‘Jacinda our new star in sky’
Kiwi PM steals limelight at forum as Nauru’s leader sings tribute song
Leaders in the Pacific met this week to forge new agreements on climate change and other pressing regional issues, but it was Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her absent baby who stole the limelight.
While some Kiwis grumbled that Ardern had cost taxpayers thousands of dollars by scheduling an extra flight to the Pacific Islands Forum to minimise time away from her baby, Nauru’s President Baron Waqa penned Ardern and 11-week-old Neve a tribute.
During a break in an allday’s leaders retreat today, Waqa grabbed a guitar and along with a group of elders sang the song he titled Aotearoa our friend, Jacinda our new star in the sky. The lyrics included the line: “A little baby star is born.”
Ardern disputed whether her trip had cost taxpayers anything, saying the military had told her they had a fixed budget which they could use on extra trips like hers or training exercises. “So I have been advised it cost the taxpayer no additional funding.”
She added she would have been the first Kiwi leader in almost 50 years to miss the forum, aside from those who had been campaigning in an election cycle.
“I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t,” she said, adding: “At the end of the day, I am Prime Minister. I have a job to do.”
Newstalk ZB’s Barry Soper questioned whether the trip was necessary: “If Ardern decided not to go because of baby Neve, surely the familyfocused Pacific leaders, more than any others, would have understood.”
Ardern, 38, in June became the second elected world leader in modern times to give birth while holding office, after Pakistan Prime Minister
Hnzherald.co.nz Benazir Bhutto gave birth to daughter Bakhtawar in 1990.
The leaders at the forum were signing a new security agreement called the Boe Declaration that identifies climate change as a major threat to security in the Pacific, since low-lying islands might cease to exist if sea levels keep rising.
The declaration also addresses crimes such as drug smuggling and illegal fishing that cross borders, as well as cybercrime and health concerns such as communicable diseases and pandemics. The deal was the centrepiece of the three-day meeting.
Earlier yesterday, Pacific fishing and community groups signed an agreement with the European Union to improve sustainable fishing and ocean governance in the region.
Under the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership, the EU will provide €35 million ($41m) and Sweden will give €10m ($12m) over five years. Tensions over China and refugees ran high at the forum after Nauru on Tuesday accused a Chinese official of bullying, and after Nauru police temporarily detained a New Zealand television journalist who had been interviewing a refugee.