Jacinda Ardern Leaves the New Zealand Stage

   By Henry Srebrnik, [Saint John, N.B.] Telegraph-Journal

I’ve always considered the relationship between the two South Pacific settler states, Australia and New Zealand, as a “sun and planet” scenario, similar to that of the American-Canadian relationship.

In both cases the far smaller country, while culturally quite similar, lives in the shadow of the bigger, more aggressive one. Hence, it’s often ignored and, being jealous and annoyed but unable to do much about it, not being as “tough,” it takes on the role of the “upright, empathetic” and “virtuous” one.

This has been the case mainly since the 1960s. Prior to that, both Canada and New Zealand were less diffident and more forceful, because they were themselves part of another “sun” – the British Empire. But those days are long gone.

So perhaps it’s no coincidence that both countries have been governed of late by two virtue-signalling, ultra-“woke” prime ministers, Justin Trudeau and Jacinda Ardern. But soon Trudeau will be the only one left, because Ardern has announced she is leaving office by Feb. 7, just shy of six years since she became Labour Party leader in New Zealand and before the expiration of her second term.

She, like Trudeau, has been a “star” as far as the international left is concerned. “New Zealand Gripped by ‘Jacindamania’ as New Labour Leader Soars in Polls,” a headline in the London-based Guardian announced, when she became prime minister in August 2017.

Gushed journalist Eleanor Ainge Roy, “Much has been made of Ardern’s youth and quick wit. She lives with a television presenter, enjoys single malts, music festivals and cheese and crackers for dinner when she’s rushed, according to her own revelations in the media about her life.”

In 2018, she became just the second world leader to give birth while holding office. When she brought her infant daughter to the floor of the UN General Assembly in New York that September, it made news around the world.

So Ardern had found herself the darling of the global left during a period when right-wing leaders emerged around the world. New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in 150 years, she reached celebrity status with the speed of a pop star. Her youth, pronounced feminism, and emphasis on a “politics of kindness” made her look to many like a welcome alternative to bombastic male leaders.

A New York Times article by Sushil Aaron published March 19, 2019, made that very clear.  “New Zealand’s prime minister is emerging as the progressive antithesis to right-wing strongmen” like President Donald Trump, Viktor Orban of Hungary and Narendra Modi of India, “whose careers thrive on illiberal, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric.” He might also have mentioned Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, known -- not very kindly -- as the “Trump of the tropics.”

Not everyone has been so favourable to Ardern. As Tom Slater, editor of the British online magazine Spiked, noted in “Good Riddance to Saint Jacinda,” published Jan. 19, “Ardern is in many ways an archetypal leader of our age, in which politicians draw just as much legitimacy, if not more, from the warm feeling they give international elites than what it is they actually do and achieve for their domestic population.”

CTV’s Don Martin also posted a less flattering picture of the outgoing leader on its news site Jan. 20: “On the far side of the planet a once-popular feminist prime minister, who battled violent Parliament-obstructing protests over pandemic policy, divided the population over its vaccination status, fought to green up resource industries and struggled with an economy inflating into recession, has called it quits just as an election year dawns with her polling numbers skidding downward.”

It was mainly the COVID-19 pandemic that brought about her downfall. She locked down New Zealand during the pandemic and then refused to lift lockdowns unless 90 per cent of the country complied with the vaccine rules.

Extended lockdowns and vaccine mandates hurt the economy, fueled conspiracy theories and spurred a backlash. In February of last year, inspired in part by the protests here and in the United States, demonstrators camped on the Parliament grounds in Wellington for more than three weeks, pitching tents and using parked cars to block traffic.

The police eventually forced them out, clashing violently with many of them, leading to more than 120 arrests. The attacks did not cease even as the worst of the pandemic receded, and many described her policies as “authoritarianism.”

Act New Zealand Party leader David Seymour said her government’s policies had resulted in New Zealand experiencing a level of despair not seen for years. This year, Ardern was forced to cancel an annual barbecue she hosts due to security fears.

New Zealanders are bearing the brunt of a deteriorating economy post-COVID, with inflation that has compounded the cost of living and concern about crime rates. In December she announced a Royal Commission of Inquiry would look into whether the government made the right decisions in battling COVID-19 and how it can better prepare for future pandemics. Its report is due next year.

While the prime minister said abuse or threats to her and her family had not been a decisive factor in her decision to resign, her supporters claim that constant vilification and personal attacks contributed, with some MPs saying the prime minister was “driven from office.”