‘It is devastating’
Less than a fortnight after her last Hamilton visit, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was back yesterday to tour transitional housing and receive an update on the city’s regional theatre build.
Hamilton’s turbid weather didn’t dampen the prime minister’s mood. But Wednesday night’s fatal stabbing of a dairy worker in Sandringham, near Ardern’s family home, clouded the morning’s proceedings.
The worker at the Rose Cottage Superette was stabbed in an aggravated robbery at 8.05pm. Ardern described the incident as an ‘‘absolute tragedy’’ and said: ‘‘I know the community, and it is a tightknit one . . . It is devastating to see what has happened. Our job as Government is to prevent these kinds of events from occurring, and supporting police.’’
The first stop on Ardern’s itinerary was Te Rū nanga o Kirikiriroa’s new Frankton site. On Higgins Rd, the site will provide a dozen transitional housing spaces for young people aged 16-24.
It represents one tranche of the 313 transitional housing places the Government has afforded the city since 2017.
‘‘I know the community, and it is a tight-knit one.’’
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
on the fatal stabbing of a dairy worker in Sandringham
Waiting for Ardern to depart was a local restaurant owner who decried the Government’s policies on crime.
Clouds parted as Ardern arrived at the southern end of Victoria St, on a site set to become the home of the Waikato Regional Theatre. The site, which has received $12 million of Provincial Growth Fund support, was visited by Ardern a little less than a year ago when she was there to turn the sod. Visible yesterday was the concrete foundation upon which the $76.3 million theatre will sit.
After Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr’s Wednesday announcement that the bank would increase the official cash rate, Ardern drew short of warning Kiwis not to spend up big in the lead-up to Christmas. ‘‘Individual families will be making their own choices. Our job is to support them through what is an internationally turbulent time.’’
Outside, it was clear the prime minister’s appeal has not waned with those beyond New Zealand. Jonas McLallen, a film producer from Sydney, was with Japanese colleagues doing research for an upcoming production. As Ardern departed, McLallen asked: ‘‘Can you come and run our country for a while?’’ To which Ardern replied: ‘‘I think just the one is enough.’’