If you were listening yesterday at 8:20am you would have heard the Stuart Nash departure from this show. 

The general consensus and feedback was that it wasn’t very dignified, in the sense he gave us no warning. Quitting live on air is unusual. And in it's own funny way it is sort of indicative of how this Government operates. It had a sort of shambolic, make it up as you go along, uncouth sort of feel to it. They lack a basic cordiality and adult sophistication. 

The trouble with the slot on a show like this, and you can never truly appreciate it and until you do it, is it's harder than it looks. Good broadcasting, in general, is harder than it looks. Making things sound easy is hard work and requires a certain skill. 

The upside of the slot is you have access to the biggest audience in the country, the downside is it exposes you. 

It's why we have the rise of the sound-bite. Sounding sharp and pithy is also a skill, but if you prepare, think about it, and deliver well it’s a trick a decent politician can master, and it only takes eight seconds. 

Sitting live on radio for 20 minutes is a whole other game. Ask the Prime Minister, she couldn't handle it. 

The environment is, of course, the key. If the pressure is off and the questions are soft you can wing your way through most of it. But if the game is accountability and the pace is reasonable, you're working hard. 

A lasting memory of Jacinda Ardern was when she denied they were going to replace the Tauranga City Council, only a few weeks before they did. She didn't have a clue it was happening. Or when I asked her about GDP, she gave a different number she shouldn't have and spooked the markets. 

Last week, Nash, as Tourism Minister didn’t know we were advertising ourselves as a tourist destination in Australia and Europe while still having our borders closed. 

So, it’s a big ask. Answering questions, defending your position, standing your ground, and trying to be cordial, and maybe even a bit fun. Not many can do it, or do it well. 

But and here is the key, if you ask for public office, you ask to be held to account. 

This Government is having trouble with that. Their fall back seems to be when it gets hard, they quit.