I bumped into a mate at the supermarket yesterday and one of the first things he said to me was, “Where’s Christopher Luxon?”.

And I knew straight away what he was getting at.

He was echoing the sentiment of political commentators over the weekend who were asking why the Prime Minister isn’t front and centre of the government’s response to the fuel situation.

Not that Nicola Willis seems to be complaining. She appears to be relishing the opportunity to be the government’s mouthpiece.

Which is rather unusual given what we’ve become used to in recent years. Particularly since Covid - but we saw it before then too.

Jacinda Ardern is the most obvious comparison. But John Key, as well. On the day of the big quake, he called an urgent cabinet meeting, then he was straight on a plane to Christchurch.

Jacinda Ardern was the same after the mosque attacks. She was front and centre when the White Island tragedy happened, and, as we know, she was the face of her government’s Covid response.

These commentators who were talking about Christopher Luxon over the weekend were making the inevitable comparison to Jacinda Ardern.

And it’s something I've been thinking about too.

This fuel situation is Christopher Luxon's opportunity to shine. But, apart from photos on social media of him on the blower to other world leaders talking fuel, that’s about it.

The rest of the time it’s either Nicola Willis on her own or Nicola Willis with the Prime Minister at her side.

And I don’t think it’s doing him any favours at all.

Take Friday, for example. The Prime Minister was in Christchurch for the official opening of the new One New Zealand Stadium - while he let Nicola Willis front the government’s fuel update.

As one commentator put it: “It is difficult to imagine his predecessors - Ardern, Key or Helen Clark - surrendering such a platform at such a time.”

Nicola Willis is doing a very good job in front of the fuel response. But, in my mind, she’s doing a job the Prime Minister should be doing.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think Chris Hipkins’ time could be up.

He said to me last week that he’d had better weeks, after his ex-wife made those claims about him on social media.

But, if he thought things were on the improve this week, that’s probably all come crashing down again this morning with the Herald reporting that he knew more about the Covid vaccine risks than he has let on.

And I think this could be the end of his push to be the next prime minister.

You‘ll remember when the second covid inquiry report came out recently, one of the more startling things it revealed was that Chris Hipkins and Jacinda Ardern’s Government hadn’t been told about the risks of a second covid vaccine for teenagers.

The report said health officials hadn’t told ministers that 12-to-17-year-olds shouldn't really have been getting two doses of the vaccine. Because of the risk of myocarditis - which is inflammation of the heart muscle.

That was an absolute shocker of a revelation.

And that was the version of the story Chris Hipkins stuck to when he was asked about it. Which deflected attention to the likes of former health boss Sir Ashley Bloomfield and whether he should be taken to task for not sharing that vital information with the Government.

Now, though, we’re finding out in a report by the Herald this morning, that a 2022 cabinet paper in Hipkins’ name does include the advice.

Hipkins has declined requests for interviews but has said in a statement that the then-government “had to make tough decisions under extraordinary pressure and a rapidly changing environment”.

As the Herald reports, Hipkins has declined a request for an interview and, in that statement I mentioned, did not directly address the issue of that advice re: teenagers not being made public.

Instead, as well as going on about the government having to make decisions when it was under the pump, he says: “the royal commission found that the government made numerous efforts to communicate safety issues, including the risk of myocarditis.”

I mean, do me a favour Chris.

If you’ve ever wondered what covering your backside sounds like, that’s it right there.

Correction. If you’ve ever wondered what someone failing miserably at covering their backside sounds like, that’s it right there.

What’s more, tell that Chris to the parents and caregivers of the 30,000 young people who had to have the second dose as part of the vaccine mandates.

Tell that to the young people themselves, Chris.

Now, unless Hipkins can prove otherwise, I think this revelation today blows any chance of voters trusting him again out of the water.

It’s not like he’s Jacinda Ardern or Grant Robertson who have moved on to other things. Chris Hipkins hasn’t moved on and wants to be Prime Minister.

He wants to be Prime Minister and he’s been caught out.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's Reuben Davidson and National's Stuart Smith joined John MacDonald for Politics Friday this week.

The covered the biggest news of the week, including the revelation that Chris Hipkins had been advised on Covid vaccines for teens, the Governments fuel relief package, and the Parliamentary warning around importing liquid natural gas.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.