In late 2003, Petrie returned to New Zealand and joined TVNZ, initially as a fill-in presenter across all "One News" bulletins. She was on air when the Boxing Day tsunami took place, as well as during the 2005 London bombings; for this, as well as her earlier reports on the September 11 attacks, she was jokingly dubbed a 'disaster magnet' by former boss Bill Ralston.