Has Jacinda Ardern failed the first test of leadership?

Putting on her best stern face, and using her best stern voice, doesn’t for a moment mean she's actually done her job in sacking Clare Curran.

The advantage of having the bunch of portfolios is you can remove one or two and still remain gainfully employed, but get told off at the same time.

Curran, of course, was your main candidate to be the first to find herself embroiled, after the infamous Carol Hirschfeld meeting.

That although not in and of itself, worthy of falling into the category of high crimes, did nevertheless indicate to us that there was a fairly weak link among them, and thus made her the short odds favourite to do something stupid.

But what followed was worse than stupid it was, on the surface anyway, Machiavellian. It was surreptitious, scandalous, underhand and highly suspicious.

And this is why these things are on the record.

The bloke Handley, was not just the government tech whiz candidate, he's on the board of a company deeply interested in the government's potential move around free to air sport.

The information potentially flowing back and forward in that room would have been valuable to both sides.

Now she claims she forgot, again, I don’t believe her.

You don't get roasted the way she did over Hirschfeld, then go do exactly the same thing again.

Unless you're four and a half years, or dumber than we can comprehend.

Now the important point of all of this, is the actions, her actions, are dangerous.

She is not to be trusted, she's a repeat offender and as such, given she hasn’t been removed from all her portfolios, what is there to show us she won't be doing the same thing again?

And that's where Ardern has let us all down. When a problem arises you show leadership by showing how you are preventing a repeat.

She has shown no such thing, Curran is out there with portfolios in ministerial limousines. She's just as dangerous as she was before she got a couple of minor duties removed from her watch.

Does she still have ministerial responsibility? Yes. Is she still in charge of stuff? Yes.

Could she then repeat the same thing for a gobsmackingly, extraordinary third time?

Yes, of course, you want to say no one is that dumb, but then we said that the first time.

If Curran was on the back bench now, we'd be safe, but she's not.

The same level of ineptitude still has hands on Broadcasting and ACC, so what has Ardern actually done by way of fixing the problem or showing leadership?

Nothing.