Is it 1-1?

The Prime Minister dug himself a hole over Iran.

Barbara Edmonds dug herself a hole in the NZ Herald.

As far as holes go, I regard the Luxon hole as slightly less problematic, given the war is not in our direct purview and there is nothing we can do about it.

But it does display the ongoing issue the Prime Minister appears to have with many New Zealanders: he doesn’t look like he is confident and he doesn’t tell it like it is.

In a world where people who tell it like it is generally succeed, he is still playing 'Mr Nice Guy' and getting trapped by a media pack who love the smell of blood.

Edmonds is a real worry. She too, is nice. So nice, she told us quite openly getting a surplus isn't happening anytime soon and she doesn’t have a clue how to pay for the most expensive promise they have made – restoring pay equity.

You can argue around the dual mandate for the Reserve Bank but that’s wonk's territory. Dollars and cents are real and it's our back pocket that is affected.

A sad outworking of MMP is we have an increasing number of inexperienced players in the game of running the joint.

Luxon knows business, which ties into the economy, which is why things are starting to turn for us. This Government has done a decent job on it.

He is an amateur on foreign policy. You only had to listen to Winston Peters yesterday on this show to know that people who have been there, done that, have seen the world change therefore, can explain it.

And Winston doesn’t take crap from juniors, which is what too much of the Press Gallery is made up of. The nuance and sophistication of reporting is largely gone and replaced by clickbaiters and Luxon, being too nice a guy and too inexperienced in certain areas, walks right into it.

Barbara on the other hand is entitled to her views. But this is why Labour won't win the election. She has clearly learned nothing from watching Grant Robertson butcher the place and because that was only three years ago the memories of the voters are still sharp.

So in a guns at dawn, Luxon wins because foreign policy jibber-jabber isn't as serious as economic sabotage and incompetence.

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Mike's Minute: Christopher Luxon vs Barbara Edmonds

The Mike Hosking Breakfast