John Key admitted yesterday that he won an office sweepstake on the Supreme Court decision.
He bet that all five judges would find unanimously for the Crown and he was right.
In making the admission at the end of a press conference at Parliament, he was exercising bragger's rights, and will no doubt attract some criticism for treating a matter of such importance as though it were the Melbourne Cup.
But no one has has treated the case lightly, least of all the Prime Minister.
With its flagship asset-sales policy on the line, the credibility of the Government was at stake. A five-nil decision against it, and with no Plan B, would have plunged the Government into crisis.