Back to earth for PM

Jacinda Ardern has discovered that you can travel halfway around the world, be feted by media in the United States and the international community but the cold hand of domestic politics still has a way of reaching out.

Call it the prime minister’s curse. John Key had to clean up some of his government’s untidiest moments long distance. And it used to be a given that trouble reared its head whenever Helen Clark was overseas.

Ardern’s feet had barely touched the ground on Monday in New York after headlining a climate change summit, being watched by millions on the Today Show, and becoming the toast of the United Nations after dangling baby Neve on her lap during a special session at the General Assembly.

But in Ardern’s case, it seems she bought trouble with her. The release of tech entrepreneur Derek Handley’s emails drops her squarely in the middle of a domestic mess she had thought was tidied away with the resignation of broadcasting minister Clare Curran.

Handley’s timing couldn’t have been worse for Ardern or better for the Opposition.

Ardern’s week in New York for the UN General Assembly has confirmed her rock-star status on the diplomatic stage as both a new mum and the youngest member of the club of ‘‘young gun’’ world leaders.

But Handley has clearly stolen some of her thunder. His press release makes it clear he feels let down and betrayed by Ardern and the Government ministers who botched the appointment process for a chief ICT officer.

Handley received more than $100,000 in compensation when the Government changed its mind after he was already given the nod by Curran that he had the job.

The offer unravelled after Curran resigned when it was revealed she failed to fully disclose the contact they had with each other.

The Government had promised to release emails and texts between the pair but Handley has pre-empted them.

The document trail points to a friendly relationship between Ardern and Handley that appears to go beyond her previous indication of a cursory, and largely one-way, exchange about the ICT job, though it does not contradict her to the extent that she could be accused of not telling the truth.

They reveal that Handley had told the prime minister he intended to return to New Zealand to serve his country; he also asked what email address was best to forward his ideas.

Ardern has acknowledged a friendship with Handley over several years. But she did, in fact, declare that relationship to the Cabinet team who deal with appointments, which has largely inoculated her from some of the Opposition’s attack.

But the email trail does suggest the prime minister could have been more expansive in her previous statements on the subject.

There must be an element of schadenfreude for the Opposition. Key was similarly questioned over the extent of his relationship with former GCSB boss Ian Fletcher, after it was claimed he was a childhood friend and had been shoulder-tapped by the National leader for the role.

That their relationship was one step removed – Key was mates with his older brother – didn’t stop Labour dragging the story out to try to prove they discussed the job in private.

So don’t expect National to drop this issue any time soon.

Ardern’s trip to New York was a chance for a reset after a torrid period for her Government. She cleared the decks ahead of her departure by tidying up the row over refugee numbers with NZ First, and sacked her first minister, Meka Whaitiri, over allegations of bullying. Curran’s resignation also cauterised a long running wound.

But Ardern’s sensitivity to the heavy weather being made by her Government shows the extent to which she continues to play to a domestic audience, even from halfway around the world.

She has kept a heavy New Zealand focus in her speeches and public appearances and has further endeared herself to the global set with her steady stream of personal anecdotes.

Handley’s revelations may take some of the gloss off the trip but it won’t derail a week where Ardern became the first female world leader to bring her baby on to the floor of the General Assembly.

Ironically, it is an image you may have to wait a long time to see at our Parliament – Speaker Trevor Mallard has banned the media from taking unauthorised photos of Neve on the precinct.