There are many things our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will need to focus on as we head into the new year. This will be a tough election year, which may or may not deliver her a third term as our leader, a worldwide recession is forecast, and we’re well aware of Covid and its long tail still affecting our lives.
But there are also some positives she will focus on. She has a wedding to partner Clarke Gayford to reorganise and enjoy, her daughter Neve will turn five and start school, and for the first time in history, our Parliament has 50 per cent female representation.
New Zealand led the world in 1893 when women won the right to vote in the hard-fought suffrage battle and it has taken until now to be equally represented in Government. Only five other countries in the world have reached this landmark, according to the United Nations.
“I feel extremely excited to be part of that,” says a joyful Jacinda, who was at an event at Parliament attended by current and former women MPs to celebrate this milestone a few days after our interview.
Jacinda with past and present women MPs. “As many of us as possible are putting our foot in the door,” she says of reaching 50 per cent female representation in Parliament.
She recalls a conference where Marilyn Waring – who, at 23, was the youngest MP elected to Parliament in 1975 – was speaking. “I was thinking, ‘What must it have been like in her days in Parliament?’ when she said something which really stuck with me. She was answering a question from a woman in the audience and she said, ‘There are two types of women in the world. There are those who fight so hard to get through the door that once they’re there, they shut the door behind them. And there are those who fight just as hard and once they’re through the door, they wedge their foot inside and pull every woman they can through that door.'”
Jacinda says she likes to think that Parliament now is a place where “as many of us as possible are putting our foot in the door – and to see 50 per cent women representation in our Parliament now is proof that’s happening more and more”.
Back in 2017, Jacinda called for stronger female representation in politics when she wrote a piece for the Financial Times, saying it was not good enough for women to just be heard, but rather they needed to be at the decision-making table in good numbers.
“The day when a female leader becomes so commonplace that it doesn’t merit comment – that will be the day when everything really will have changed,” she wrote. “Only about 23 per cent of national parliamentarians are women. We must have stronger female representation to drive solutions to those issues that are having a dramatic and devastating impact on people, particularly millions of young girls and women. I’m talking about poverty, lack of education, reproductive health, gender equality, pay equity, violence and climate change, to name just some.”
She also said Labour planned to address this by pursuing its target of women making up 50 per cent of MPs, which has now been achieved. The milestone is yet another reason this country has been noticed on the international stage and Jacinda is not at all surprised at the strong positive reputation we have.
“I travelled a lot last year and some of that travel was trade missions, which have been really important for our economic rebuild,” she says. “I was filled with such pride travelling alongside our brave, innovative start-up businesses, and seeing how well received they are on the world stage for who they are and what they do. It really filled my cup.”
It should also be pointed out that Jacinda herself is somewhat of a political star on the world stage as she is received with praise and admiration. She has already featured in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list, the Financial Times described her as having “charisma, competence and compassion”, and the Guardian described her as a “rock star” politician.
This is not praise that particularly thrills Jacinda and she wriggles in her seat, a bit uncomfortable, when she hears it. The Prime Minister is quick to point out that when she is on the world stage, domestic politics and the daily grind of being a politician are not taken into account.
“I think all Kiwis have it in them to focus a bit more on the negatives instead of the positives, which is a good trait because it keeps everyone grounded,” she notes. “So that’s the way I approach those moments.
“I’ll always have my eye on what’s happening at home and I never change my perspective on the job I have to do. The most important thing is how I’m being received at home, not overseas.”
In the lead-up to Christmas, this star power became apparent as Jacinda gained access to a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping when they were attending APEC in Bangkok. Before that, she had an informal chat with US President Joe Biden at the East Asia Summit. A video shows her talking, crouched down next to Joe’s chair, before the leaders were due to leave for dinner.
Considered to be a political “rock star” overseas, Jacinda’s audiences with Joe Biden and Prince William have been relaxed but telling of the easy relationship she has forged with world leaders.
She also shares a close relationship with the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, recently filling in for His Royal Highness at the Earthshot Prize innovation summit, giving a speech on his behalf when he was unable to attend following the Queen’s historic funeral. Interestingly, William shares the same birthday as her daughter Neve, June 21, and Jacinda has a huge amount of respect for the hard-working royal.
“Any day I’m feeling like this job is tough, I look at him – that is a life of service, not three-year cycles,” she says. “It’s amazing what they do.”
As Jacinda counts down to the 2023 election, her reception at home isn’t quite “rock star”. At the time of writing, polls were down for her party and the results of recent local authority elections tipped away from Labour. When the immediate danger of Covid passed, other issues that are affecting people became apparent, such as the cost of living, a spike in violent crime, a struggling health system and inadequate housing. On top of that, all commentators are pointing to the inevitability of a worldwide recession post-pandemic.
“We know that internationally, this year is going to be tough for New Zealand because we are so connected to the international environment,” explains Jacinda. “However, if the trade missions have taught me anything, it is that we are really well positioned for that.
“We have one of the strongest economies in the world right now and we also have things which will continue to boost our performance, for instance the growth and return of tourism. So there is cause for New Zealanders to hold their heads up. We will be okay.”
Accompanying the grim forecasts has also come a less-than-positive focus on Jacinda’s personal life – she has been the subject of many rumours, including one that she is going to resign.
After two terms, the chance to have a career change and perhaps head overseas to a less high-profile and less stressful job would be understandable for a 42-year-old woman with a partner
and a young child.
“At the same time as that rumour was the one about moving to New Plymouth,” tells Jacinda, who just that week had denied both rumours during a TV interview. “At various points, I’ve also bought a house in Southland – a newspaper actually ran that story as truth.
“My future is something that comes up in the cycle. This happened in the lead-up to the last elections as well. I always ignore them and only respond if I’m asked a direct question about them.”
During her time as Prime Minister, Jacinda admits she has gained a new perspective on rumour and gossip.
“It’s amplified in social media, which has made it so much worse. I feel empathy for everyone who is ever the subject of that because it’s incredibly hard when it cycles back to you. People raise these things with you and you think, ‘Oh, that again.'”
Jacinda adds the most frustrating aspect with issues like misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories is that she is desperate for people to know the truth. “Rumours about my life just come with the territory,” she concedes.
“I wish it didn’t, but it does. To maintain perspective, I keep reminding myself that the tools of misinformation and disinformation have been around for decades – it’s not a new problem; it’s just the speed and the breadth of exposure to it. The thing that I’ve found very hard is watching people be confronted with information that is just not true and making really important decisions based on it.”
One topic which won’t go away for Jacinda is when her wedding will finally take place. It seems that every interview she does, no matter how serious, she is always asked that question. She and Clarke became engaged during Easter in 2019, when he proposed to her during a break at his family bach in Mahia.
The news emerged because an eagle-eyed reporter noticed an Art Deco-style ring on Jacinda’s left hand and asked her office to confirm it, which they did. It was reported that Clarke proposed to her at the top of a hill with a Diplomatic Protection squad officer nearby. Then Covid lockdowns got in the way of any wedding plans, with the couple cancelling their nuptials last summer.
Might it happen this year?
“We’ve dabbled with planning it, but we’ve been start again, stop again and then we left it too late as all our friends had made their summer plans for this year,” she laughs.
“We’ve been useless. I think because we have a house, a child and a life, it’s been hard to find the time to plan the wedding, but it will be a wonderful thing when we get to do it. We just want to be focused on it when we do.”
Jacinda, who is hoping to get some time out on a boat with her Fish of the Day TV host fiancé during the holidays, has been hanging onto her original wedding dress, which she still plans to wear.
“I still have just the one wedding dress that, given we were a week out from getting married when we had to postpone the wedding, it’s still with me. But to be honest, I’m not 100 per cent convinced I would still fit it,” she laughs.
“That’s not something I’m getting hung up over, though. I always try to remind myself of the mantra that clothes are meant to fit people – people aren’t meant to fit clothes. So if it doesn’t fit, I’ll just have to get another one.”
No doubt a wedding would be something for Jacinda and her loved ones to celebrate after she recently revealed her father Ross is recovering from a battle with cancer. “We’re a very tight-knit family,” she says. “It just reminds you of what’s really important and that’s to spend as much quality time together as you can.”
For someone who is in the middle of a very busy week when we talk, including the Labour Party annual conference, Jacinda looks radiant. What is she doing for herself? Yoga?
“I should be doing yoga,” she laughs. “I was doing it, but then I started this job and it stopped, which is not how it was meant to go.
“My escape is playing with my daughter and trying to be present when I do. She’s going to start school this year and I don’t know where the time went, and I’m not the only one. People who see me with Neve for the first time still expect her to be a baby!”
The bond between the PM and daughter Neve is strong. “The only thing I think about consistently is being a mum.”
At the end of last year, Jacinda did get to indulge herself in one of her passions: Antarctica. She and Clarke visited Scott Base to mark its 65th anniversary – a dream trip for Jacinda, who says the visit was two obsessions rolled into one.
“Ever since I was about 14, I have been reading books about Antarctica because my father has always been a passionate follower of Antarctic exploration,” she says. “One family holiday in Waihi, he was reading a book and when I asked him about it, he gave it to me and I’ve been reading them ever since.”
She says Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is also her hero and a role model for how she operates as a leader of the nation.
“Everyone is a bit confused about why I don’t have a political hero, but he is my hero because of the challenges that he set himself,” she explains.
It was a childhood dream come true when Jacinda visited early explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s hut in Antarctica with Clarke last year.
“Every time he came up against the most mind- boggling adversity, like his ship being crushed by ice and sinking in the middle of nowhere, and being responsible for the safety of a group of men, he always maintained such integrity and he focused on the morale of his people.
“Most of his missions he set out on he failed, yet he succeeded because he brought people home. His leadership was always admired.” Jacinda stops for a moment. “I could talk for some time about him,” she warns.
Being able to visit his Nimrod Expedition hut at Cape Royds on Ross Island in Antarctica was a dream come true, she says.
“I was also so impressed with the climate science down there,” reveals Jacinda, who spent time with scientists who have been examining the geology and landscape of Antarctica.
She reports that these scientists see the sea ice cracking or moving, and changes in the glaciers or in icebergs, which just reinforces what we hear about climate change.
“When you see the vastness of this place, you can appreciate a degree or two will have a phenomenal impact on the world,” she told journalists during her trip.
The election is still some months away and campaigning will add to the already long list of daily jobs the PM must do. If she gets in for another term, that will be nine years she will have kept up the slog and the pace of running a country. Famously, former PM Richard Seddon remained in the job for 13 years – would she ever consider that?
Jacinda inhales deeply. “You can report that I just took a sharp intake of breath at that question,” she quips. “I look around and I think no one wants to make out that our period in time is special or different, but there are things about the job that have changed. The media cycle is constant; social media is constant. It is a different place to be now than it was.
“I came into Parliament when I was aged 28 and the only thing I think consistently about is being a mum.”
Does that mean that in the future she is at risk of becoming a helicopter mum?
“Maybe,” she smiles.
UPDATE: This article was published in the January issue of The Australian Woman’s Weekly NZ Edition, before Jacinda’s surprising announcement on the 19th of January 2023. The now Former Prime Minister made the shock announcement at the Labour Party caucus retreat in Napier, stating, “I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice”. Ardern spent 6 years in office, and while according to her they have “been the most fulfilling years of my life”, her term as Prime Minister was not without challenges as she guided the country through the horror and grief of the Christchurch terror attack and the Whakaari/White Island eruption before leading Aotearoa through a global pandemic as Covid-19 swept through the world.
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