Kiwi PM wins abroad but faces pressures in New Zealand

WELLINGTON: As citizens of a small and isolated nation, New Zealanders often seek validation from abroad. By that measure, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern returned triumphant this week from a trip to Europe.

Ardern met with the leaders of Germany and France and got support for a free trade agreement. She was applauded in Paris when she explained that in seeking a greener future, New Zealand had stopped issuing new permits for offshore oil and gas exploration. And she was named in Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

For many New Zealanders, an image defined the trip: Ardern wearing an indigenous Maori cloak and smiling as she and her partner Clarke Gayford arrived at Britain’s Buckingham Palace.

But back home, Ardern faces political pressures.

Some people have criticised her oil and gas policy, including New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom who said it was a “kick in the guts” for people living in the oil-rich Taranaki region.

A recent opinion poll indicated support for Ardern’s liberal Labour Party had slipped behind the conservative opposition National Party.

Asked yesterday if she was worried she might be more popular abroad than at home, Ardern said it was of “no value or benefit” for her to be popular in places like the UK.

“I need to focus on domestic issues and politics and making sure I satisfy New Zealand voters,” she said. “The rest is immaterial.”

Ardern said one of her primary goals on her Europe trip was getting French President Emmanuel Macron to back the idea of a freetrade deal between the European Union and New Zealand.

Trade expert Stephen Jacobi said it was a significant diplomatic win for Ardern to get support from Macron ahead of an EU meeting next month to consider a mandate for such a deal. — AP