‘I’m no saviour’ Ardern rejects saintly status
Jacinda Ardern may have resurrected the Labour Party’s fortunes three years ago. She may have been internationally canonised for her response to crisis and tragedy. But to be called ‘‘New Zealand’s saviour’’ at her party’s conference wasn’t something she was willing to wear.
‘‘I would disagree with that . . . I didn’t hear that and I wouldn’t describe myself in that way. I’m here to do a job on behalf of New Zealanders and I will give my all for that,’’ she told reporters yesterday.
Yet, Labour’s headline event for the conference was – more than anything else – an exercise in putting forward brand-Ardern.
There were no major policy announcements, there was a ‘‘fivepoint’’ economic plan that resembled a greatest-hits of recent spending announcements, and there was Ardern and her management of the crises that have beset New Zealand.
Taranaki Wha¯nui iwi representative Peter Samuel Jackson, who opened the event at Wellington’s Te Papa museum, called upon the crowd of more than 500 supporters to confirm that ‘‘Labour can win outright’’ this election.
‘‘We have witnessed a masterclass in leadership and communications. We have a very, very special leader. Your leader, our premier, our prime minister, and New Zealand’s saviour,’’ he said.
The event’s host, comedian Michele A’Court, was unrestrained in her gushy praise for Ardern when introducing her to the stage.
‘‘She has the best instincts of anyone I have ever met. She’s kind, compassionate and empathetic. She has a spine made of steel. And in moments of chaos, she has given us clarity. On our worst days, she has been her best self,’’ A’Court said.
Deputy leader Kevin Davis, who last year gave a rousingly-funny speech about coalition politics, struck a more sombre note yesterday – beginning with a list of names: eight of the 22 who died from Covid-19 as New Zealand
quelled community outbreak of the virus. He struck out at National, after deputy leader Nikki Kaye said her party had a ‘‘moral obligation’’ to win the election.
‘‘I do not want to stand here and read out another name to you. I do not want to take your hand away from your loved one in their final moments,’’ Davis said. ‘‘I want to do everything I can do, everything this Labour Government can do, to protect our people. That is my moral obligation.’’
Here the party set the tone for its election campaign. The ascendent, even messianic, Ardern at front – again she is the solitary face on its hoardings – and an election platform built on a crisis.
Hence, Ardern’s speech leaned heavily on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has supporters buoyed and the party performing historically well in polls.
The upcoming election didn’t warrant a mention. It was all about ‘‘momentum’’, about keeping the foot off the brakes, and rolling out the plan. About the ‘‘team of five million’’, the team of Labour volunteers, the parliamentary team – 12 mentions of teams in total.
Momentum allows little time for reflection and, after a global pandemic re-wrote the country’s present, it’s difficult to look too far into the future. For Labour, there’s an obvious benefit to not looking too far in either direction.
Why re-litigate KiwiBuild, when you can hark back to just months ago when a raging pandemic was warded off? Why talk about economic policy you will take beyond the election, when money is already flying out the door and National is yet to gather pace after a leadership spill?
Asked afterward about her prominence in Labour’s brand for the election, Ardern again referred to the Covid-19 response. ‘‘For me, it will always be about what we have to offer as a team. None of this response could be done by one person, nor has it been.’’
There was one member of the team missing yesterday: former health minister David Clark, who last week resigned from the role. The ‘‘distraction’’, as Ardern put it on Thursday, had been removed. Crisis averted.
PM’S RESPONSE