Ardern roadshow starts with answers and ends with questions
‘‘Tortoise on the head, turtle on the bum!’’ cried Jacinda Ardern, at 7.30pm on her jam-packed first Saturday as Labour leader.
She was quizmaster at Pt Chevalier School’s Vegas-themed quiz night – honouring a promise from earlier in the day to not forget her Mt Albert constituents.
Principal Stephen Lethbridge said he would have forgiven Ardern for pulling out after her sudden promotion to leader of the Opposition on Monday.
‘‘We told her we’d understand if she couldn’t make it, but see it as a measure of her integrity that she did.’’
One of the questions related to reptilian shells, and respondents were to indicate their answer through hand placings. ‘‘Make sure it’s hands on your own bum,’’ Ardern quipped to the choosers of turtles.
Her first engagement of the day was at MediaWorks’ central Auckland offices for an interview on The Nation. Host Lisa Owen questioned Ardern and her deputy about tax, prisons and deputy leaders.
At 10.15am she arrived at the Mt Albert electorate office, surrounded by 40 volunteers in red T-shirts ready to hit the streets. Following an interview with the Sunday Star-Times, she went through a pile of congratulatory cards from children and then spent half an hour doorknocking with the eager campaigners.
From 11.30am Ardern and deputy Labour leader Kelvin Davis spent an hour and a half back at MediaWorks filming an episode of current affairs show The Hui. After that Ardern enjoyed a ‘break’ by doing some paperwork at home.
At 2pm she arrived at Fowlds Park to watch the Mt Albert Lions rugby league team beat the Te Atatu Roosters 34-22. The club patron sipped a beer as she cheered the team on from the clubrooms.
Afterwards, she was invited into the Mt Albert changing sheds, where one of the victorious players put his arm around her, all in good humour of course.
From 6.30pm Ardern became school quizmaster in a revelrous end to the day. Fake babies, fake President Donald Trump, pirate wenches and rabbit princesses were whooping it up at the charity event – 99 per cent of the attendees had embraced its ‘‘classy vs trashy’’ dress code. Ardern represented the one per cent in a sober white shirt and dark trousers. While we wait to see if she has answers, last night she had questions on the next Rugby World Cup and Dame Edna Everage’s favourite flower (gladioli).