Greg Foran is back where I suspect he belongs, and likes.

The former Air New Zealand boss, if you have missed it, is off to Kroger, which is America's second biggest grocer behind Walmart.

I have never met a New Zealander who has worked in America that belongs in America more. It was evident from the first time I met him that he was American.

You can spot them in their shirts and ties. They are conservative and yet impeccably pressed. He looked like he had starched himself getting out of bed each morning.

The last time he was in here, his farewell interview, we talked off air about where now. He didn’t say specifically, but I knew it was America.

The bit he never explained, probably because he either couldn’t for commercial reasons, or couldn’t because he hadn't quite worked it out for himself, was what the hell he was ever doing back in New Zealand.

I asked him any number of times in a sort of non-direct way, what on earth was it about a small airline at the bottom of the world that would drag you out of Walmart to come and run it?

Possibly given he wasn’t running Walmart, it was a job in which he was running something so his CV would show a Kroger in years to come that he was ready to be boss.

At Walmart he lived in Arkansas and flew in private jets.

In New Zealand he kept having to explain why the Wellington to Taupo plane never took off.

The Covid thing must have been the nightmare from hell and it wasn’t his fault.

But even without it and the myriad of problems he faced, including the inexplicable cluster around engines that no airline anywhere seems to have encountered the way Air New Zealand has, you always got the impression he was either here for a short time, or it had all been a patriotic mistake driven by a laudable desire to return to home base and make some sort of contribution.

But I can tell you this, of all the Air New Zealand CEO's I have known - business legend Ralph Norris, marketing genius Rob Fyfe, Prime Minister Chris Luxon and Greg Foran - no one looked less at home and more bewildered than Greg.

Some people loved him because he was often at the airport checking their backs in, so work ethic was never the issue.

The issue was Air New Zealand wasn’t American. I bet you he has never been happier, or more relieved.

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March 6th is your day.

This is the date that the changes to foreign buyers of expensive houses comes into play.

This date, in a way, is like the LNG announcement.

The idea of foreign buyers for houses isn't new. It's been part of the Government's plan ever since the Government became the Government.

The LNG idea got floated in the winter of 2024, not long after the Government became the Government also.

This proves one of two things - either it's hard work being in Government and things take longer than you think, or this lot aren't that flash at getting things done despite the rhetoric to the contrary.

The foreign buyers rule is a righting of a horrible, myopic, narrow-minded wrong from the previous Government.

House prices were never driven by Germans buying $15 million homes in Herne Bay, nor the Chinese buying $19 million homes in St Heliers.

And Auckland is essentially where they were all bought.

Queenstown has joined the party a bit lately. But the vast swathe of New Zealand never saw a mega purchase from a filthy, rich foreigner.

Why it's important is we should see foreigners as good people who want to improve their lives, while improving ours via the improvement of the country.

People who have money do things with it, like buy or build business, they invest, they grow, they employ and they pay tax.

They bring knowledge and expertise and they, more often than not, fall in love with our piece of paradise and end up doing far more than they ever set out to do.

I think a lot of Julian Robertson, an American who built lodges and golf courses here that bring in millions. He enhanced the place. And next time you're at the Auckland Art Gallery, go see one of his Picasso's. He gave them a fortune in art.

What drives bans is envy, shallowness, fear and, often, stupidity.

We have at last made it right. Yes, it will help the housing market, but more importantly it will help the country and this country needs to pull every trigger in its arsenal to fire it up.

Nine years ago we were a place of pride and growth and global admiration. Labour 2017-23 destroyed that.

March 6th is a small step back towards redemption and better days.

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An industry expert says it's not practical to regulate blind cords.

A coroner's released a report on the death of three-year-old Tilly Cambie in 2023, after a cord tangled around her neck.

She's one of several children to die that way since 2009.

They recommend mandatory blind standards - which the Government's ruled out.

Window Treatments chief executive Graeme Rose says blanket regulations wouldn't suit every household.

"You can imagine someone installing a blind in a kitchen window with a bench in front of it, and an elderly person trying to operate that blind from an angle having a very short cord."

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A lot of the country's small businesses are feeling the end of financial year sting.

Data from Xero shows 75 percent of the New Zealand small business owners surveyed say the current financial year has been more stressful than past years.

Nearly half had considered giving up their business due to stress, with 67 percent citing financial management as their main worry.

Xero Country Manager Bridget Snelling says the biggest stressor impacting small business owners is financial pressure - and many are feeling the pinch.

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Signs of growing positivity from New Zealand's small and medium sized businesses.

A new report from MYOB reveals that 33% of SMEs polled have more work or sales lined up for the first quarter than usual, and a further 40% say they have the amount they’d normally expect.

The green shoots are showing up in sectors that have struggled of late, including manufacturers, retail, and construction.

ABC Business Sales CEO Chris Small told Mike Hosking the vibe is incredibly positive, especially in comparison to the last two years.

He says that this time last year they had high volumes of business owners saying their earnings were down and they weren’t going to take their business to market, but now those business owners are reporting strong previous quarters.

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A potential insurance policy for those who can't move away from gas for energy, as the Government charges ahead with its plans for an importing facility.

The terminal will be housed in Taranaki - with the Government aiming to have a build contract locked down mid-year.

It's imposing a levy to help pay for an import liquefied natural gas facility, which it says will save households $50 a year on power bills.

Mercury Chief Executive Stew Hamilton says New Zealand is running out of gas, faster than expected.

"We need to encourage consumers and households to get off gas, but not all forms of businesses, for example, can get off gas. So we need to come up with other forms of energy for them."

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A small West Coast town might be about to strike gold again.

Canadian mining company Rua Gold has discovered a 2.5 kilometre stretch of gold and other minerals at Auld Creek near Reefton - with plans announced to fast-track an underground mine.

The company aims to produce 60,000 ounces of gold annually by 2028.

Vice-president Simon Delander says they're also going after the antimony.

He explained that's a strategic mineral - and there's lots of interest in Japan and the US.

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The Justice Minister says his retail crime advisory group has been successful and productive.

It'll been cut short, ending in May - not the planned September - after three members resigned last month.

It leaves just two members, chair and dairy owner Sunny Kaushal and liquor retailer, Ash Parmar.

Paul Goldsmith says he could have appointed more people for the next six months or wrapped it up early.

"The simpler thing to do was say - look, you've got a couple of things you need to finish, you've got three months to do that and then we'll go off on our merry way. The Government's got lots of ideas to work with."

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