Mike's Minute: Did Luxon just have a leadership-defining moment?

It's quite possible the Prime Minister might look back on yesterday's caucus meeting as a moment that defined his leadership.  He read the riot act, they had a vote, and he won.  He was always going to win, but in making his statement afterwards he hopefully, once and for all, sent a message to the media that the sort of drama they live for is over.  He should have done this sooner of course. He is 100% right when he says most of us have no interest in the minutiae and gossip that envelops the beltway.  This is a country with a myriad of issues facing us and every moment you spend on frippery is a moment wasted on real problems.  Yes, you can blame Uffindell and Bishop and his mates for talking and leaking. But in totality when you look at what led to yesterday —five idiots and a bloke from the Hutt who sort of fancied himself— what a mountain out of a mole hill.  In a caucus of 50-ish, a handful of nobodies got a bit spooked and caused too much damage, but got aided by the media who don’t like the Government and certainly don't like Luxon so leapt into it with alacrity.  Luxon deserves a lot better. No, he is not one of this nation's greats. But mind you they said that about John Howard for many years, until they realised they were wrong.  But what Luxon is, is a hard-working, successful operator, managing a three-way deal to run a country, mired in debt, in a world at war and when we are not at war, finding any number of problems to provide no end of challenges, for a small country at the bottom of the planet.  You can't fault his ambition, and you can't fault his work ethic. If you don’t like National, fine, don’t vote for them.  But the point is he is in it, and always has been, for the right reasons and that is to be respected.  The bit that would have got me was upon arrival he tidied his party up. The leaking and backstabbing was stopped and his reward was the gormless and self-absorbed fools then went and let him down.  They should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.  But hopefully Luxon emerges from this stronger. Every now and then you see a flash of it, like Monday post-Cabinet when he spoke with passion about immigration. Yesterday was the same but about gossip and wasting time.  He needs to be himself more. He doesn’t like the beltway and who can blame him?  Hopefully yesterday he put a line in that sand.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.