If you ever want an example of why Chris Hipkins is not going to be the next Prime Minister, watch Question Time yesterday.
He has made a twofold mistake.
Mistake number one is being a Labour MP obsessed with esoteric, wonky subjects like United Nations treaties and charters.
The second mistake is being obsessed with making a global issue all about New Zealand, when in reality we have nothing to do with it.
The Prime Minister has kind of got trapped by it as well. The reality is the attack on Iran will affect us all, whether through petrol prices or possibly some inflationary issues and our ability to travel to Europe through Dubai.
Outside of that it is not our war, we did not start it, we are not participating in it, and we are a world away from it.
The Prime Minister and the Government can answer questions, as far as anyone can answer questions, on what it might mean for our economy, or our travel, or our petrol bill.
But what they can't do, and yet are being asked to do, is explain why the Americans did what they did and how that may or may not tie into the United Nations and various charters.
Luxon got bogged down in the legalities of it on Monday and walked back some of his comments about all actions to eliminate a regime being good actions.
But then Hipkins started banging on about the UN as though New Zealand is the boss of the UN, New Zealand was exclusively given details of the material the United States acted on and has insight that no other country has as to whether there is a so-called "imminent threat".
Labour, Hipkins, and the media do this every time. They try and place New Zealand, a tiny, insignificant country at the bottom of the world, into the centre of all global action as though we somehow affect it, can change it, explain it, participate in it or stop it.
Esoteric international law is of little interest to most of us on a daily basis. Arguing over United Nation's charters is the stuff of chardonnay and Thorndon and people far removed from regular New Zealander's lives and thought patterns.
It’s a dumb game trying to trap a government into saying random stuff in the hope they get a headline, or an apology, or a scalp.
This has nothing to do with us. Like the weather, it will affect us, but we don’t drive it, influence it, or even know a lot about it.
Also, for what it's worth, by arguing the way Labour does they are hopelessly out of step with your average New Zealander who I suspect, if you asked the simple question "is getting rid of the crazies in Iran a good idea", the answer would be yes.
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