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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On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday the 13th of February, is there a water tax in the RMA bill? Chris Bishop responds to some angry farmers.

Karen Chhour answers questions about why there is Maori leave entitlements at Oranga Tamariki and whether it is more widespread than one Government department.

Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson on concert reviews, adult kids back at the house and Kiwis bed times.

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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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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