Upstart PM in stunning rise to top
AFTER returning Labour to power after almost a decade in one of the most stunning coups in New Zealand political history, Jacinda Ardern went home to her studio apartment in Wellington and cracked open a pot of two-minute noodles.
It’s not the sort of reaction you would expect from an ambitious 37-year-old political aspirant who was virtually unknown three months ago but has now been announced as the country’s youngest prime minister in 150 years and one of the youngest in the world.
But then there hasn’t been a leader like Ms Ardern before, a former DJ, political staffer and strong socialist revered by the young Left whose typically understated reaction will be a hallmark for her tenure as the country’s 40th prime minister. Or will it be?
Such is her relatively unknown pedigree and the precarious balance of her new centre-left Labour government coalition, with anti-immigrant populist New Zealand First (NZF) party and the Greens, just what Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern does next is anyone’s guess.
The New Zealand dollar fell as investors grappled with heightened uncertainty over the appointment.
Throw into the mix the controversial king-maker, NZF leader and now her Deputy PM Winston Peters, and New Zealand and Australia can no longer expect business as usual.
Yesterday’s announcement by Mr Peters to throw his support behind Ms Ardern was unexpected.
Conservative Prime Minister Bill English, who ran an unexpectedly strong campaign to win 44.4 per cent of the vote, far higher than Labour’s 36, was looking to lead the country albeit in a coalition.
But wily 72-year-old Mr Peters, whose career has been punctuated by controversy, not least of all his staunch anti-immigration stance, spent weeks since the September 23 election brain-picking both Mr English and Ms Ardern on policies and concessions.
Just what concessions he won from Labour is not clear but cutting migrant numbers, banning foreign home buyers, limiting foreign infrastructure investment and boosting regional development will no doubt top their now shared list.
For the charismatic Ms Ardern, her appointment is the culmination of a remarkable rise that had her take over the party only in August and marks another victory for global youth Generation X leadership.
Ms Ardern was raised in a Mormon household but quit religion in 2005 citing conflicts with her personal views, notably as a staunch supporter of gay rights and same-sex marriage.
She has said she was a socialist at heart, although more a soft social democrat, and in 2008 won election as the president of the International Union of Socialist Youth. But her political views stemmed from periods as a researcher with both Kiwi leader Helen Clark and popular Labour leader Phil Goff, as well as then UK prime minister Tony Blair.
She is an environmentalist and in one of her first revealed policies wants to set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“This will be a government of change, it will be a government we can be proud of,” she said to a standing ovation from the party faithful a day after she was announced as leader.
“We have been gifted by the people of New Zealand an opportunity, and it is for us to make the most of that.”
WE HAVE BEEN GIFTED BY THE PEOPLE OF NEW ZEALAND AN OPPORTUNITY, AND IT IS FOR US TO MAKE THE MOST OF THAT. JACINDA ARDERN