On the 19th January, the World’s youngest ever female head of government, Jacinda Ardern, resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand after over five years of leadership in which she steered her country through multiple crises, ranging from the Christchurch mosque attacks to the Covid 19 pandemic. In Ardern’s address from the New Zealand city of Napier, she acknowledged the reason for her unexpected resignation being that she no longer has the energy to continue in her current role and stated, “I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time”. When asked what type of leader she wanted to be remembered as, Ardern replied “as someone who always tried to be kind”. Despite her international stardom and reputation for being a charismatic and strong leader, there has been growing resentment towards Ardern in New Zealand due to her failure to keep certain promises, growing economic troubles and violent crime. Has Jacinda Ardern’s time in office lived up to expectations or failed to fulfil her promises?
Jacina Ardern announcing her resignation at the War Memorial Centre in Napier, New Zealand, 19th January 2023.
Jacinda Ardern as a symbol for progressivism:
Following her election in 2017, Jacinda Ardern’s progressiveness was seen as an encouraging alternative to Donald Trump’s right-wing populist politics. Ardern’s youthful charisma, feminist liberal values and unwavering leadership has been fundamental in her successful responses to a multitude of crises proving her inspirational leadership qualities. This is seen in the use of terms such as ‘Jacindamania’ and the ‘Jacinda Effect’, which emphasises the public’s admiration of her as she symbolised liberalism and democratic values at a time when freedom was being continuously constrained around the world. “Her compassion and understanding were so refreshing and an antidote to the unpleasant, divisive politics of some in this country and other parts of the world” says David McKenzie, a frequent reader of The Guardian. This made her become somewhat of an international phenomenon through her surprise rise to global prominence, whilst also being the first world leader in three decades to give birth while in office. Ardern’s admiration and fame manifested in her appearance on the cover of British Vogue, the American TV Show Stephen Colbert’s Late Show and the Times' list of 100 of the World’s ‘most influential people’. Furthermore, her response to the Christchurch Mosque Attacks has boosted her strong image and leadership in times of crisis. In the aftermath of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, Ardern was quick to ban the majority of semi-automatic weapons and expressed her empathy for the victims, wearing a hijab and sitting with the survivors and the families of the victims, showing her country’s solidarity with them. This has accumulated together to make her a shooting star on the global stage.
However, some New Zealanders are critical of her domestic policies and believe that she has not lived up to expectations. When she was elected to be Prime Minister, she set out to reduce inequality, mainly by addressing the housing crisis and child poverty. In Ardern’s speech on the State Opening of Parliament, 8 November 2017, she promised that “this government is committed to major investments in housing, health, education, police, and infrastructure. The government will protect the environment, create more jobs and lift the incomes of families to reduce child poverty”. These were rather big promises to live up to, and many Kiwis feel that the assurance of affordable housing has not been achieved and the inequality which Ardern’s government had vowed to reduce has not been mitigated. Ardern’s policy on tackling New Zealand’s housing crisis turned out to be unsuccessful, a 2018 consensus, taken six months after Labour came to power, showed that the homeownership rate was at the lowest point since 1951 at 64.5%. Furthermore, the KiwiBuild scheme that was meant to build 100,000 affordable homes within a decade, has only built 1365 five years on. Additionally, the cost of living crisis, triggered by New Zealand’s ‘shallow recession’, has fuelled public discontent with Ardern’s economic policies as rents, mortgage rates, cost of food and cost of petrol are all increasing without an equal rise in wages. There has also been an increase in crime which has resulted in growing concern amongst New Zealanders whether her policies are having the correct impact. Therefore, many Kiwis were angered by her focus on her role in global politics and on the world stage rather than on issues at home and on the agenda they had voted into the parliament.
Jacinda Ardern consoling a woman at Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington after the Christchurch Mosque Attacks, March 2019.
Jacinda Ardern’s response to COVID 19:
Jacinda Ardern has been repeatedly praised for her response to Covid 19, especially at the beginning of the global pandemic in 2020. Ardern was very quick to implement lockdowns and border controls in response, as well as very strict guidelines to follow. As a result of her ‘tough’ approach to the virus, New Zealand had one of the world’s lowest death rates for the first two years of the epidemic. Up to today, New Zealand has recorded fewer than 2,500 deaths in total from the pandemic. Ardern’s incredible response to one of the biggest crises of the 21st century contributed to the landslide victory of the Labour Party in October 2020.
However, her harsh policies surrounding the covid 19 pandemic also led to a lot of resentment from Kiwis due to the constraining nature of the lockdowns. Many Kiwis argued that her firm implementation of draconian lockdowns violated basic human rights as people were not allowed to visit their family members in any case. Furthermore, as she closed off New Zealand’s borders, she locked out 1 million Kiwis from their home country for over 2 years, separating them from their families in a time of emergency. Many people also became enraged because of her covid vaccine mandates. Due to these tough measures, Ardern was facing growing threats of violence, and protestors even occupied the area outside parliament for weeks in March and April 2022 to oppose some of her covid policies.
Overall, many Kiwis would argue that Ardern has created more divisions in the general public rather than cohesion, and that she was more focused on her international status rather than on domestic policies. However, Ardern has proven herself an inspirational leader in times of crises and a pillar of democracy and progressivism, despite having failed to deliver the “transformational” government she had promised.
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