Holiday fun with John Key, the Minister of Hawaii

Is John Key our Minister of Tourism or the Minister of Hawaii?

The video his son Max recently posted on social media showed the Prime Minister at ease in Hawaii, where he owns a holiday home. I'm sure the bloke deserves a holiday.

But it still strikes me as odd that our Minister of Tourism's most renowned holiday breaks are offshore. Imagine sitting down to watch this weekend's Bledisloe Cup test match with the Minister for Sport and Recreation and hearing him cheer for the Wallabies. Or attending a banquet hosted by the Minister for Primary Industries where he serves Chilean wine and apples from Queensland's fruit fly heartland.

New Zealand's a pretty good place for a holiday. Key has claimed that he goes to Hawaii to escape the public glare of being Prime Minister. In which case, why did he let Max release a holiday-gram? (Nice video, it must be said. And fair play to Hawaii - the place looks terrific.)

By all means, Aloha John should feel free to take a break in Hawaii - it's always a shame to let the spare mansion get dusty - but would it really be so terrible for him to kick back for a week or so at one of our acclaimed luxury resorts? If they're private enough - and luxurious enough - for Brad Pitt, then I reckon they could handle the requirements of the Key family.

Key is not just any old Minister for Tourism: he's surely the most prominent one we've ever had - go on, name his predecessor. With the tourism sector rising, it needs a committed leader.