Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

I'm not a huge fan of former PMs sticking their oar into the water of current political debates.  Not only are their thoughts rooted in briefings given by officials long ago, but when attacking a sitting Prime Minister, they tend to sound a bit whingy and out-of-touch.  This is the case of Helen Clark and Don Brash, who've issued a statement condemning Christopher Luxon for comments he made to the Financial Times on the sidelines of NATO in Washington D.C..  Luxon said a few things: 1. We need to call out China more for spying. 2. He's hoping to sign a deal that would see NZ able to deploy military assets to the Philippines, which has long running and regular disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. 3. He's keen on our military joining the U.S. and Australia in conducting joint military exercises inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. 4. He spoke about NZ being a "force multiplier" for Australia, the U.S., and other partners. Clark and Brash are tut-tutting this, which comes off the back of the