Our leader yesterday suggested that Mr Luxon might need to force a caucus vote to make malcontents in his party put up or shut up, and that was exactly what the National Party leader did.
All well and good, but it was what happened afterwards which betrayed that the ground Mr Luxon stood on might not be as solid as he claimed.
Having won the vote — and it is by no means certain that Mr Luxon did so unanimously, or even decisively — the National leader then addressed reporters.
He made a short and far from bullish statement, which was more a cry of relief than a rallying cry, before refusing to take questions.
Not only did Mr Luxon not offer any more at his stand-up, but shortly afterwards when on his way to the House he again batted off questioners.
That perhaps portends that Mr Luxon might not be so confident of his mandate that he was prepared to put it under journalistic scrutiny.
This was a moment to proclaim his triumph from the rooftops, rather than scuttle back to the ninth floor.
By not facing the media and loudly, proudly, declaring that he was unassailable as leader of the National party, Mr Luxon looked anything but.
Indeed, in a classic example of shooting the messenger, Mr Luxon blamed the press gallery for the whole thing.
"To put that media speculation to rest, I moved a formal motion of confidence in my leadership. That motion was passed, confirming what I have been saying — I have the support of my caucus as their leader."
Except Mr Luxon manifestly did not have the full backing of his caucus.
Quite apart from the enormous speculation over his future and the prime minister’s own admission on Monday that he had a few moaning and frustrated MPs, the simple fact that there was any need for a vote at all demonstrated that.
Except this matter is far from closed.
If National’s polling does not improve, and quickly, Mr Luxon will continue to be asked about his security as National’s leader — and his MPs will be asked if they made a mistake when they backed him on April 21.
Mr Luxon is right that the media is reporting speculation and rumour, but that does not mean that there is not a kernel of truth to it.
Some of National’s MPs clearly fear what might happen when the ultimate opinion poll — the November 7 election — is in the field, and are saying so well ahead of time.
When your party is polling in the 20s and your leader’s personal popularity is at about half that, no one can be surprised that internal anxiety has blossomed into publicly-expressed concern.
At this rate, the left-leaning parties do not need to campaign against National — the party is doing itself far more damage than they ever could. Mr Luxon needs to reassert discipline over his party, and soon.
There may be a lifeline ahead for Mr Luxon. The Budget is a month away, and offers the opportunity for the government to restate its message that the coalition parties are the responsible stewards of public purse.
However, this is a government which cannot catch a break. Possible peace talks to end the Gulf conflict war which is crippling the New Zealand economy remained an elusive possibility yesterday, and the small operating allowance Finance Minister Nicola Willis has to work with in terms of offering election year sweeteners continues to ebb away.
Mr Luxon is faced with the urgent need to become what he has professed not to be — a professional politician.
He has to campaign like there is no tomorrow — because there may well not be — and reclaim National’s mandate to lead a coalition government.
Simply scaremongering about a possible future left-wing government will no longer suffice.
Mr Luxon needs to show not just his disgruntled MPs but also the public, that he is the right person to be CEO of NZ Inc in these troubled times.
