Jacinda Ardern suggests opposition leader Judith Collins is a ‘Karen’

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has suggested her opposition party counterpart could be called a “Karen” during a fierce debate in parliament over laws governing hate speech.

Judith Collins, the leader of the opposition, has argued strongly against changes to the country’s hate speech laws, saying the new rules could mean “people feeling insulted being able to criminalise people who make them feel insulted.” After the 15 March mosque attacks by a white supremacist, the New Zealand government has proposed introducing much harsher penalties for those who incite or “normalise” discrimination or hatred.

Ardern said she disagreed with “the member’s [Collins’] statement on Twitter that somehow it will become illegal to call someone a ‘Karen’.”

“That is absolutely incorrect, and I apologise – that means these laws will not protect that member [Collins] from such a claim.”

“Karen” is a term that evolved on social media, describing a middle-class white woman who behaves in an entitled, pushy, demanding and privileged manner.

New Zealand’s parliament is a kind of elephant’s graveyard of internet memes. In late 2019, Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick went viral for dropping a casual “OK boomer” in response to being heckled during her speech in a sitting of the New Zealand parliament.

Collins stood to raise a point of order in response to Ardern, Stuff reported – but no comeback was forthcoming.