Two stories from the "do they think we’re stupid?" file.

Last week I wrote a very popular piece about the Mongrel Mob in New Zealand claiming that the leopard never changes its spots. And look at that, they haven’t, refusing to hand their illegal guns in. Apparently, they need them for their protection.

The guy who said that was Sonny Fatu, the head of the Mongrel Mob Kingdom. Last week Jarrod Gilbert was saying that Sonny maybe the sign of a new way forward for the gang.  An older wiser leader who recognised the need for family, whanau and to look after children. But surely if Sonny was talking about a more socially responsible gang he’d hand in the illegal guns and if his boys need guns for protection then they could always apply for legal firearm licences through the appropriate channels.

Actions speak louder than words Sonny. The action that speaks louder to me is the Mongrel Mob Kingdom expansion. It is the fastest growing chapter in New Zealand, with more than 400 members locally. And it’s going global with 200 members around the world, including Canada, Russia, France and the Solomon Islands.

It still smacks to me of the gentrification of gang culture and even domesticated gangsters still need illegal guns to shoot their competitors with.

Meanwhile, who was not entertained by Mike Hosking's interview with Winston Peters today?

One man with a question, the other refused to answer and whose next line of defence was to abuse the interviewer. It was like being at the circus, watching an elephant by the name of Winston, dance on the head of a pin. And what made it so entertaining is that there was no way he could ever answer the question and everyone including Winston knew it.

Four months ago, Winston Peters gave a speech in Washington where he described the growing threats in the Pacific and you’d have to be thick as a plank not to know he was talking about China. But he played a clever dick trick by never uttering the word China in the speech. I always wondered if he actually thought that China is like, you know, stupid. Certainly, he seemed to think Mike was stupid in thinking it was China. We all know it’s China

Now it wasn’t that he’s wrong, the threats he described are real. It’s just that it’s not the sort of thing Foreign Ministers say out loud in speeches, unless they’re hankering for a fight. Which we weren’t. We were hankering for the United States, who were already in a fight with China over tariffs, to put a little more pressure on regarding China’s expansionary position in the Pacific. It's the sort of thing you say quietly to the States but not loudly to the whole world.

Compare that blowhard speech in Washington with his timidity in Turkey and you have to wonder whether Winston has learnt a lesson and has now gone too far the other way.

But Winston’s stance on China is reminiscent of a lot this government has got a little wrong. There is a braggadocio about the team, a tendency to talk far too big a talk. Whether it’s Kiwibuild, a Capital Gains Tax, being a transformational government or their Foreign Affairs positions, this government talks a big talk, but has not even broken into the walk yet.