To wish that Jacinda Ardern was Prime Minister here

[Bassarid]

I think she is fantastic

I think she's done a great job but is a one trick pony in some ways. She promised to end child poverty which is a big issue for some, more so if you are Maori. The endemic patriarchy needs to be dealt with too and she didn't do that .

Me too , we need more women like her in power , i bet Boris would be a quivering wreck in her company ,i think she is fantastic .
Talking of strong women , after not caring too much about Kay Burley before covid i am now transfixed watching her grind her heel in the faces of the tory mp's she interviews.I imagine them drawing straws as to who gets to go on her show , they never get the better of her , she always manages to expose them for what they really are .

I didn't know about that ! i will read more .
I think we see have seen her at her best as a leader through some of the crises New Zealand have suffered lately.

@tsmainsqueeze

I didn't know about that ! i will read more . I think we see have seen her at her best as a leader through some of the crises New Zealand have suffered lately.

She is a great leader but there is so much more I'd like to have seen her do. She'd wipe the floor with Boris Johnson though, and rightly so.

I don't know enough about NZ politics to judge.

Child poverty is an ongoing issue, and it's going to take a hell of a lot more than three years to solve. Endemic patriarchy - ditto - it's going to take a lot longer than three years, and more than one woman.

She's Jacinda Ardern, not Jesus Christ.

As far as I can tell, she seems a genuine person and a good communicator but isn't necessarily a particularly great mind. Sadly, I'd probably choose the latter in a politician over the former.

While Covid has largely kept the wider economy off the political agenda, I don't see any evidence of particularly solid economic policies, which would be instrumental in raising tax income to resolve some of NZ's longstanding issues, such as high children poverty.

@mbosnz

Child poverty is an ongoing issue, and it's going to take a hell of a lot more than three years to solve. Endemic patriarchy - ditto - it's going to take a lot longer than three years, and more than one woman.

She's Jacinda Ardern, not Jesus Christ.

This exactly!

We've got a PM who can't even keep his penis to himself, never mind resolve any real issues.

God, yes. I wish we could clone her.

If this is about her response to coronavirus, although I'm not knocking it she has a vastly easier job to do than here.

The population of New Zealand isn't even 5 million people.

The population of UK is 66 million people.

The population of London alone is 10 million people.

And New Zealand has a marginally bigger land mass (over 100k square miles vs UK's 90k square miles).

It's not comparable.

What she does have is common sense. And she puts the welfare of the people at the centre of her aims and policies.

It's going to be difficult times globally for a long time, economy wise. So far, however, her policies have ensured that New Zealand is in far better shape economically than many, if not most countries.

Jacinda Ardern would do a better job that Boris Johnson. Probably 80% of the current mediocre crop of Conservative MPs would do a better job than Boris Johnson.

It's not just her response to Covid 19 that has been light years ahead of Mr Johnson's late, inadequate, economically illiterate and petty party political response.

Sebastian- we're also an island though. Theoretically we could have been in a lot better state than we are if we'd followed her example and went in on lockdown hard- with lockdown meaning lockdown.

Not flying into airports willynilly, still allowing holidays to 'some countries' on a daily changing basis and with bloody politicians showing flagrant disregard for any 'rules' put forward.

@mbosnz

Child poverty is an ongoing issue, and it's going to take a hell of a lot more than three years to solve. Endemic patriarchy - ditto - it's going to take a lot longer than three years, and more than one woman.

She's Jacinda Ardern, not Jesus Christ.

Yes, we agree. But has she even made a start? Don't get me wrong, I like her but some people do seem to think she's Jesus Christ and can walk on water and achieve miracles.

She does at least appear to have “doing a good job” as her ultimate aim, which would set her apart from the UK and US governments, and seemingly certain others worldwide. That and basic competence. But I don’t know enough details about her to have an in-depth conversation about her with someone who knew their NZ politics!

She's Jacinda Ardern, not Jesus Christ

She's got a lot going for her compared to our PM, for example she can make decisions, form coherent sentences and understand human emotions.

So I'd happily swap.

Not a fan. I don't like how she told NZers to snitch on each other. This was an explicit part of their virus eradication strategy. I thought her mosque visit post-tragedy was performative although I acknowledge was probably best in the moment.

All political careers end in failure. She'll be ousted eventually and I'll stop hearing about her.

@ragged

Not a fan. I don't like how she told NZers to snitch on each other. This was an explicit part of their virus eradication strategy. I thought her mosque visit post-tragedy was performative although I acknowledge was probably best in the moment.

All political careers end in failure. She'll be ousted eventually and I'll stop hearing about her.

Not a fan. I don't like how she told NZers to snitch on each other

I'd rather have Jacinda Ardern telling us to snitch on each other than have Boris Johnson doing it. Both have done it, one is a million times more appealing as a politician than the other even if she isn't Jesus Christ.

I don't think as much progress has been made, as would perhaps have been made if she hadn't been distracted at times by issues such as the terrorist attack by an Australian on the Christchurch mosques, murdering 51 people, the eruption on White Island, and of course, Covid. Being in coalition with New Zealand First was not helpful, either.

She now has a clear run, and she does need to make progress on her aims and promises, and it's clear that she knows that.

This does have to be balanced with recognition of the economic impact of Covid, of course.

With reference to the Covid-19 response, what Ardern did, was to do the best with what she had. She made full use of the geographical advantages NZ enjoys. She was transparent, honest, and respectful of people, clear about what she was asking, and why, and acknowledged the costs, financial and otherwise, that were being borne by people in following them. She made it clear that as the team of 5 million no-one was above the rules, and wouldn't be held accountable if they transgressed them.

She consulted widely (with education for example), listened, and therefore had support from the sector, and they in turn were supported to deal with the challenges they faced.

Face value she seems like a nice lady. In terms of her hard work, it is hard to judge. Mayors of big cities around the world have a bigger population than all of NZ put together.

“ Sebastian- we're also an island though. Theoretically we could have been in a lot better state than we are if we'd followed her example and went in on lockdown hard- with lockdown meaning lockdown. ”

Unfortunately though, New Zealand people seem to be a lot more compliant than here. Just look at the queues of stupid people trying to get in to pubs/clubs etc for their last drink before curfew/closures kicked in in the north. Or the people who protested against lockdown measures. Or the people who just refused to take care of themselves/others by complying with what they were asked. I don’t see that in New Zealand.

Also she has had a string of high profile incidents in her country in which she has been a good figurehead, been able to male snap decisions and create great sound bites. She’s a good leader (I’d still take her over Boris) but let’s see how she fairs now she has a long run of ‘business as usual’.

Unfortunately though, New Zealand people seem to be a lot more compliant than here. Just look at the queues of stupid people trying to get in to pubs/clubs etc for their last drink before curfew/closures kicked in in the north. Or the people who protested against lockdown measures. Or the people who just refused to take care of themselves/others by complying with what they were asked. I don’t see that in New Zealand

Giving people too much notice of pub closures was what caused that. There should have been an announcement after closing time that they weren’t re-opening. This government never learns, it repeatedly announces restrictions that don’t come into force for a couple of days. That’s how Margaret Ferrier escaped prosecution.

I don’t see that in New Zealand.

The geography of the place makes it very different. If you are in a city then it's easy to pop into a bar before lockdown starts and go a bit mad on the booze. If you are in a small, rural community where (and a lot of NZ people are) and lockdown is about to be announced then in my experience you've got the peer pressure of doing the right thing and aren't going to be easily driving for an hour to get to a bar in a larger town or getting a taxi there. We'd have had to drive 50 miles to get to somewhere outside our local community to get a drink if we didn't want to be seen to taking the piss by neighbours and friends who we'd be locking down with. Normally that's a drive we'd only do once a month to fill freezers and not one we'd do for a night out.

Me too. Depressed that we have such a feckless buffoon in charge