Luxon's Pacific Diplomacy

Is it just me or did it did it occur to anyone else what a contrast it was watching Christopher Luxon cracking cracking the jokes with Anthony Albanizing to what uh Albanese to what it was like when Jacinda Ardern used to visit Australia? For all of her kindness in her communication, when she was the Prime Minister, she would use those trips to Aussie often to give the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison a tongue lashing, usually over the 501 deportees, which was pointless, obviously. Nothing was going to change. The Aussies weren't going to change their minds. This weekend, though, by contrast, was a lovin'. And that is despite the fact that we gave them something they could actually have genuinely been upset about. Because Nicola Willis has gone probably a little too hard, having cracks at them for their capital gains tax changes in the budget, which they're very sensitive about because they're copping huge blowback over there. And yet no drama. Albanese wrote it off as cheekiness. He was cracking jokes with Luxon about Kiwi immigrants. They were taking turns going first with the questions. They were affirming each other and welcoming closer ties and strengthening shared resilience. It it you know, it's turning into a little bit of a cliched thing to say now. But Luxon really is in his element overseas. He sounded every bit the statesman who had thought deeply about the degrading state of international affairs and what New Zealand needed to do to weather the coming storm.