The Foreign Minister says New Zealand is officially resetting its relationship with the Cook Islands.

Tensions have continued to escalate between our Governments as the Cooks inked in a new partnership with China.

In a speech yesterday, Winston Peters has reiterated his concerns New Zealand was in the dark about this agreement, and is yet to see key details.

Newstalk ZB Political Editor Jason Walls told Andrew Dickens it’s clear Peters is well past fed up at this stage.

Walls says it’s no small feat to completely snub New Zealand in a sense, and sign such a major agreement with China without giving us a heads up.

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There's frustration about rubbish dumping along the Desert Road detour.

State Highway 1 between Tūrangi and Waiōuru closed in mid-January for about two months of roadworks.

The detour, which runs through State Highways 41, 47, 4, and 49 has seen a noticeable rise in rubbish.

Ruapehu District Councillor David Nottage has been picking up the rubbish himself.

He told Andrew Dickens it's more than people throwing a few things out the window.

Nottage says it's hard to believe people are carrying that much around while they travel, so they may be taking advantage.

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Banks could soon be competing a bit harder for our business.

The Reserve Bank's signalling yesterday's double cut to the OCR will be followed by at least two more single cuts at the next reviews in April and May.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Andrew Dickens that's going to drive banks' rates down.

She says mortgage-holders and small businesses should be expecting to see their interest rates keep dropping.

Governor Adrian Orr says banks that don't cut their rates enough could lose market share to their competitors.

He says banks will be "sniffing and hunting" for business and may even have reduce their profit margins.

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