A return to growth in New Zealand's housing market. 

Corelogic's Home Value Index saw property values rise by 0.3 percent in February -- the strongest increase in more than a year. 

That follows a cumulative negative 4.1 percent decline from March to September last year. 

Chief Property Economist, Kelvin Davidson says [told Andrew Dickens] he thinks the housing market's returned to a more stable phase, post-pandemic. 

He says with wage growth coming through, there's a path to reasonably stable house prices ahead. 

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On the Early Edition with Full Show Podcast Thursday 6th of March 2025, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr has resigned out of the blue - Independent Economist Cameron Bagrie tells Andrew Dickens who he thinks will be next in line for the top job.   

 We might have some signs of life in the property market, CoreLogic Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson shares the latest numbers in the CoreLogic Home Value Index. 

The Government's announced it’s increasing the number of training places for nurse practitioners specialising in primary care to 120 a year, Professor Warwick Bagg from the University of Auckland tells Andrew how much of a difference it will make.  

US Correspondent Mitch Mccann shares the latest on what came out of US President Donald Trump's congress speech and the trade war.  

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There are fresh developments in the Government's Cook Strait ferry headache. 

Hyundai is back in the running to land a deal after the coalition canned its original contract in 2023, blaming ballooning costs. 

Documents show the Government's set aside $300 million to cover that broken deal, which must be paid regardless of whether a new deal is struck. 

Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Todd Valster told Andrew Dickens the Government rushed to cancel the original deal. 

He reckons the amount of money lost is far higher, saying the $300 million doesn’t recognise costs of procurement – with estimations up to a billion dollars could have been spent. 

Although, he says, it's good to see Rail Minister Winston Peters has made a trip to Korea to speak with the ship builders. 

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Ukraine's President is ready to sign the US deal for a ceasefire only hours after America's decision to pause military aid to the war torn nation. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his fiery meeting with Donald Trump at the White House was "regrettable". 

He's ready to work with Trump to sign a minerals deal and reach a peace deal. 

Former chief of staff to Marco Rubio —who is now the US Secretary of State— Matt Terrill told Andrew Dickens reaching a peace deal was a huge part of Trump's campaign. 

He says this administration is standing by the deal because they believe in its economic and security guarantees. 

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Truck drivers say it will take more than just congestion charges to address Auckland's traffic woes.  

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is hoping for practical solutions to traffic after a report found congestion will cost the city 2.6 billion dollars a year by next year.  

The National Road Carriers Association says it supports congestion charges, as long as they're fair. 

But Chief Executive Justin Tighe-Umbers told Andrew Dickens it still needs a second harbour crossing and fixes to council roads.  

He says some parts of the motorway also need to be widened. 

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On the Early Edition with Full Show Podcast Wednesday 5th of March 2025, Donald Trump has paused all military aid into Ukraine, Marco Rubio's Former Chief of Staff tells Andrew Dickens what he thinks will happen next.  

New documents reveal $300 million was set aside by the Government to cover it's broken ferry build contract with Hyundai. 

Could congestion charges come in sooner than expected? National Road Carriers Association CEO Just Tighe Umbers shares his thoughts.  

UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey shares the latest on US vice-president JD Vance sparking a row with comments he made about the potential involvement of international forces to police a peace deal in Ukraine.  

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You could hear the disappointment oozing out of the Maritime Union Spokesperson yesterday as we found out the break fee for the Interislander ferries would be around 300 million.   

The ferries only cost 551 million at 60 per cent of the cost of the ferries.  

All up 1 billion dollars has been spent on nothing at all.  

It’s making Labour’s light rail fiasco look trivial. 

The Union guy called the situation Nicola Willis’ mistake. And it is.  

She’d be hoping to be remembered as the Saviour of the economy, but she will never escape the billion-dollar boat botch up.  

A botch up she jumped into just to strike a blow against Labour and KiwiRail  

As Winston Peters rushes to patch things up we seem to forget what the real cost of the project is. 

It’s the wharves and more particularly the Wellington wharves  

They need to be renovated.  

They need to be earthquake strengthened.  

We need to decide if they need rail infrastructure so we can roll a train on a ship.  

We need to decide the capacity of the terminals.  

These are questions that never make the public discussion.

As we wait for Winston’s grand answer to a 3-billion-dollar question, I hope that he’ll cover those issues as much as the floating stock.

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Questions over the future of Wellington Water's chairman, with calls for him to go after troubling findings within the organisation. 

A scathing review has found poor procurement processes, potential for fraud, and a serious lack of value for money. 

Board chair Nick Leggett says if the region's mayors ask him to go, he will, but thinks he's taken good action on the issues. 

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker says he doesn't need to go. 

She told Andrew Dickens they’re a year out from water reforms and him and Pat Dougherty are working exceptionally well together to achieve them. 

Baker says she doesn’t see the point. 

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Queensland's bracing for Cyclone Alfred to hit later this week. 

It's been upgraded to category two overnight, and is brewing off the Australian coast, where it's already causing heavy surf and high tides.  

Correspondent Donna Demaio told Andrew Dickens it's expected to hit on Thursday or Friday.  

She says there's a possibility of destructive winds and life-threatening flash flooding. 

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The Government's sinking just under $12 million into salmon farming. 

The five-year aquaculture investment will increase production and drive-up exports. 

It's estimating the extra support will create an additional $500 million of exports by 2035. 

Aquaculture New Zealand Chief Executive Gary Hooper told Andrew Dickens that's a conservative figure. 

He says when everything is up and running, there will be up-to 60-million tonnes worth of exports annually – pushing a billion dollars in value. 

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