Limited. Ōtākaro is a Crown-owned company which has been delivering some of the central city Anchor Projects funded by the Government. So far, its completed work includes the Bus Interchange, the Te Pae Convention Centre and the National Earthquake Memorial. Other things it's working on include the big Metro Sports Facility, the Te Papa Ōtākaro/Avon River Precinct, the South Frame and the East Frame developments. An...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Mayor Lianne Dalziel about today's news that Christchurch may have chlorinated water for years to come, and asked the Mayor if she felt we could have it removed sooner. They also discussed the ongoing saga with Bromley, and John pressed the Mayor on information that was circulating regarding the cause of the fire and potential insurance delays going forward. LISTEN ABOVE 

Residents affected by the stench from Christchurch's fire-damaged wastewater plant may get their healthcare and laundry paid for by the council. Tensions ran high and Christchurch City Council workers were booed at a public meeting on Friday over the area's ongoing Bromley stench. Councillor Anne Galloway said proposals around how to provide relief for residents are being put to the council in an informal briefing tomorrow. She said a community pop-up health centre, rates reductions and paid trips out of town for affected residents are also on the cards. Residents on the eastern side of the city met to address the smell the council's wastewater plant has been giving off since it was damaged by fire six months ago. The meeting was attended by local and regional councillors, MPs and the mayor. Paid healthcare, relocating schools and insurance claims were all discussed, RNZ reported. Mayor Lianne Dalziel profusely apologised to the packed-out Bromley Community Hall. She told John MacDonald on NewstalkZB that the council "completely screwed up." She said prior to New Year's Day, the council's communication to the public was great but as Omicron and more lockdowns hit the country, things slowed down. Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel. Photo / George Heard "We should've been out there with a lot more front-facing communications. "What I've undertaken to do, is the council will now be completely front-facing and we will be responding to the needs of the community as we go through this four-month period while the biomass is removed," she said. Dalziel said they have yet to settle their claim with the insurance company. "In many respects, we won't know the significance of the damage to the outward structures until we remove the biomass media. "We have taken samples from the concrete, the structure that supports the trickling filter, and we will know the results of that in the next few weeks." If the concrete has not been damaged by the fire, Dalziel said the repair option will most likely be looked into as opposed to a rebuild. RNZ reported one Christchurch resident said her children have stopped going to school because they constantly feel ill from the stench. The resident said the Ministry of Education has said her children have had too much time off school. She wants more resources for nearby schools to do what they can to lessen the smell on their grounds. The council admitted it hasn't contacted any local schools about the smell and has promised to do that on Monday. Another Christchurch resident asked the council to provide extra mental health support for children. They said children in Christchurch had grown up with a constant stream of disaster from the earthquakes to the mosque attacks. She said mental health services are hard to access but are desperately needed as kids struggle to cope with the pungent stench. 

The budget for the new Christchurch stadium – Te Kaha – has blown out again, by another $50 million. And it's being reported that city councillors are going to have to decide soon whether to increase the budget, go back to the drawing board or press pause on the project. Memo to Council: ‘Please don't go back to the drawing board. Please don't press pause. We know you like to overthink and agonise over things – but please, don't stand in the way any longer. Yours sincerely, John.'    Let's hope they've got a bit more fortitude to deal with this blow-out than they had when the same thing happened last year and they all suddenly became experts on stadium design and thought we could get away with building a smaller facility. Remember all the hoo-hah when they got all knee-jerk on it and in a single day decided to reduce the seating capacity from 30,000 to 25,000? I remember challenging the mayor on the transparency of that decision – all done in a single day – and she tried to say that it was transparent because anyone could've turned up to the council meeting. Let's hope there is a bit more transparency this time around. But when you think back to all the panic last year, it was such a short-sighted response. Especially when you consider how it took our bean-counting councillor, Sam MacDonald, just one night of staying up late and working out that the cost over-run wasn't as bad as council staff had been saying. And so, as a result of that excellent piece of work, the councillors changed their minds again and decided to press on with the 30,000-seat design. Since then, though, material costs have gone through the roof thanks to global supply chain issues and it's now looking like the council is going to have to come up with another $50 million to pay for the stadium. Not that they're talking about it. I see the project's independent chairman hasn't responded to media enquiries. The council's general manager of citizens and community has responded – but only to say “no comment” for now. We invited mayor Lianne Dalziel onto the programme this morning – we were told she was at an off-site meeting and then heading straight into Annual Plan hearings. Lianne Watson from the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce is talking, though. She's a big supporter of the 30,000-seat stadium and is saying today that cost increases aren't a huge surprise and the longer it takes to build the stadium, the more expensive it will be. The key thing, though, is to keep our eye on the return on investment. Because the numbers tell us that the stadium is expected to bring $16 million of visitor spending to Christchurch every year. And I know the anti-stadium brigade will say ‘how do they know that? Are they just numbers they've plucked out of thin air?' They'll probably say too that Covid has shown that stadiums are a bad investment. Which could very well be the case – but is that a good enough reason not to press ahead and build the thing?  Of course, it isn't! It's a risk – but it's calculated and it's one worth taking – as far as I'm concerned. It's been 11 years since we last stood in the stands at Lancaster Park. You don't want to think about that too much because it's the sort of thing that reminds you how fast life just disappears. But it's a fact. And, after 11 years, we still don't have a world-class stadium in New Zealand's second-largest city. But I'm not that blind to see that the Council isn't going to have to prioritise a few things to pay for it. The budget was always going to blow-out – especially at the pace this thing is going. But I can tell you one thing – there will be no more money coming from the Government. That's what the Government said last year when the project went over budget and it will say exactly the same thing if Lianne Dalziel goes cap in hand again. The thing that amazes me, is that it appears the Christchurch City Council still hasn't formally hit up the other councils here in Canterbury...

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald was joined by Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel. He asked the Mayor about today's sea-level rise reports, and why Council would still give permits to build on land that could be at risk in years to come. They also discussed the fallout from the Bromley compost and wastewater plants, and how Council will look after residents in the area. LISTEN ABOVE 

Dealing with Christchurch's bog of eternal stench has taken about 14 years, and will cost tens of millions of dollars. Today the Council agreed in principle to relocate the organics processing plant in Bromley to an alternative location. But dealing with the double whammy odour wafting from Bromley's fire ravaged wastewater plant is a different matter. Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel has been listening to residents concerns today.  

Still no date on fixing damage to Bromley's wastewater treatment plant ... that's causing a stink in Christchurch. Two trickling filters were destroyed by fire in November. It's left the community suffering from a distinct smell, described as rotten and very unpleasant. Mayor Lianne Dalziel told Newstalk ZB's Canterbury Morning's the council's doing all it can. “This is a multimillion-dollar project. It will be signed off; we will have to get specialised contractors and then we will have an indication of how long it will take.” LISTEN ABOVE 

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel about Government's pending decisions regarding mandates and vaccine passes.  He asked if Council were considering doing away with the pass requirements to visit their facilities, and also discussed cycleway funding and the recent colour scheme change to Branston Park. LISTEN ABOVE

The anti-mandate protestors in Christchurch's Cranmer Square have reportedly agreed to leave by Wednesday evening. The group have been there for just over three weeks. Christchurch City Council staff and police visited the site on Tuesday and said they had to leave by Thursday. The city's mayor Lianne Dalziel spoke to Corin Dann.

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel about the current delay with consents from the Council, and what they are doing to try and fix the problem. They also discussed the protesters in Cranmer Square, and John asked the Mayor how she saw any resolution coming to end the protest. 

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Mayor Lianne Dalziel about the over sixties unit in Burwood which has changed its status to allow tenants of all ages. Which could mean a rent increase of up to $120 per week for some residents. They also discussed if a congestion charge would be appropriate for Christchurch and the CBD.LISTEN ABOVE

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel about the current protest situation in Cranmer Square.  They discussed the Council's camping bylaw and the ability to remove people camping in the square, and the processes needed to remove protesters. LISTEN ABOVE 

There's no simple solution for Christchurch residents affected by floodwater every time it rains. Canterbury was battered with heavy rain on Saturday and early Sunday, causing surface flooding and road closures, driven by the remnants of ex-cyclone Dovi. The area of Avondale bore the brunt of the weather. Mayor Lianne Dalziel told John MacDonald these issues can't be fixed overnight. “There is going to be a lot more work done that is going to have to address these levels of exposure.” LISTEN ABOVE 

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel about the weekend's pollution event at Taylors Mistake, and discovered a key issue affecting our waste system.  And on a similar topic, the stench following the recent wastewater plant fire at Bromley continues to impact residents in the city's east. When will they start to see a reduction in smell? LISTEN ABOVE 

In our first interview back with Christchurch Mayor, Lianne Dalziel, John MacDonald asked the Mayor how she felt about New Zealand moving into the red light level. And with just a few months left in her role as Mayor, what would she like to achieve before she steps down. LISTEN ABOVE 

Today on Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald caught up with Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel for our final chat for 2021.The Mayor reflected on the recent decision for the Council to stay with Local Government New Zealand, and the steps they would now take in regard to the proposed Three Waters Reform, and promoted a new water usage tool available via Council for ratepayers. And John asked the Mayor what she felt the Council's best achievements had been in 2021.LISTEN ABOVE

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel about this afternoon's Traffic Light System announcement, and which level she felt Canterbury should be starting out on. She confirmed that Council will find out the level at the same time as the public at 4pm today.The Mayor also elaborated on a congestion charge that has been discussed the by Council, potentially seeing a charge to come into the city, and the ongoing topic of chlorination of Christchurch water.LISTEN ABOVE

From combating Covid, to climate change action, plans for water reform, child poverty and the housing crisis - public policy attempts to solve a myriad problems. So why do some policies succeed and others fail? Kathryn speaks with Canterbury University public policy academics Sonia Mazey and Jeremy Richardson whose book, Policy Making Under Pressure, includes contributions from former government ministers, including Bill English and Lianne Dalziel as well as senior public servants and political advisors.

From combating Covid, to climate change action, plans for water reform, child poverty and the housing crisis - public policy attempts to solve a myriad problems. So why do some policies succeed and others fail? Kathryn speaks with Canterbury University public policy academics Sonia Mazey and Jeremy Richardson whose book, Policy Making Under Pressure, includes contributions from former government ministers, including Bill English and Lianne Dalziel as well as senior public servants and political advisors.

Today on Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel regarding the proposed plans to sell land in the Arts Precinct to allow for development of a car parking building.  The mayor was questioned about a cattle feedlot on Banks Peninsula that had been given consent, which will cover almost as much area as the convention centre, and explained the limitations the council had around that consent. And library fines have been abolished in other regions, will Christchurch City Council follow suit? LISTEN ABOVE

John MacDonald caught up with Christchurch City Mayor, Lianne Dalziel. He questioned the mayor over media coverage of a potential pay rise for Christchurch City Council chief executive, Dawn Baxendale, and whether it is an appropriate time to be giving increases. They also discussed allegations that information about issues with the new stadium budget had been withheld from City Counsellors for two months, and the mayor joining the new Three Waters working group. LISTEN ABOVE