Canterbury Mornings

The government has announced $10 million of funding from the Provincial Growth Fund for the renovation and improvement of Pasifika churches in the regions.Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says 27 churches will benefit, as part of the Covid-19 response and recovery plan.The money would allow much needed renovations and improvements on many provincial Pasifika churches while providing up to 400 temporary construction jobs, Jones said.Former Massey University religious historian Dr Peter Lineham told Chris Lynch he's never seen anything like it."I've never before seen government money directly used for renovations to church buildings."Lineham says these churches do provide a lot of social care."They tend to be strongly connected to particular Pacific nations - effectively becoming a New Zealand-based village."But Lineham says the fact the money's been invested in fixing up buildings is very strange.LISTEN ABOVE

Labour's oral health policy is being welcomed by the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA).$176 million is being promised to improve dental access for the lowest income New Zealanders, including increasing the emergency dental grant from $300 to $1000.NZDA President Dr Katie Ayers told Chris Lynch they are thrilled with this policy, the emergency grant has been set at $300 for over 25 years so this is long over due change.She says the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach isn’t sustainable and preventative measures are needed such as a sugar levy and water fluoridation.Listen above.     

Canterbury Regional Council is hamstrung over Bromley's stench.After 10 years of investigations into complaints from residents the smell was finally linked to two Council-owned waste management plants.Christchurch City Council is now trialing a new recipe for making compost and bringing in more water misters to mitigate the smell.ECAN Councillor Nicole Marshall told Chris Lynch, while they wait for the trial to end, all they can do is slap them with non-compliance notices.Nicole Marshall is urging residents to continue to report the smells either through their app, "Smelt It" or by phoning ECAN.Listen above.

The mother of slain officer Matthew Hunt is marking Police Remembrance Day with a plea to the Government.The Auckland constable was killed in June during a routine traffic stop.Diane Hunt launched a petition in July calling for the House of Representatives to amend the Sentencing Act and Parole Act so those who murder police officers are automatically denied parole.She told Chris Lynch they changed the law in the Australian state of Victoria after the death of an officer.Diane says it could act as a deterrent for this ever-happening again and be there for police in the future so she's doing this in her son's honour. This year was the first in 11 that a police officer died in the line of duty.LISTEN ABOVE

Strong winds continue to batter much of Canterbury and snow is falling on alpine passes. Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard spoke to Chris Lynch with the outlook for the rest of the week.Listen above. 

Every Monday Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel joins Chris Lynch on the show to discuss Christchurch issues. Listen above.

High winds have sparked fire call outs across Canterbury.Fire and Emergency Christchurch Metro Area Commander Dave Stackhouse told Chris Lynch yesterday was a busy day.Dave Stackhouse says two suspicious fires at Bottle Lake Forrest yesterday also had the potential to get out of control.Listen above.

Every Friday Chris Lynch is joined by Mike Yardley wrap the week that was.Listen above.

Tui are a common sight in many parts of New Zealand, however they have largely disappeared from lowland areas of Canterbury. Thanks to conservation work and successful breeding programs their numbers have increased in the region.Ecologist Laura Molles has led a lot of research around Tui Restoration and she spoke to Chris Lynch about the work going on with the help of Meridian Energy to plant a corridor of native plants to encourage these wonderful native birds back to the area.Listen above.

There's push back on Labour's plans to eliminate hate speech, aimed at religious groups.The party wants to make discrimination on religion illegal.ACT party leader David Seymour told Chris Lynch the Prime Minister's hate speech promise is a classic 'Ardern captain's call'.He says she got excited while on the campaign trail, and announced a policy that would erode New Zealand's fundamental freedoms.Listen above.

Mother Nature is about to flex her muscles with predictions the worst storm of the year about to hit the South Island.Warnings are out that major snowfalls could cut off Arthur's Pass and other alpine passes from Sunday onwards.Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard told Chris Lynch he's not one to sensationalise the weather but travellers will have to be careful.He says there will be big snowfalls in Southland and most of Otago possibly down to low levels from Sunday to Tuesday.Trewinnard says this is probably the biggest weather event of the year, and if it had landed in winter could have shut the South Island down.Listen above.

National thinks Green MP Julie Anne Genter's wealth tax blunder was a Freudian slip. The Green Party has proposed a new tax on millionaires. Genter told a small business debate tax reform would be a "bottom line" for the party but co-leader James Shaw says the comment was said in the heat of the moment - and it's not the case. National's Judith Collins told Chris Lynch the Left is showing their true colours.Listen above.

A Christchurch primary school already facing a long wait for a new home might now lose its promised sports facilities.The Ministry of Education's refusing to foot a three-million-dollar clean-up bill for new facilities.Banks Avenue School says the ministry agreed to let them take over Shirley Boys High School's sports hall and hockey turf when it moved to its new QEII campus in May last year.But Board Chair Kirk McKay told Chris Lynch they refused to hand over the keys because they were still demolishing other buildings nearby and they've since been badly vandalised.He says they were of the understanding the Ministry would pay to repair them but it's changed its tune.McKay says it's totally unacceptable to treat the community like that.Listen above.

Chris Lynch and Mike Yardley react to and discuss the first leaders debate of the 2020 election.Listen above.  

A landmark case against insurer Southern Response may open the gates for up to 3000 claimants.The Crown's announced it won't appeal a court decision ordering state-owned insurer Southern Response to pay out a Christchurch couple. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal found the agency deceived Karl and Alison Dodds by keeping secret a higher estimate to rebuild their quake-damaged home.Insurance claimant advocate Ali Jones told Chris Lynch this could leave the government open to hundreds of millions of dollars in pay outs to other homeowners in a similar position.Listen above.

Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce CEO Leeann Watson joined Chris in studio for the business update.This week they discussed the business confidence going in to the election, what do employers want to see from the next government and how things are looking now that we are officially in a recession. Listen above.

The Health and Disability Commission says a North Canterbury Rest Home patient who died of septicaemia deserved better.The Commission found staff at Ultimate Care Karadean Court in Oxford failed to respond to the elderly man’s deteriorating condition.They've been ordered to apologise to his family, undergo an audit and improve training and staff levels.Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall told Chris Lynch the man had complex health issues - like diabetes, heart disease and dementia.She says he wasn't well, and he deserved a good standard of care that kept him as comfortable as possible."I have referred the case to the director of proceedings - to see if any further action's required."Wall says Ultimate Care could be taken to the Human Rights Review tribunal - where it might be ordered to pay the patient's family compensation.Ultimate Care has been approached for comment. 

Every Friday Chris Lynch is joined by Mike Yardley wrap the week that was.Listen above

National is promising a temporary "massive" tax cuts which it says will put $3000 in the back pocket of middle New Zealanders.If elected, the party would lift the bottom, middle and top tax thresholds in a bid to "let Kiwis keep more of what they earn".The overall size of National's plan is $10 billion over five years and will be paid for by using the unallocated portion of the Government's Covid-19 fund and by spending less money than a Labour Government would over the same period.Economist Cameron Bagrie joins Chris Lynch to share his thoughts on National's tax policy.LISTEN ABOVE

This week's Politics Friday segment was a bit different. We asked Canterbury candidates from three party's for their quick fire answer on how they'll get the country out of the recession.Act's Rangitata Candidate Hamish Hutton told Chris Lynch one answer is to reduce red tape.Labour's Duncan Webb says we need good Government action for growth.Selwyn National Candidate Nicola Grigg's answer was hot of the press.Listen above.