The lolly scramble that is a general election has come and gone and now a new government is on the cusp of getting down to business.
While the horse-trading between NZ First and both the National and Labour parties held centre-stage, it was some comment made by NZ First leader Winston Peters last week that should have had regional ears pricking up.
In his campaigning, Mr Peters talked up the prospect of Auckland's port decentralising northward to Whangarei. He argued that it would be good, not only from an infrastructure point of view but, more importantly, would be the sort of economic injection the Far North needed.
But he didn't restrict his policies to his stamping ground. It was a policy mantra NZ First pushed through the campaign, one that was also picked up by Labour and echoed by the incumbent National government.
National had made a regional commitment to this area through its Accelerate25 programme, and while that is still in its early stages, it has been growing legs and exploring options for economic growth.