The thing I love about Jacinda is her authenticity. That self doubt, the imposter syndrome, the complete lack of arrogance. the kindness and the funny self deprecation. I am so glad she, Clarke and Neve are getting on in a world where they are appreciated.
One of our friends said that Jacinda promised transparency in government but didn't live up to it. Unfortunately no specific information but somehow she's not honest. Fail to grasp this critique but complaints about her always seem vague and vituperative.
I had 35 years working as a psychiatrist but still cannot figure out with any confidence why Jacinda-hatred happened. Did they hate their mothers? Was it plain misogyny? Were they afraid of kindness and candour because it made them feel too vulnerable? I'll never understand it. She was the best PM of my entire life.
I've always thought that some people just needed someone to blame and hate and because she was the one fronting the media,it was her. And,courtesy of social media,it just grew for there. It was, and still is, just horrible. How do people live their lives with such vitriol?
There seems to be a need among many, to lash out willy nilly when things go wrong. Covid was what went wrong not the people in charge, but they were too wound up (aided and abetted by a click-bait crazy media) to see the insanity of their stance. They had to have someone to blame, so they targeted PM Ardern and to a lesser extent, Health professional Ashley Bloomfield, both of whom became synonymous with the discombobulation (gosh I love that word) caused by the pandemic.
Yes Anne, there are those who are so arrogant and ignorant as to appear blameless for any difficulties we experience. All they can offer is hate and blaming others. They seem to specialise in ‘othering’.
Rather than contributing positively in all the ways they possibly could. Waste time and energy on hating rather than offering anything productive.
I found it was right wingers that did all the hating one close to the family just doesn't like any left wing ideology period. Particular where it concerns money.
Hi Alma, I like what you’ve said about Jacinda and the ‘haters’.
For those who hate, often successful people who happen to have very different values are targets. The time of Trump, Farage, Le Pen…all of this hate and vitriol spewing out as these ‘leaders’ became more emboldened…especially if we believe the world we live in is ‘post-truth’. It’s too easy to hate behind a keyboard without needing to engage in actual dialogue or reasonable discussion about anything.
Like other Substacker writers have shared here, I firmly believe Jacinda was one of us. She (along with Grant Robertson) was also prepared to listen to facts and evidence to validate policy positions and government decisions.
But facts, science and evidence sadly, along with kindness and compassion and a willingness to partner with tāngata whenua don’t sit well with some who are quite prepared to vote for authoritarian, right wing and racist people pretending to be their salvation. If we cannot easily think for ourselves, it might be easier to let a despot or dictator do our thinking for us.
From what I observe, a tendency to look away (to mask corruption), denial and lack of honesty and accountability unfortunately often seem to be bed partners with hate and a lack of emotional intelligence.
The tools available to us all are not always used with care and respect. Some seem to only have hate and righteous anger in their life toolbox. I’d suggest that these are not enough tools to thrive in one’s life!
Jacinda brought more care into politics than most people will ever be able or willing to do. I’m so pleased she was my prime minister through such difficult times. She inspired me then. And she still inspires me now that she has left the political lions den. I love the fact that she let go. It takes such courage sometimes to let go. I admire her so much for that.
Yes, her leaving was as courageous, perhaps more so, than all the things she had done beforehand. I was so pleased for her. What a nightmare it must have been.
Alma: my interpretation is that it is just easier to blame it on someone else. And, as PM, she was the scapegoat du jour. We’re a selfish lot—evolved that way—now having been indulged to the point where we never have up look in the mirror; take responsibility for our choices. We’re the gave our cake and eat it too generation. Having just come through an era of endlessly cheap money enabling our poorly thought through decisions. FAFO times is here though now…
May have been referring to education regarding the possibility of vaccine complications; in fact, that reality does apply to all drugs, and if it had been overemphasised, the likelihood of lockdowns continuing would of been a real possibility.
The Govt was between a rock and a hard place on that one.
Absolutely Gavin - the bitterness in the vitriol spewed from many was directed at their target…who dared to show kindness and sweetness. As if caring and showing respect in a politician is somehow a ‘foreign’ object not to be trusted! A view seemingly expressing that surely all politicians are ruthless and don’t need soft power!!!?!
Abuse, bitterness, jealousy (do women need to demonstrate they are more ruthless than men to break through the old boys club?), and a lack of appreciation of what emotional intelligence is…driving disgusting and disrespectful opinions from cowards mostly hiding behind their keyboard and microphone.
Jacinda represented genuine care and kindness, which was the opposite of Bill English's ideas.
Her personality radiated belief in people, and she was a touchstone to our better selves. But for some that was "fairy dust" to be denigrated.
I am grateful to have experienced her Leadership, and comparing the current incumbent ? Just sad, like comparing a diamond to a piece of inferior coal.
I clearly remember the "rumour mill" churning out stories about Jacinda's partner Clarke, until the Police declared there were "no matters of interest", while the same mill now tells us Luxon is "successful and sorted".
Jacinda and her team rose above huge setbacks, held a steady course, passed helpful legislation made great trade deals and managed huge upsets, representing New Zealand well.
The care for the least in society planned in measured improvements, the strong caring reactions to tragedies marked her as a phenomenal Leader. Her grace intelligence and genuine care plainly there.
Thank you Jacinda, you set a high bar, so weak minded individuals needed to wreck that, which they have done in a very cavalier manner. Now we compare them to her, very unfavourably.
"You don't know what you've got 'till it is gone" according to Joni Mitchell. Too true, we have the "parking lot"
I have a few relations who hated Jacinda. They were women in their 40s - slightly older than Jacinda. Their reasoning? She was a fake. They didn't come up with any solid evidence of her supposed fakeness. My personal view: it was female aligned jealousy, but they would never admit to it of course.
And I think that if those people could possibly take time to view the doc Prime Minister, with an open mind (realise that may be difficult), they should clearly see a woman who was hell bent on doing the utmost for her country right through her time as prime minister, by being well informed, having clarity for actions and engaging with the electorate frequently. This movie gave me a hole new level of appreciation for both Jacinda Ardern and for Clarke Gayford, who, lets face it was the most incredible support team for our PM xx
🤷 I don't know the listening habits of the females I know of who "hated Jacinda", but I agree it was female aligned jealousy in most cases... They all had outsized opinions of their own importance including having to be cruel & cutthroat in a male world to "rise" in the ranks, and here comes this modest, kind, competent woman who (seems to) effortlessly do the hardest job in Aotearoa through some incredibly challenging times. And worse Jacinda effortlessly charmed the rest of the world & gained admiration from people & leaders which (admittedly unbeknown to them at the time) would transcend time and space and continue long after she held the reins of power of any sort 🤗 For insecure ungenerous souls she showed them up for the selfish shallow people they were...
I always wondered if the vitriol hurled at Jacinda was a strange form of intense jealousy and tall poppy syndrome. How dare she be young, attractive, charming, caring, funny, have a doting partner, clever, a new baby, become known and popular worldwide and be greeted at Buckingham Palace by the Queen looking so gorgeous in a designer gown. And add to that be Prime Minister in charge of running the country. Then to be faced with the Christchurch terrorist massacres, White Island eruption and Covid. She was always dignified wherever she went and never pranced around in Christmas pyjamas or made "bottom feeder" or marmite type comments. She was thrust into the Labour leader role suddenly, not long before the election then and I thought she rose to the challenge with extraordinary courage and dedication.
Super comment Helen. Just one word missing. She was/is charismatic as well.
Love the comparison with pyjama-wearing right-wing pollies et al. "Look at us everybody, aren't we just the hosts with the mosts" Jacinda doesn't need to do things like that because she's the real thing.
It’s great to look back a few years and be reminded of just how special Jacinda was as our PM. It’s even better to see that she is still in huge demand from all over the world as a keynote speaker for various international events on topics such as climate change, humanitarian issues, you name it issues and a much loved guest on TV talk shows. The haters may still hate, but that’s one burden they’ll just have to deal with themselves.
I’ve read both Jacinda’s and Grant’s memoirs,which are filled with sincere respect, admiration and love for each other and what they’ve achieved together for our country. We’re very unlikely to see a better, more dedicated and caring team in NZ politics again.
I reckon Chippy,Carmel, Chloe and Marama will make some pretty big waves, though. Looking forward to that very much😀
One of the most intensely embarrassing things about JA's departure from politics was trying to explain to Aussie, UK and American mates why she went and why we couldn't recognize her real worth because she was a beacon of hope for them.
In early 2020, I had a conversation with an American videographer from a cruise ship. News was just spreading about an infection which was widespread in China, and this chap had been reading an assessment about how well prepared countries were for a pandemic. The USA and Great Britain were well up the list of preparedness, and New Zealand was almost at the bottom. He predicted a dire future for us. I remember, too, coverage of our health system's lack of preparedness in a report done by Ayesha Verral, who at the time was an infectious disease expert.
I remember the dire warnings here. How our hospitals wouldn't cope. How few ICU beds. We were fortunate that Jacinda and the government made decisions based on evidence and kept us safe.
I want to thank Jacinda for her service as leader and am pleased she has found a way forward that is meaningful in the world and enables her to carry on with intitiatives she began like the Christchurch Call. She is seen as a roving Ambassdor for positive values and Aotearoa New Zealand.
We here need get behind people and parties that value a future of decency, equity and respect.
We each need to think and action what we can do towards that future.
I am sick of the money men and all that they bring. I don't want to live in the place (at the edge of the map) where they can bunker down and connive more ways to fill their coffers.
There are green shoots in the resistance to these forces.
So decent people there's lots to do so lets get on with it. (I'll do some cleaning and weeding now!)
My daughter was on the Christchurch Call project, setting up and organising the outreach involved. What I remember best is her telling me that Jacinda had obviously read the papers they provided her - and was fully prepared for the local and international engagement involved - unlike this PM, who never seems to be up on the facts, or anything really.
What handbrake? Labour had a majority, no co-governing party, and, though I agree that Jacinda was mostly a very good PM, that second term was underwhelming.
🤔 I believe the point is that COVID meant governing without the "handbrake" of NZLast in and of itself was a handbrake on what could be achieved due to dealing with an international pandemic 🤷 Without COVID would have allowed much different decisions in govt than was possible ...
🤷🏻♀️The recovery wasn't "normal times" still but we did it better factually than most other countries. Always people want miracles from the left when they handed over an economic recovery ready for even more, which this lot have destroyed 😱
Covid was 2000 to 2002 so not the first term . The point is if Covid had not been the over weaning concern, what could have been achieved?
In spite of this world wide and devestating pandemic she and the excellent team of health experts were able follow the science and lead us to the best possible outcome.
I think the hatred and vitriol, and the language used to express the personal attacks, was fed into NZ to be used as a political tactic. Suddenly it became ok to be so fired up and shockingly foul-mouthed.
It intrigues me that there is almost no middle ground about Ardern. There's mostly the lovers and the haters. And when anyone tries to express a more objective view of what she actually achieved or how she went about it, the lovers put them with the haters. Like you, for me her time as PM was mixed.
She was amazing in the 2017-20 term. I'm so thrilled to see her flourishing overseas and feel her world wide impact will grow. What will she do in 2026?
I’ve really enjoyed your Kōrero Nick so heart warming to be reassured that most in Aotearoa value the best most incredible kind competent leader Jacinda in my lifetime too.
Makes me feel hopeful that Chris Carmel Chloë Marama and Labour Greens can keep the momentum up and kick this ghastly coalition out! TPMaori need to sort themselves out pretty quickly if they don’t want to destroy their chances of a govt that work with them. Excited to see some great candidates Dr Payinda Craig Renney on standing for Labour.
My charity is to campaign for Labour if we want all the issues and values we hold dear to happen need them in power!
🤗 You're suposed to be taking a break 🥳 But it is lovely to see Jacinda's smiling face away from the vitriol & hatred of the worst people who are privileged to live in Aotearoa... Indeed she was unlike any PM before or since, but leaders like Jacinda demonstrate to others what is possible, and that we don't have to ACCEPT the status quo such as our pretend PM & his coalition racists ⁉️
🤔 I too would love to have seen what her govt would have achieved in the 2nd term without NZLast and the shackles of dealing with the COVID emergency and the diversion of $$ & resources required to keep us safe 🤷 Imagine how many more houses could have been built if we (the taxpayers of Aotearoa) didn't need to fund businesses to keep employing staff, pay for the vaccination purchases & nation wide implementation, pay for the quarantine faciities, lose multi-millions in revenue from tourism etc etc. Glad Jacinda was with us during the worst of times, but sad she was driven out of the land she helped so many live to enjoy 🫂
Thanks Nick for this post. It bought a smile to my face hearing about Jacinda in such a positive light. Also good to see that Chloe is doing pretty well on the stats, particularly that she has a disapproval factor way better than the present kakistocracy ( my new fave word ). Hope your Dad is doing ok. I have spent a fair bit of time in Hospitals over the last year either visiting or being treated ( with the absolute best of care I must add in every instance ). It never fails to make me wonder why so many ( except hospital staff ) don't wear masks. It's bloody crazy. Always look forward to your posts. Hope you enjoy a good break with your family and let's ditch the dicks in 26.
The thing I love about Jacinda is her authenticity. That self doubt, the imposter syndrome, the complete lack of arrogance. the kindness and the funny self deprecation. I am so glad she, Clarke and Neve are getting on in a world where they are appreciated.
One of our friends said that Jacinda promised transparency in government but didn't live up to it. Unfortunately no specific information but somehow she's not honest. Fail to grasp this critique but complaints about her always seem vague and vituperative.
I find the same. Like what did people want, cutting-edge vaccinations to be put to a referendum? Hope you're having a good break, Gavin. 🙂
I had 35 years working as a psychiatrist but still cannot figure out with any confidence why Jacinda-hatred happened. Did they hate their mothers? Was it plain misogyny? Were they afraid of kindness and candour because it made them feel too vulnerable? I'll never understand it. She was the best PM of my entire life.
I've always thought that some people just needed someone to blame and hate and because she was the one fronting the media,it was her. And,courtesy of social media,it just grew for there. It was, and still is, just horrible. How do people live their lives with such vitriol?
These emotions are the simplest to feel and experience. And the most soothing to the self.
There seems to be a need among many, to lash out willy nilly when things go wrong. Covid was what went wrong not the people in charge, but they were too wound up (aided and abetted by a click-bait crazy media) to see the insanity of their stance. They had to have someone to blame, so they targeted PM Ardern and to a lesser extent, Health professional Ashley Bloomfield, both of whom became synonymous with the discombobulation (gosh I love that word) caused by the pandemic.
Yes Anne, there are those who are so arrogant and ignorant as to appear blameless for any difficulties we experience. All they can offer is hate and blaming others. They seem to specialise in ‘othering’.
Rather than contributing positively in all the ways they possibly could. Waste time and energy on hating rather than offering anything productive.
I found it was right wingers that did all the hating one close to the family just doesn't like any left wing ideology period. Particular where it concerns money.
Hi Alma, I like what you’ve said about Jacinda and the ‘haters’.
For those who hate, often successful people who happen to have very different values are targets. The time of Trump, Farage, Le Pen…all of this hate and vitriol spewing out as these ‘leaders’ became more emboldened…especially if we believe the world we live in is ‘post-truth’. It’s too easy to hate behind a keyboard without needing to engage in actual dialogue or reasonable discussion about anything.
Like other Substacker writers have shared here, I firmly believe Jacinda was one of us. She (along with Grant Robertson) was also prepared to listen to facts and evidence to validate policy positions and government decisions.
But facts, science and evidence sadly, along with kindness and compassion and a willingness to partner with tāngata whenua don’t sit well with some who are quite prepared to vote for authoritarian, right wing and racist people pretending to be their salvation. If we cannot easily think for ourselves, it might be easier to let a despot or dictator do our thinking for us.
From what I observe, a tendency to look away (to mask corruption), denial and lack of honesty and accountability unfortunately often seem to be bed partners with hate and a lack of emotional intelligence.
The tools available to us all are not always used with care and respect. Some seem to only have hate and righteous anger in their life toolbox. I’d suggest that these are not enough tools to thrive in one’s life!
Jacinda brought more care into politics than most people will ever be able or willing to do. I’m so pleased she was my prime minister through such difficult times. She inspired me then. And she still inspires me now that she has left the political lions den. I love the fact that she let go. It takes such courage sometimes to let go. I admire her so much for that.
Yes, her leaving was as courageous, perhaps more so, than all the things she had done beforehand. I was so pleased for her. What a nightmare it must have been.
I have a friend who is a Jungian analyst; she says yes, mother wounds.
A lack of emotional intelligence.
A view that actually sharing your feelings makes you ‘woke’.
A distorted view of humankind.
A twisted and untrue perspective that denigrates women.
All fuelled by tribal lust for revenge in a world made far too adversarial for anyone’s benefit.
Alma: my interpretation is that it is just easier to blame it on someone else. And, as PM, she was the scapegoat du jour. We’re a selfish lot—evolved that way—now having been indulged to the point where we never have up look in the mirror; take responsibility for our choices. We’re the gave our cake and eat it too generation. Having just come through an era of endlessly cheap money enabling our poorly thought through decisions. FAFO times is here though now…
May have been referring to education regarding the possibility of vaccine complications; in fact, that reality does apply to all drugs, and if it had been overemphasised, the likelihood of lockdowns continuing would of been a real possibility.
The Govt was between a rock and a hard place on that one.
Absolutely Gavin - the bitterness in the vitriol spewed from many was directed at their target…who dared to show kindness and sweetness. As if caring and showing respect in a politician is somehow a ‘foreign’ object not to be trusted! A view seemingly expressing that surely all politicians are ruthless and don’t need soft power!!!?!
Abuse, bitterness, jealousy (do women need to demonstrate they are more ruthless than men to break through the old boys club?), and a lack of appreciation of what emotional intelligence is…driving disgusting and disrespectful opinions from cowards mostly hiding behind their keyboard and microphone.
Jacinda represented genuine care and kindness, which was the opposite of Bill English's ideas.
Her personality radiated belief in people, and she was a touchstone to our better selves. But for some that was "fairy dust" to be denigrated.
I am grateful to have experienced her Leadership, and comparing the current incumbent ? Just sad, like comparing a diamond to a piece of inferior coal.
I clearly remember the "rumour mill" churning out stories about Jacinda's partner Clarke, until the Police declared there were "no matters of interest", while the same mill now tells us Luxon is "successful and sorted".
Jacinda and her team rose above huge setbacks, held a steady course, passed helpful legislation made great trade deals and managed huge upsets, representing New Zealand well.
The care for the least in society planned in measured improvements, the strong caring reactions to tragedies marked her as a phenomenal Leader. Her grace intelligence and genuine care plainly there.
Thank you Jacinda, you set a high bar, so weak minded individuals needed to wreck that, which they have done in a very cavalier manner. Now we compare them to her, very unfavourably.
"You don't know what you've got 'till it is gone" according to Joni Mitchell. Too true, we have the "parking lot"
I have a few relations who hated Jacinda. They were women in their 40s - slightly older than Jacinda. Their reasoning? She was a fake. They didn't come up with any solid evidence of her supposed fakeness. My personal view: it was female aligned jealousy, but they would never admit to it of course.
Oh, and they were Newstalk ZB listeners.
And I think that if those people could possibly take time to view the doc Prime Minister, with an open mind (realise that may be difficult), they should clearly see a woman who was hell bent on doing the utmost for her country right through her time as prime minister, by being well informed, having clarity for actions and engaging with the electorate frequently. This movie gave me a hole new level of appreciation for both Jacinda Ardern and for Clarke Gayford, who, lets face it was the most incredible support team for our PM xx
🤷 I don't know the listening habits of the females I know of who "hated Jacinda", but I agree it was female aligned jealousy in most cases... They all had outsized opinions of their own importance including having to be cruel & cutthroat in a male world to "rise" in the ranks, and here comes this modest, kind, competent woman who (seems to) effortlessly do the hardest job in Aotearoa through some incredibly challenging times. And worse Jacinda effortlessly charmed the rest of the world & gained admiration from people & leaders which (admittedly unbeknown to them at the time) would transcend time and space and continue long after she held the reins of power of any sort 🤗 For insecure ungenerous souls she showed them up for the selfish shallow people they were...
I always wondered if the vitriol hurled at Jacinda was a strange form of intense jealousy and tall poppy syndrome. How dare she be young, attractive, charming, caring, funny, have a doting partner, clever, a new baby, become known and popular worldwide and be greeted at Buckingham Palace by the Queen looking so gorgeous in a designer gown. And add to that be Prime Minister in charge of running the country. Then to be faced with the Christchurch terrorist massacres, White Island eruption and Covid. She was always dignified wherever she went and never pranced around in Christmas pyjamas or made "bottom feeder" or marmite type comments. She was thrust into the Labour leader role suddenly, not long before the election then and I thought she rose to the challenge with extraordinary courage and dedication.
Super comment Helen. Just one word missing. She was/is charismatic as well.
Love the comparison with pyjama-wearing right-wing pollies et al. "Look at us everybody, aren't we just the hosts with the mosts" Jacinda doesn't need to do things like that because she's the real thing.
Says it all.
I found that as well they didn't like her being nice & understanding they didn't believe her.
It’s great to look back a few years and be reminded of just how special Jacinda was as our PM. It’s even better to see that she is still in huge demand from all over the world as a keynote speaker for various international events on topics such as climate change, humanitarian issues, you name it issues and a much loved guest on TV talk shows. The haters may still hate, but that’s one burden they’ll just have to deal with themselves.
I’ve read both Jacinda’s and Grant’s memoirs,which are filled with sincere respect, admiration and love for each other and what they’ve achieved together for our country. We’re very unlikely to see a better, more dedicated and caring team in NZ politics again.
I reckon Chippy,Carmel, Chloe and Marama will make some pretty big waves, though. Looking forward to that very much😀
Agree about Jacinda and Grant, Jeremy. And look at the mendacious, meretricious bunch we've replaced them with. Appalling.
One of the most intensely embarrassing things about JA's departure from politics was trying to explain to Aussie, UK and American mates why she went and why we couldn't recognize her real worth because she was a beacon of hope for them.
In early 2020, I had a conversation with an American videographer from a cruise ship. News was just spreading about an infection which was widespread in China, and this chap had been reading an assessment about how well prepared countries were for a pandemic. The USA and Great Britain were well up the list of preparedness, and New Zealand was almost at the bottom. He predicted a dire future for us. I remember, too, coverage of our health system's lack of preparedness in a report done by Ayesha Verral, who at the time was an infectious disease expert.
Jacinda did what had to be done, to keep us safe.
I remember the dire warnings here. How our hospitals wouldn't cope. How few ICU beds. We were fortunate that Jacinda and the government made decisions based on evidence and kept us safe.
I want to thank Jacinda for her service as leader and am pleased she has found a way forward that is meaningful in the world and enables her to carry on with intitiatives she began like the Christchurch Call. She is seen as a roving Ambassdor for positive values and Aotearoa New Zealand.
We here need get behind people and parties that value a future of decency, equity and respect.
We each need to think and action what we can do towards that future.
I am sick of the money men and all that they bring. I don't want to live in the place (at the edge of the map) where they can bunker down and connive more ways to fill their coffers.
There are green shoots in the resistance to these forces.
So decent people there's lots to do so lets get on with it. (I'll do some cleaning and weeding now!)
🤞💯 I prefer your "green shoots" to the myth that we are getting better off under this coalition-of-chaos 👍
My daughter was on the Christchurch Call project, setting up and organising the outreach involved. What I remember best is her telling me that Jacinda had obviously read the papers they provided her - and was fully prepared for the local and international engagement involved - unlike this PM, who never seems to be up on the facts, or anything really.
It would have been great to see what she would have done for the country if Covid hadn’t happened.
Especially the second term without the handbrake.
What handbrake? Labour had a majority, no co-governing party, and, though I agree that Jacinda was mostly a very good PM, that second term was underwhelming.
🤔 I believe the point is that COVID meant governing without the "handbrake" of NZLast in and of itself was a handbrake on what could be achieved due to dealing with an international pandemic 🤷 Without COVID would have allowed much different decisions in govt than was possible ...
Covid was in the first three years. No coalition or pandemic in the second trimester. They had a mandate to do some real changes, but backed off.
🤷🏻♀️The recovery wasn't "normal times" still but we did it better factually than most other countries. Always people want miracles from the left when they handed over an economic recovery ready for even more, which this lot have destroyed 😱
Agree.
Covid was 2000 to 2002 so not the first term . The point is if Covid had not been the over weaning concern, what could have been achieved?
In spite of this world wide and devestating pandemic she and the excellent team of health experts were able follow the science and lead us to the best possible outcome.
True, however certain factions had become so aggressive, that this might have had an impact?
I guess we’ll never know.
It is worth noting that Labour opened up NZ whilst the epidemiologists were still recommending not to do so.
It was a difficult time especially for Auckland.
Damn virus mutations!
We are stuffed if another one arrives with this coalition.
I think the hatred and vitriol, and the language used to express the personal attacks, was fed into NZ to be used as a political tactic. Suddenly it became ok to be so fired up and shockingly foul-mouthed.
It intrigues me that there is almost no middle ground about Ardern. There's mostly the lovers and the haters. And when anyone tries to express a more objective view of what she actually achieved or how she went about it, the lovers put them with the haters. Like you, for me her time as PM was mixed.
It was great to see what she did for our country because of Covid-19! Thank goodness we had her here to steer the ship Aotearoa!
She will always be one of my ‘favourite things’. I’m delighted that Jacinda looks happy and relaxed in the current photos.
She was amazing in the 2017-20 term. I'm so thrilled to see her flourishing overseas and feel her world wide impact will grow. What will she do in 2026?
Thanks Nick, my feelings exactly. I'm still so very grateful to our WFPM.
I’ve really enjoyed your Kōrero Nick so heart warming to be reassured that most in Aotearoa value the best most incredible kind competent leader Jacinda in my lifetime too.
Makes me feel hopeful that Chris Carmel Chloë Marama and Labour Greens can keep the momentum up and kick this ghastly coalition out! TPMaori need to sort themselves out pretty quickly if they don’t want to destroy their chances of a govt that work with them. Excited to see some great candidates Dr Payinda Craig Renney on standing for Labour.
My charity is to campaign for Labour if we want all the issues and values we hold dear to happen need them in power!
🤗 You're suposed to be taking a break 🥳 But it is lovely to see Jacinda's smiling face away from the vitriol & hatred of the worst people who are privileged to live in Aotearoa... Indeed she was unlike any PM before or since, but leaders like Jacinda demonstrate to others what is possible, and that we don't have to ACCEPT the status quo such as our pretend PM & his coalition racists ⁉️
🤔 I too would love to have seen what her govt would have achieved in the 2nd term without NZLast and the shackles of dealing with the COVID emergency and the diversion of $$ & resources required to keep us safe 🤷 Imagine how many more houses could have been built if we (the taxpayers of Aotearoa) didn't need to fund businesses to keep employing staff, pay for the vaccination purchases & nation wide implementation, pay for the quarantine faciities, lose multi-millions in revenue from tourism etc etc. Glad Jacinda was with us during the worst of times, but sad she was driven out of the land she helped so many live to enjoy 🫂
Thanks Nick for this post. It bought a smile to my face hearing about Jacinda in such a positive light. Also good to see that Chloe is doing pretty well on the stats, particularly that she has a disapproval factor way better than the present kakistocracy ( my new fave word ). Hope your Dad is doing ok. I have spent a fair bit of time in Hospitals over the last year either visiting or being treated ( with the absolute best of care I must add in every instance ). It never fails to make me wonder why so many ( except hospital staff ) don't wear masks. It's bloody crazy. Always look forward to your posts. Hope you enjoy a good break with your family and let's ditch the dicks in 26.
Thanks Nick. Great post.
Lovely to see Jacinda do so well overseas.
She is still the greatest.
Misogyny still looms large in NZ.
Happy New Year everyone.