Did you see even Don Brash reckons Luxon should fire Winston as Foreign Minister?

Before anyone gets their hopes up, this never going to happen. If the PM cut Winston loose, the government would fall apart. That would kill not only Luxon's current term but his ambitions for a second.

MMP is a game of swallowing dead rats. Campaign-mode Winston is the political equivalent of one of those giant New York sewer rats. With the plague. Gross. Unsightly. A pain the arse. But impossible to get rid of. The PM has so far handled the situation well, using the playbook of Jacinda Ardern and Helen Clark to deal with his brain farts.

Those calling for his sacking are hypocrites to their party. Carmel Sepuloni sat round the cabinet table with Winston POST two Wongs don't make a White. The faux shock and outrage only make their own leader look weak. If 'Go Home Gate' is so outrageous and egregious, why hasn't Chris Hipkins ruled Winston out? He did so about this stage of the election cycle in 2023. Why not last night? Why not this morning?

I text Hipkins today to ask exactly this question. Why not rule him out ever being foreign minister, at least?

Guess what? Crickets. Radio silence.

Why? Same reason as Luxon. They need him. Or might need him.

Luxon, because he's no John Key and doesn't have the arty vote to govern without New Zealand First. And Hipkins, because if he did get enough support to cross the finish line, he'd rather do it alongside Winston Peters than Te Pati Maori.

The fact is, Winston can say what he likes and he knows it. His comments aren't popular with most fair-minded kiwis, but then, really, neither are the Chrises'.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.