Prime Minister Chris Hipkins joined John MacDonald in studio on Canterbury Mornings.

They discussed tax and the IRD report, why are so many children not enrolled in schooling? And how will the Government's budget help the Christchurch Hospital situation?

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Another day and news of yet more surgery delays at Christchurch Hospital.

Maybe if the super-rich were paying their fair share of tax, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Because, in a nutshell, your typical rich-lister pays about half as much tax on every dollar of income they receive, compared to the rest of us.

That’s the main message the Government’s been pushing from the IRD’s report on the tax affairs of about 300 of the wealthiest families in New Zealand.

And, essentially, the main reason for that is we don’t have a capital gains tax in New Zealand.

Since the report came out, some people have been quick to point out that the numbers in it are a bit skewed because they’re based on assumptions of how much profit these people might make if they sold their fancy homes and things.

The kinds of profits or capital gains that wouldn’t be taxed, because we don’t have a capital gains tax.

And it seems that every time Revenue Minister David Parker has opened his mouth in the past 24 hours, he’s been falling over himself to say that this is not the start of any major tax reform.

But, irrespective of what the Government does or doesn’t do with this information dug-up by IRD, there is a conversation to be had. Because, put simply, irrespective of tax laws - it is not fair and decent that these people pay a much smaller proportion of tax on their income, compared to the rest of us.

Simple. It’s not fair and it’s not decent.

And some of the nonsense that some people have been trotting out trying to defend it has been incredible.

People saying ‘aww, without these people we’d be in the poo. These rich listers are the ones who take all the risks and create all the jobs” blah blah blah.

Yeah, that’s probably true. But is that really an excuse for them not to make the same contribution as the rest of us? Of course it isn’t.

And I bet these people banging on about how great the rich are and how we should be cutting them some slack because “without you good sir, we would be nothing” - I bet these same people wouldn’t be quite so forgiving of people rorting the system at the other end of the wealth spectrum.

People on benefits. Nah, they’re a bunch of bludgers sucking the system dry, aren’t they? In it for everything they can get.

But the rich-lister paying about half as much tax on every dollar of income they receive, compared to the rest of us? They're untouchable. Don’t mess with them.

This attitude staggers me.

But here’s where things get tricky, really tricky. Because if we want things to be fair and decent, then we have to face up to the fact that nothing can be done about it unless we are prepared to be part of the solution too.

And this is the point where you say “what a flippin’ hypocrite you are MacDonald”.

Because, if we want to fix this ludicrous situation where the super wealthy pay about half as much tax on every dollar of income they receive, compared to the rest of us - then the obvious solution is a capital gains tax.

Which would certainly see the rich-listers making a fairer tax contribution, but it would also hit you and me in the pocket too.

If you own a house and you sell it for a profit, you’d lose some of that profit paying a capital gains tax. If you own a rental property and sell it, you'd be taxed.

And I’m going to be completely honest with you - I would resent that. Because why on earth would I want to lose any of that profit? I wouldn’t, would I? You wouldn’t, either.

But, at the same time, I’m ready to point the finger at the super-rich and tell them that they should be doing exactly what I wouldn’t want to do myself.

So yes, I’m a hypocrite. And I’m pretty confident that, when push comes to shove, you’re a hypocrite too.

And that is why nothing will change.

Because our hypocrisy - my hypocrisy, your hypocrisy - is license for every politician in this country to keep sitting on their hands and doing absolutely nothing about it.

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If you’re a parent or a grandparent in Canterbury, chances are you’ll be familiar with St George’s Hospital - which runs a birthing unit and provides post-natal care.

Not for much longer, though. Nine weeks from now, it will be all over because they can’t get enough midwives to run things safely. Which is going to be a real kick in the guts for the thousands who signed a petition to keep things going there.

And all the people who joined-in on a march to the hospital when the petition was presented to the honchos at St George’s.

That was in March/April last year, after word got out that the services at the hospital could be at-risk. And, as a result of all that, St George’s agreed to keep running maternity services until the end of its contract. And now it’s been confirmed that, come the end of June, that’ll be it.

So, in a way, not a surprise. But it will be gutting nonetheless for the women who fought to keep the unit operating, gutting for the women who are expecting a baby beyond June and now have to work out what options they’ve got, and gutting for the thousands of people in Canterbury who have used St George’s maternity services over the years.

I remember the night our daughter was born 20 years ago. She arrived safely at 5:20 in the evening at the old Christchurch Women’s Hospital and, then later that same night, we were cleared to transfer for the standard two-or-three night’s care at St George’s.

I had never driven as carefully and slowly and safely as I did that August night. It was pouring with rain and I remember not quite being overwhelmed, but the sense of responsibility to get that little bundle in the back seat safely up to St George’s really brought home the enormity of it all.

But, 20 years on from then, and who knows how many babies delivered and mothers cared for during that time, and we are about to see the end of St George’s maternity care.

I was actually in the maternity ward at St George’s the other night visiting someone recovering from surgery. It was just as quiet and peaceful as I remember it. There was the odd little squawk - but it reminded me how much of a godsend the midwives and staff at St Georges were for us, and how missed the maternity unit will be when it closes at the end of June.

Because, once that happens, parents will have to go somewhere else to have their babies and receive post-natal care.

A new central city birthing unit is due to open in Christchurch at the end of this year. But between the end of June and the end of the year, parents will have to find somewhere else to go.

Which, for most, will mean some of the smaller rural hospitals around the place. Which probably won’t be the end of the world but is this really how we should be treating young families?

The way it operates is women can choose to give birth at a hospital, a primary birthing unit such as St George’s - providing they’re healthy with no pregnancy complications - or at home.

But with the shortage of midwives, what’s been happening is that St George’s has found itself in having to send mothers with newborn babies home early and, you may recall, a situation where it even had to turn away a woman who was in labour.

At the same time, Christchurch Women’s Hospital was full and she ended-up having to go to Rangiora and her midwife missed the birth by five minutes because of the unexpected extra travel time.

If you’re a parent, you’ll know how devastating that situation would have been.

And so you can’t argue with St George’s when it says it just can’t keep operating like that. There’s a shortage of midwives and it doesn’t want to put women and babies at risk by just continuing on hoping things work out.

If it did that and something went bad as a result, we’d be all over them demanding answers wouldn’t we?

So I’m not blaming St George’s for this. Where the blame lies in all of this is the fact that we have allowed the likes of maternity services to bumble along and keep our fingers crossed that it all works out.

I’m talking about successive governments, health boards and probably you and me as well. Sure, 30,000 people signed the petition last year but really, when it comes down to it, we only really think about the likes of maternity services when we need them, don’t we?

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Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves after Australia’s announcement that it plans to make it easier for kiwis to settle over there.

Because, the way some people are talking, it’s starting to sound like it did back in the 80s when everyone was banging on about ‘last one out, turn the lights off’.

But I don’t think the lights will be going out anytime soon because us kiwis are great at threatening to do something - but most of us never do it.

And moving to another country is a prime example. “You know, I could earn truckloads more if I went and lived in Australia. And if it wasn’t for….”

The old “if it wasn’t for” get out of jail card.

All that talk about moving across the ditch always comes with “if it wasn’t for”, doesn’t it?

Which is why I think we shouldn’t get too panicked about Australia’s announcement.

At the moment, if you move over to Australia, you have to be there for at least five years before you can get residency and all the benefits that come with that.

Under the new plan, you’ll only have to wait four years before you become eligible for what they’re calling a “pathway” to residency and citizenship.

Which will mean entitlement for things like social welfare benefits and other things, such as your kids being able to do things like go to university over there.

There are about 700,000 New Zealanders living in Australia right now. So they’re the ones who stand to benefit sooner rather than later.

But that hasn’t stopped talk from the likes of the Nurses Organisation saying we’re going to see truckloads of nurses moving to Australia.

But talk about the grass being greener. The only thing I’ve seen about living in Australia that beats New Zealand, is this apparent opportunity to earn more money over there.

And the numbers do back that up. According to Australia’s stats department, annual average earnings over there are $AUS94,000. Or about $NZ102,000. A fair amount of money.

Compare that to New Zealand, where Stats NZ numbers tell us that average weekly earnings here come to about $77,000 a year, and yes, things look rosier over in Australia.

Going by these numbers, an average income earner is better off by about $NZ25,000 in Australia.

Not to be sneezed at. But is that really worth upping sticks and leaving? I don’t think it is.

I don’t know how many people have said to me that the thought of moving from Canterbury to somewhere like Auckland is just not on the cards because of how much more it costs to live in Auckland.

I’ve been looking at some of the numbers from over in Australia and I reckon that extra $30,000 you might earn over there would be swallowed up pretty quickly by the extra living costs.

The other reason why I think these changes the Australian government is making won’t mean a sudden exodus, is that most of us just like living here.

It may be for family reasons. Or lifestyle reasons. Some people just can’t stand Australians, either. I’m not one of them. But that’s another reason why some people wouldn’t even think about living over there.

And I reckon that most of these people who bang on about moving to Australia only know the Australia they’ve seen during that quick trip to the Gold Coast during winter, or that shopping trip to Sydney or Melbourne. And, when push comes to shove, they stay here - don’t they?

Moving to Australia is not on my radar. The Australian government can make as many changes as it likes, but I’m staying put thanks, because I’ve got lots of reasons to stay - instead of reasons not to go.

Yes, I could probably earn more money in Australia. But, overall, I don’t actually think I’d be any better off, when you take everything into account.

I also don't think you can overestimate the value of being somewhere where you know people. Can’t put a price on that.

Yes, I know so many people have moved to New Zealand and made this place their home. I can think of friends who weren’t born here and who have moved here and have made this place their home. And we love them.

But they didn’t come here because of some change in immigration laws. And that’s why I think any talk about “last one out, turn the lights off’ is way premature and why I think these rule changes announced by Australia over the weekend aren’t something we should be worried about.

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I’ve always been very weary of how easily things can go pear-shaped when people are tanked-up on booze and other things.

That’s because, when I was a teenager, I spent quite a bit of my time in and around pubs.

Even before I was legal age, I was there because I played in bands. And most weekends I’d be playing somewhere - it could be two nights, or even three nights.

And when you’re in a band playing at a pub, you see everything. The good and the bad.

And I’ll never forget my best mate getting a hiding outside the Empire Tavern in Dunedin one Saturday night and having to call his parents from the hospital to tell them what had happened.

That was about 30 years ago. But nothing seems to have changed. We seem to be just as violent now, as we were then. It’s probably even worse now.

Bus drivers. Supermarket workers. No one’s immune from these thugs. Just like this guy in Christchurch whose life will never be the same after what happened to him.

Picture this: he’s out on the town on a Saturday night, and pretty much finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just after midnight, outside the Rockpool Bar, on Hereford Street.

So a fight breaks out and an 18-year-old guy who’s trolleyed after polishing off a bottle of rum can’t help himself and joins in on the scrap.

He punches one guy in the head six times and security staff from the pub jump in and try to calm him down. The guy who eventually ends up in hospital on life support - Wynton King - also tries to help the security guys calm this idiot down.

Not long after that, this clown makes a beeline for Wynton - who doesn’t see him coming - and punches him on the right side of his face. Wynton falls to the ground and hits his head on the footpath.

At this point, Regan Robson-Khan - the drunk thug - does a runner and tries to pick fights with other people, but eventually the cops catch-up with him.

Meanwhile, back on Hereford Street outside the Rockpool Bar, Wynton King - the victim - is being loaded into an ambulance in a critical condition. He’s taken to hospital and put on life support.

While he’s in a coma, Wynton has a stroke and the doctors tell his family he’ll never be the same again and so they make the awful decision to switch-off life support.

But somehow, Wynton keeps breathing. He doesn’t die. And, eventually - weeks after being taken off life support - he makes a recovery. Of sorts anyway.

But his life will never be the same again. He’s currently living in a care facility - this is six months after the attack on Hereford Street. He’ll never drive again. He’s going through the grief of losing his father all over again because, after the assault, he couldn’t remember that his father had passed away and had to be told that news all over again.

He can speak, but says he finds it difficult to say exactly what he wants to say. For example, if he’s hungry - he can’t tell anyone he’s hungry, and he’s not capable of preparing food himself. So he has to point to his stomach to get the message across.

So think about all that. And then think about the thug who caused all this.

The thug who, right now, is sitting at home doing nine months home detention. He’s not the one who will never drive again. He’s not the one living in a care facility. He’s not the one who will never play rugby again. He’s not the one who can’t tell people when he’s hungry and has to point to his stomach.

It is outrageous that nine-months home detention is the harshest penalty dished out for this crime. Absolutely outrageous.

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Hand on heart, I have never heard anyone say they'd love to go to the Commonwealth Games one day.

The Rugby World Cup? Heard heaps of people say they'd love to go to that. Football World Cup? Who wouldn’t love to go to that? The Olympics? Absolutely. Wimbledon? A grand prix somewhere? Yes, yes, yes to all of the above.

But I have never had someone look me in the eye and say: “Now John, if I only get to do one thing in my life, it would have to be the Commonwealth Games. I want to be there for every bowls game, John. I want to be there to watch our team walk out onto the green and just smash it. I’ll mortgage the house if I have to.”

I’ve never heard anyone talk like that about the Commonwealth Games. But watching Sport Minister Grant Robertson on TV last night, I wondered if I’d missed something. Maybe there are people gagging to go to the Com Games.

Because the Government and the New Zealand Olympic Committee are mulling over the idea of putting in a bid to host the games in 2034.

Grant Robertson says, if it happens, it’ll have a distinctively New Zealand flavour. But I think it’s got a New Zealand flavour to it already. Because what they’re talking about is not having the Games in one city, but sharing it around towns and cities all over the country.

It’s a very New Zealand approach. It’s a bit like having a wedding or a 40th birthday party, realising the lounge and the living room are a bit small, and getting a marquee in or asking a mate with a lifestyle property to host it.

Because it seems to me that Grant’s looked around the place and thought ‘oh Phil down in Christchurch, he’ll have a stadium we can use’. And the crew in Cambridge have got a velodrome. And there’s truckloads of bowling greens around the place.

‘Yeah, I reckon we can pull it off if we all do our bit’.

And so, last night on the news, Grant was banging on about the tourism opportunity and all that. But, like I say, I have never heard anyone say that the Commonwealth Games is on their bucket list.

I’m sure for the athletes, the idea of having the Games in their home country is pretty cool. The ones I’ve seen and heard in the news over the past 24 hours have been very enthusiastic.

But then, they would be, wouldn’t they? Why’s that do you think? Because they’re athletes?

That’s partly right. The athletes in the news have been all for it because they're athletes who rely on the likes of the Sports Minister and the Olympic Committee to chase their sporting dreams.

So I will be very surprised if we hear any current athletes coming out and saying it’s a daft idea.

I don’t have those constraints - and I am more than happy to say that I think it’s a daft idea.

For several reasons:

First of all, I think we’re dreaming if we think there’d be a huge influx of tourists coming for the Games. It just would not happen.

Secondly: this idea of having events all around the country would be a logistical nightmare. The Commonwealth Games are all about unity - and we know that athletes love being around eachother.

Third reason why I think it’s a daft idea: who knows how many countries there’ll be in the Commonwealth in 11 years time?

Reason number four: I just don’t think hosting the Games really benefits the sports themselves. Think back to 1982 and how every kid suddenly wanted to play football after the All Whites made it to the World Cup?

Was that because of games in New Zealand? Of course, it wasn’t.

And probably the main reason why I think it’s nutbar to be talking about the Commonwealth Games, is the fact that we already have some major global sporting events on our plate.

And this is where I thought last night that, as Sports Minister, Grant Robertson was barking up the wrong tree.

Instead of the Commonwealth Games in 11 years' time, the Sport Minister should be focused on the world’s biggest women's sporting event - the FIFA Women's World Cup - which is happening here in New Zealand and Australia in July and August.

Why on Earth he would be trying to sell this idea of having the Commonwealth Games here in 2034, I will never know.

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John MacDonald spoke to Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger on Canterbury Mornings about the Government's thoughts to bid for the Commonwealth Games.

Mauger has been a huge advocate for the Games returning to Christchurch, and put his thoughts forward as to why Christchurch could be a hub. 

They also discussed water use rates going down in the city, excess water charges and the Mayoral Forum Transport Plan.

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John MacDonald today had the pleasure to chat to Kiwi rocker, Julia Deans.

New Zealand’s finest rockers together with a smoking hot band are set to recreate Hollywood history, performing the soundtracks to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction live in concert in Christchurch on April 28.

Fur Patrol’s rocker Julia Deans, dub-funk powerhouse Laughton Kora (Kora), Pluto frontman Milan Borich and hard rock hellraiser Booga Beazley (Head like a Hole) will be kicking off their shoes and
polishing their razors for a walk on the dark side.

Julia talked about the concert and her musical past, as lead singer of Fur Patrol and her role in The Adults.

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I don't know about you, but when I went for my driver’s licence back in the day I reckon I would’ve been mortified if I failed. These days, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Because, these days, every second person who does their practical driving test fails.

Which says to me that we’re doing a hopeless job of training drivers. The Government sees it differently, though, and it’s taking the easy option and it’s going to make it free for people to re-sit their tests.

Which will mean people can just keep turning up, giving it a go a second, third, fourth go and hopefully hitting the jackpot one day and getting their licence.

But I think that, instead of making it cheaper to get a licence, the Government should be investing money in driver training.

Not that I’m completely innocent of taking the easy route to getting my licence.

I remember getting my motorbike licence very clearly. I was 16 and I heard about this scheme where you’d go to a few extra lessons on motorbike safety - there were about four sessions I think - and, once you’d done that, you’d get your full motorbike licence. Instead of having to wait however long it took normally to get your full licence.

So I remember thinking ‘I’ll have a bit of that’ and enrolled for the course, did my four Saturday sessions and then, on the last day, a traffic cop turned up to take us all through our paces.

And what a joke that was. Because he told us all we were all going to go for a ride together around the area and then, those of us he thought were up to it, would get our full licence.

It was a joke because, as soon as he’d said this, he took off on his motorbike and we all followed him.

I don’t know how much he saw in his rear-view mirror but he must’ve had a camera in the back of his helmet or something because after 15-20 minutes following him around he told us we’d all passed.

I don’t have such vivid memories of getting my car licence, but I do know I got that first-time around as well. In fact, I can’t remember too many people failing at all.

Different story these days, though. With 50 percent of people who go for their practical driving test failing the first-time.

And so the Government has decided that it’s going to make it easier for them to re-sit by doing away with the re-sitting fee.

But I think it’s a classic case of “cart before the horse”. Because, surely, if so many people aren’t meeting the standard first-time around when they go for their practical, then they’re not ready are they?

And if they’re not ready, then they’re not being trained properly. And that is what the Government should be focusing on. Because, at the moment, you can learn to drive from anyone.

You can spend money and go to an instructor or you can do it for free and get anyone else with a licence to teach you. Which can be pretty fraught at times, can’t it? And aside from the tantrums, it means all us “experienced drivers” just end up passing on our bad habits.

One of mine that I only really became aware of when our kids were learning to drive, was cutting the corner turning right at an intersection. So I wasn’t going forward far enough before turning right, to drive between the gap in the centre line and not cross the centre line before turning.

Hadn’t thought about it. But I do now.

Which is why I think that instead of making it cheaper to get your licence, the Government should be putting money into driver training and making it compulsory for people to learn to drive from qualified instructors. Not us know-alls who think we are God’s gift to motoring - when we are clearly not.

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National's Deputy Leader Nicola Willis joined John MacDonald on Canterbury Mornings.

On the agenda was the policy National released today, and why they are determined to focus on the rural sector at this time?

National have also indicated that a Free Trade deal with India is a priority for them, but what about the fact India is in talks with Russia? Does that concern them?

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