The Weekend Herald’s Chris v Chris column compares the weeks each Chris has had — National Party leader Christopher Luxon and PM and Labour leader Chris Hipkins

Chris Hipkins had a blistering start to the week, attending the dawn service at Waitangi on Monday before heading to the Waitangi@Waititi music festival in west Auckland and back down to Wellington.

On Tuesday he jetted across the ditch for lunch with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before jetting back that evening (hardly a bread and butter meal, it must be said).

On Wednesday he cleared the decks at the first meeting of the new Cabinet, giving the RNZ-TVNZ merger and the biofuels mandate the bullet while putting hate-speech reforms and the social-unemployment insurance in deep freeze.

So how did he do?

Well, he has to get points for showing up at the Waitangi dawn service.

After distancing himself from the Don Brash Orewa Speech era of National Party race relations, Luxon legged it in the direction of Orewa itself for a Waitangi celebration at the Takapuna Boat Club.

With all due respect to the good people of the North Shore, the Takapuna Boat Club doesn’t quite

Luxon legged it in the direction of Orewa . . . With all due respect to the good people of the North Shore, the Takapuna Boat Club doesn’t quite have the historical significance of Waitangi.

have the historical significance of Waitangi.

Hipkins’ Australia jaunt was neither a boost nor a drag to his performance this week. As has already been remarked upon, Albanese’s dapper appearance put Hipkins to shame (buy a new suit and shoes, sir!)

Albanese also showed Hipkins’ relative inexperience on the international stage, dominating the media conference.

While Hipkins was having a rough time across the ditch, Luxon was having an even more difficult time at home, heckled ruthlessly by Counterspin Media goons in Rangiora. Fair play to Luxon, he handled it well.

Hipkins had a much better day on Wednesday, managing to clear the decks of complicated and unpopular policy with ease.

The pair had a proper head-tohead on Thursday, when both jaunted to Tauranga to hang out with real bread-and-butter New Zealanders.

Poor Luxon got heckled there too, dubbed a “dickhead” by a high school student.

Credit to Luxon, he brushed it off with a “thank you mate — that’s very kind of you”.