I bloody love Jacinda Ardern

[Anotheruser02]

She's a class act

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-52189013/jacinda-ardern-tooth-fairy-and-easter-bunny-are-essential-workers

That is from yesterday so apologies if it's already been done.

[TomPinch]

Jacinda Ardern is a genuinely decent person, we need more like her in politics, and she certainly has my vote.

But her government is getting an easy ride. The first case here was on 28 Feb (the UK had multiple cases in January), and even after then, there was no decisive response until 20 March, shortly after which we went into lockdown.

Sure, the government has gone hard, but not early.

There has also been flip-flopping about what is an essential service (no I don't mean the Easter bunny), and the Gvt's emergency financial package is stingy, quarantine of arrivals hasn't happened or has been disorganised, and testing is only now really getting going.

Per capita, the Australians and their unlikable government are doing better despite a bigger population, more arrivals and a less rigorous lockdown.

Boris & co have a far, far harder job to contend with.

[LoveIsLovely]

She is great.

[BlueLadybird]

She cares about people.

I felt that when she showed so much empathy after the death of Grace Millane

I thought this too. Her short speech afterwards was outstanding in tragic circumstances

[Kiwibroccolini]

She’s pretty good eh? I like when she does the Facebook lives in her PJs.

I feel so supported and safe as a Kiwi resident. We are very lucky

[TheClootieDumplin]

They came down hard very very early though didn't they, I think she had the right idea to lock down early. As she said Italy once had only 200 cases. I think they were watching the world and learning from it

I live in a country very much like NZ when it comes to population size and outside of a couple of big cities people are well spread out across geographically. Our government came down hard from day one and its paid off because out numbers are still low and we've 'only' had 2 deaths.

[feesh]

“But her government is getting an easy ride. The first case here was on 28 Feb (the UK had multiple cases in January), and even after then, there was no decisive response until 20 March, shortly after which we went into lockdown.”

The U.K. didn’t have cases in January. I flew to the UK at the end of Jan and the virus was still contained in Wuhan then - the world was only just waking up to it having travelled to other countries.

[LostInTheColonies]

I live here and she's bloody awesome

Yes, we went into lockdown early & the rules are pretty strict but it's all been communicated in such a way so as to instil confidence that this is the right thing to do.

DD (10) currently busily following Jacinda's instructions and colouring some easter eggs in to stick up in the windows for any children walking past to spot. Other instruction is to send them in to Jacinda so that she can share them - email address provided.

Oh yes - and we have been told to raise a glass at 5.10pm every Friday to thank all the essential workers out there. Gin, tonic, lemons and ice at the ready...

[wheresthehope]

I’m kiwi in New Zealand!
I do like her aswel. She has had to deal with so much stuff n her time as PM. Terror attack, grace milliane, volcano eruption now this. I’m glad she is our leader not the opposition leader Simon bridges.

[wheresthehope]

Not to forget having a baby not long after taking over as PM

[itstrue]

I'm a kiwi and before this I wasn't a Jacinda fan. But I'm really impressed. She's always been an amazing public speaker but on this topic she presents as calm and very clear in our instructions.

But as others have said we are an island nation on the other side of the world that saw what was happening overseas giving us more time than others to act. Most New Zealanders are quite compliant which helps too.

But the measure of this will be in the long term analysis to really determine what the right path to take should have be.

These measures are going to cause great economic hardship and currently Australia's numbers don't look that bad and they are not locked down as we are. If their numbers stay low (although I strongly suspect they won't) then we may well be saying that this was an over reaction and we could have achieved similar results without such economic hardship.

The bear hunt comment was when I realised how brilliant Jacinda is.

Ardern said they accept people would go for a walk and take their children outside to get some fresh air. 
"They might look for teddy bears in windows but as they pass people, keep your distance, don't talk to others, just stay within your bubble," Ardern said. 
"And if you're in Wellington and you're walking in a local neighbourhood, you might see one in my window." 

I'm pretty sure you cannot see Premier House from the road so there is no way anyone is going to see a bear in her window! But no one has made that point because she is such an amazing public speaker!

[LunaTheCat]

I love her too - amazing woman. A leader for our time. She will be head UN one day.

[LunaTheCat]

... mind you I am bloody loving Ashley Bloomfield too .. disappointed he didn’t turn up today at 1pm😂

[nakedavengerreturns]

As a British immigrant to NZ I can't be more proud she is my PM. Clear, decisive and above all, human.

She feels like one of us. She fucking cares and you know it. The Facebook live she did the first night of the lockdown in her sweats after putting her toddler to bed was incredible. It felt she was putting us all to to bed!

[nakedavengerreturns]

What is fucking awful is the absolute hatred some men have for her, evident though some Twitter and FB comments. Thankfully rare.

It's totally transparent. They despise the fact she's doing a better job then the majority of male leaders. Most is ad hominems about her appearance which is telling

[RuffleCrow]

Aw, good for her! :-)

[itstrue]

Lol! I love Ashley Bloomfield as well! My husband isn't very impressed!

I'm disgusted at some men's comments about Jacinda as well. It's pathetic.

[eaglejulesk]

Oh yes, another vote for Ashley Bloomfield here

[TemporaryName123]

@DarnedSocks not sure about the comment about smaller populations - here in Ireland, the ROI has 5m and NI has 2m people and rates and deaths are still proportionately high. I think it depends a lot on the general compliance rates of society and also early acting - which was not done early enough on the whole here! But she is awesome for sure!!

[nakedavengerreturns]

This photo rocked my and my friends' world. What a woman!

[thatgingergirl]

She's great and NZ looks wonderful. DH and I had tentative plans to emigrate there (from UK) back in the distant past, but I couldn't leave my mum .

We had planned to do the trip of a lifetime thing in the next couple of years - motor homing - before we get too old, but I guess that isn't going to happen now. How long do you think NZ will keep borders closed? Can't be a plan to wait until there is a vaccine can it?

[Poetryinaction]

An unfair comparison with Ireland as NZ is the size of the whole UK. People have more space. And the nearest country is 600 miles away. As pp have said. She is doing very well, but NZ is in a very different position to Europe.

[TomPinch]

feesh.

The first confirmed cases in the UK were on 31 Jan. Direct flights from Wuhan to Heathrow had been cancelled for 4 days by then.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom (yes, I know, Wiki, but there is a good citation).

As for Ardern, there is the usual whinging from the right, both against her and her government. There's no pleasing some people. That said, key election promises, most notably, remedying our housing crisis, have been a complete failure.

I will vote for Ardern's party again, not because I think they're geniuses but because I think they're ordinary decent people trying their best.

[TemporaryName123]

@Poetryinaction that’s true, sorry you’re right

[Kiwibroccolini]

Oh Ashley Bloomfield is amazing!

@thatgingergirl I think the plan is to keep the borders closed until there’s a vaccine, or until other countries have it under control. Makes sense really, they’ve pumped so much money into this and the lockdown will have just been a waste of time if we risk it coming back. Maybe when there’s a reliable antibody test they might start letting people in selectively? It’ll be a good while away though, I’m sure

[DangerCat01]

She’s amazing.

As an aside, I sat on the same dinner table as he at a friends wedding before she was PM and she was truly wonderful then as well. A lot of fun.