Welcome to Tuesday the 1st of March and what a red letter day! Today is a day of joy and unabashed delight.  

Looking overseas, we have almost universal pressure from the world on Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine, it's I think the first time I have seen in my lifetime the world coming together and saying no, this is unacceptable and they're prepared to put money where their mouths are in terms of the sanctions, in terms of not allowing Russian athletes deployments across the board, it's just about every sphere.  

The major democracies of the world finally showing that they do indeed have cojones in putting significant and meaningful sanctions on Russia. Make no mistake this will hurt Putin and Russia.  

Closer to home, self-isolation is over for returning Kiwis. Finally, finally a little bit of common sense!  

We are so lucky to live in an age of FaceTime and Zoom, but nothing, absolutely nothing beats the connection of a full body hug between people who love one another, just who haven't seen each other for ages and ages.  

Then, overnight we have the announcement of a most excellent trade deal that's been negotiated between New Zealand and the UK. The deal will cut costs for New Zealand exporters provide significantly greater access to the UK market and advance other issues important to news.   50 years later, we're back almost where we started with Britain.  

So a great day for New Zealand all round!