# Jacinda Ardern resigns as prime minister of New Zealand **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 19, 2023, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438 "2023-01-19T04:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/21 "2023-01-20T01:25:26Z")
> [@Ferris](#): > > there’s a radical Maori caucus within Labour pushing for power on a number of fronts that the Prime Minister could no longer control. …Ferris won’t ever be able to provide a citation for this because no (legitimate) citation exists. The Māori caucus is not radical. Nanaia Mahuta, Kiritapu Allan, Kelvin Davis, Peeni Henare, and especially Willie Jackson, are not radicals, were not out of control, all of them appointed by the Governor General **on the advice of the Prime Minister**. > [@Ferris](#): > > reorganising the entire national health system (_during a pandemic!_) and adding a whole new Maori Health service. The health services reforms were long overdue and essential. The background to this was **Health and disability system review** that was commissioned back in 2018. You can read that here: > **[Health and disability system review](https://www.health.govt.nz/new-zealand-health-system/health-system-reforms/health-and-disability-system-review)** > > In 2018, the Minister of Health announced a wide-ranging review designed to future-proof our health and disability services. The Review considered the overall function of the Health and Disability system to ensure the system is better balanced... The review panel included Heather Simpson, Shelley Campbell (CEO of the Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty), Professor Peter Crampton (Dean of the Otago Medical School), Dr Lloyd McCann (CEO at Mercy Radiology), Dr Margaret Southwick (former Chair of the Nursing Council) Dr Winfield Bennett (Group Manager Hawkes Bay DHB), Sir Brian Roche (former Chairman of the NZTAB), and on the Māori Expert Advisory Group were Sharon Shea (Principal Shea Pita & Associates), Dr Terryann Clark (Associate Professor, Nursing), Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp (CEO Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi Trust SA), Dr Dale Bramley (CEO of the Waitemata District Health Board), Linda Ngata (Te Rūnanga o Ngā Maatawaka), Assoc. Professor Sue Crengle (UOA) This wasn’t a matter of “reorganising the entire national health system during a pandemic.” It was a process that started **two years before the pandemic** through a review process that was lead by experienced people both inside and outside of the health sector. And the thing is: we are still in a pandemic. Next year? We almost certainly will still be living with the pandemic. There is no waiting for the pandemic to be over before starting the reforms. Because that isn’t how the world works. The report called for **transformational change**. The interim report called the former health system (that consisted of 20 independent District Health Boards) a “confusing monolith” where “fragmentation and duplication” were key issues, that it was a “system that does not primarily serve consumers’ values and needs, and does not have enough focus on prevention and wellness” and that “This results in inequitable outcomes and the so-called “postcode lottery” of healthcare.” > **[A case for fewer DHBs in health system shake-up](https://newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/03/a-case-for-fewer-dhbs-in-health-system-shake-up/)** > > A damning report finds the health system is fragmented and complicated, and lacks leadership and accountability. The review called for " for a more centralised health system, with clear hierarchies lending themselves to more efficient work." What that lead to was a consolidation of all 20 District Health Boards into a new, national health service called **Te Whatu Ora** , Health New Zealand. Te Aka Whai Ora is the new Māori Health Authority. > [@Future of NZ Health](#): > > The health system reforms will enhance rangatiratanga for Māori over hauora Māori and ensure greater influence throughout the entire health system. This is central to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and will help ensure everyone has the same access to good health outcomes. That includes strengthening mana motuhake for whānau – supporting them to take control of their own health and wellbeing. [https://www.futureofhealth.govt.nz/maori-health-authority/](https://www.futureofhealth.govt.nz/maori-health-authority/) You might not like it, but the crown has a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Māori “are both a legitimate and an essential part of decision-making in the health and disability sector.” > **[The Guide to He Korowai Oranga – Māori Health Strategy](https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/guide-he-korowai-oranga-maori-health-strategy)** > > This short guide provides a summary of the He Korowai Oranga – Māori Health Strategy. This includes ‘Pae Ora’ and its 3 elements and how the existing framework has been strengthened for the future. Te Aka Whai Ora didn’t come about because of a “radical faction.” It is part of our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it was an evidence based decision based on what a panel of experts recommended as part of a strategy to improve health outcomes for Māori. > [@Ferris](#): > > Changing the national education history syllabus to a very ‘anti-colonial’ and much more Maori-focused content. You say this like its a bad thing. You know this is a good thing, right? That our national education syllabus shouldn’t be “pro-colonial”, and that it should have much more Māori-focused content? Is this seriously something you would argue against? Anyway, here’s what the Prime Minster had to say about the new history curriculum: > [@Stuff](#): > > As the students shared what they’d been learning, Ardern at one point looked almost teary. She said it was “moving” to see students’ confidence and pride in learning about their history. > > … > > **The new curriculum was one of the Government projects Ardern said she was “proudest” of,** which she hoped would build greater understanding and national pride over generations. > **[Launching new history curriculum one of PM Jacinda Ardern's 'proudest' moments](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300543256/launching-new-history-curriculum-one-of-pm-jacinda-arderns-proudest-moments)** > > Jacinda Ardern told students she believed this curriculum change would leave one of the most important legacies from her Government. So for anyone still following along, does the national education history syllabus sound like an initiative driven by a “radical Maori caucus within Labour pushing for power on a number of fronts that the Prime Minister could no longer control?” Or does it sound like an initiative that the Prime Minister was very much a part of driving, and that she saw as one of her proudest moments in office? > [@Ferris](#): > > And mandating public media (by way of a ‘public journalism fund’ bribe) to promote Maori in the news. There are a number of competing conspiracy theories out there, but the lack of specificity here leads me to believe that Ferris is talking about the Public Interest Journalism Fund. You can read details about this here: [https://mch.govt.nz/media-sector-support/journalism-fund](https://mch.govt.nz/media-sector-support/journalism-fund) TLDR: this isn’t a “mandate.” This isn’t a “bribe.” Its a fund to support projects that “fill a public interest service and would otherwise be at risk or not produced without this fund’s support.” > **[Journalism funding](https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/funding/journalism-funding/)** > > NZ On Air’s Public Interest Journalism Fund has now closed. It was designed to provide targeted support for at-risk public interest journalism. Of course, Ferris could be talking about something else. Are you talking about something else Ferris? > [@Ferris](#): > > But Jacinda Ardern’s government wasted a parliamentary majority on ideological feel-good projects rather than tackling _any_ of the hard issues. You mean like restructuring a health system that was long overdue for a significant overhaul? Reforming decades in underinvestment in our [drinking, waste and stormwater services?](https://www.threewaters.govt.nz/) An increase in minimum wage? Free Trade Agreement with the EU? Fair Pay Agreements? Banned conversion practices? Decriminalised abortion? > [@Ferris](#): > > Our truancy rates are embarrassing. Absenteeism is not (necessarily) truancy. > [@The Spinoff](#): > > Absences from school are categorised as justified or unjustified, and I’ve broken justified absences into medical and other. It’s not clear whether a student who is absent from school because they’re a household contact but don’t test positive themselves would be considered a medical absence or fall into another category, so these absences may also be influenced by Covid. > > **Overall, there is a clear correlation between the number of Covid cases reported in a particular part of the country and the number of students absent from school during that time.** The similarity in the way these develop is seen in every region of the country, from Auckland’s sharp peak to Nelson’s flatter hump. > **[What’s really behind the ‘truancy crisis’?](https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/09-08-2022/whats-really-behind-the-truancy-crisis)** > > National says it wasn't caused by Covid. The data suggests otherwise. > [@Ferris](#): > > Rheumatic fever (a third-world problem) is a problem here. Its not just a “third-world problem” and it is a problem [here](https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/why-are-aboriginal-australians-still-dying-from-an), and it is a problem [here](https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/rheumatic-fever.html), and it is precisely the sort of thing that Te Aka Whai Ora was created to address. You can’t both oppose the existence of the Māori Health Authority **and** complain about that we have “too much rheumatic fever.” > [@Ferris](#): > > Getting doctors and nurses to work here (rather than moving to Australia for significantly better pay) is near impossible. You know that Australia is also struggling to get doctors and nurses, right? > **[‘Burnt out’: Australia's hospital system struggling to cope amid COVID-19...](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/burnt-out-australias-hospital-system-struggling-to-cope-amid-covid-19-wave-healthcare-workers-warn/lru94oiaj)** > > With record levels of COVID-19 hospitalisations, staff shortages and funding issues, healthcare workers say Australia's health system is on the brink of collapse. > **[Australians are having a tough time getting a spot with a doctor. These GPs...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-20/doctor-nurse-shortage-medicare-rebate/101352684)** > > Doctors say staff shortages and unsustainable funding arrangements are making it harder for patients to receive the care they need.  Its a global pandemic and _everywhere_ is experiencing shortages of doctors and nurses. It isn’t something that anyone can fix, not in the short term. > [@Ferris](#): > > The ‘borrow and spend’ economic mismanagement of Labour these last five years means many New Zealanders coming off fixed mortgages this year may well lose their homes. Labour hasn’t mismanaged the economy IMHO. This one is beyond my wheelhouse so I won’t talk to this one beyond that, but considering the lack of citation from you on every other assertion you have made and your over-reliance on talking points, conspiracy theories and cherry picked data, I’m just gonna ask everyone to “trust me bro” on this. > [@Ferris](#): > > Ram raids by teenagers on liquor stores and jewellers are a frequent occurrence and go largely unpunished. “Largely unpunished” is doing a lot of work here. The police have said that > [@police](#): > > likely being driven by a combination of young people exposed to a “negative home environment”, disengagement from school, monetary gain, and “the use of social media, particularly TikTok, to promote their criminal offending and gain notoriety”. > > “Youth and children offend to gain validation and attention from their peers,” the May briefing paper said. > > "Some offenders upload videos of their offending and stolen commodities on social media to show off. > > "In turn, they receive support and attention, providing negative reinforcement and encouraging further offending. > > “Videos are being viewed by other youth and children, who are highly impressionable. This desensitises them to ram raid offending and possibly encourages them to offend.” > **[Revealed: What’s behind ram raid rampage? TikTok and adrenaline](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/481402/revealed-what-s-behind-ram-raid-rampage-tiktok-and-adrenaline)** > > The children and youths behind the ram raid rampage of 2022 learned about violence in their homes and were partly driven by the adrenaline rush, and the notoriety of posting themselves on TikTok. This isn’t something that can be fixed overnight. It isn’t something that can be stopped by “getting tougher on crime.” And it certainly isn’t something that can be laid at the feet of the Prime Minister. The way that the world works is evolving at speeds that conventional systems and establishments are struggling to keep up with and this is all just part of that. > [@Ferris](#): > > I could easily go on. I’m sure you could. Perhaps if you do, maybe bring some cites? > [@Ferris](#): > > The country is split like never before, and that’s _not_ due to the antivax crowd (as much as the Left would like to portray it as), The Disinformation Project documents exactly when New Zealand experienced an explosion disinformation from overseas that started just before the Omicron outbreak and continues to this day. > **[The Disinformation ProjectStudying misinformation and disinformation in...](https://thedisinfoproject.org/)** > > Studying misinformation, disinformation and information disorders in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The country is **not** **split like never before**. This **isn’t** a fact. This does **not** reflect reality here. > [@Ferris](#): > > but because our Prime Minister has been leading us down a path towards tribal governance and away from a free and liberal democracy. The Prime Minister is **not** leading us down a path towards tribal governance and away from a free and liberal democracy. This is not a thing that has happened. This couldn’t be further from reality. > [@Ferris](#): > > If you think I’m exaggerating, “Exaggerting” would be the mildest, politiest way I would put it. Yes. Ferris is exagerting. > [@Ferris](#): > > then consider Labour’s push for ‘hate speech’ legislation and a sly attempt to amend legislation to prevent future governments repealing a water infrastructure bill that hands control of the national water supply to Maori tribes. This is conspiracy-theory-level-word-salad-gish-gallop. There are about four very different things in this sentence, none of them related, all of them wildly exaggerated. > [@Ferris](#): > > Thankfully we have an Opposition that’s still able to stop this kind if nonsense, but most New Zealanders have been horrified by the underhand ways this Government has been working in. :: Narrator voice: most New Zealanders have **not** been horrified by the (allegedly) “underhand” ways this Government has been working in. :: > [@Ferris](#): > > For a Prime Minister who received such a strong electoral mandate to govern for a whole three-year term to then jump ship as soon as she realised she’d lose the next election just demonstrates that she cares more about the image than actually getting any proper work done. You could believe this, or you could believe what the Prime Minister actually said. > **[Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech, in full](https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/19-01-2023/jacinda-arderns-resignation-speech-in-full)** > > Live Updates for Jan 19 2023 > [@Ferris](#): > > As one tweet said, “from stardust to sawdust”. As one tweet said: > [@one tweet](#): > > It’s about this painting in her office, which I’ve circled in red. > > I was there when she was given this. It was her first week in office, in 2017; she was visiting Christchurch, and I was following her around for The Press. > > It was standard politician stuff, albeit in the weirdly optimistic environment of that time. > > … > > It was the main press stop of the trip, and it lasted a while. Most of the reporters left after Ardern’s standup. As a representative of the local rag, I felt compelled to see out the whole trip and hold the new PM to account for any infractions. > > … > > I’m petty sure me and my Press colleague were the only reporters there? (I stand to be corrected). There was no media scrum, that’s for sure. Ardern was late, so I chatted with some of the artists. > > One of them, Carmen Brown, was holding a painting. She told me she had schizophrenia, and that art had gotten her through tough times. She’d dreamed of meeting the Prime Minister since she was a girl and had spent many hours working on the artwork she was holding. > > … > > Carmen gives the painting to Ardern - I can’t remember what they said - but I distinctly remember Ardern’s face lighting up as she looked at it. > > … > > Me, a dickhead, assumed it would be dispatched to a cavernous basement in the Beehive and never seen again. > > … > > Last year, I saw a video message from Ardern’s office and was drawn to the painting in the background, behind the photo of Michael Joseph Savage: The painting I’d seen Carmen Brown give to Ardern five years earlier. It hasn’t always been in that position, but it’s the same one. > > … > > It’s just a small thing, but given everything that happened in the years after - much of it traumatic, toxic, chaotic - I was pleased to see that painting, which meant a lot to its creator, meant something to its recipient, too. [https://twitter.com/comingupcharlie/status/1615929855274811392](https://twitter.com/comingupcharlie/status/1615929855274811392) > [@Ferris](#): > > Jacindamania was great while it lasted, but it was only a political sugar high. Prime Minister Ardern oversaw one of the most turbulant times in our nations history, from the Mosque shootings to Whakaari, to the handling of the global pandemic. Even her harshest critics pay tribute to the way she was lightening focused on the smallest of details, had an actual understanding of the issues she was dealing with, and held her own on the debate stage. Not only was did she have to deal with a number of high profile crisis, she was at the forefrront of transformational change in a number of different areas. I have significant disagreement on some of the things that Prime MInister Ardern has done. But none of them are any of the things that Ferris has listed here. We have seen a significant rise in the scale of misogynistic threats and attacks on the PM, on marginalised folk, in the last couple of years. Almost of all them centred on the same talking points that Ferris has (politely) laid out for everyone here. Ferris may have been polite, but the talking points they used here are largely **not** correct. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/22 "2023-01-20T01:39:14Z")
That’s as comprehensive a rebuttal as has ever graced SDMB. Well done. PT ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/23 "2023-01-20T02:24:02Z")
In your defence, perhaps they drive “on the wrong side of the road”… 😉 I had a buddy from Australia who had a map on the wall of his office where south was up, so Australia and New Zealand was at the top (in their rightful place, as he put it). Anyway, Ardern seemed both competent and likeable. I think she was praised for early Covid but faced criticism later after we all grew weary of it. And was annoyed by coverage about going dancing one evening. I can’t fully understand why anyone would want to be a politician so don’t blame her. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/24 "2023-01-20T17:30:37Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > think she was praised for early Covid but faced criticism later after we all grew weary of it. My outside WAG - what she faced was avoiding what China is now experiencing. Isolation and suppression of Covid can buy time but then the time has to used, to implement an exit strategy, to get a population widely vaccinated with effective vaccines. China failed to use that time that way and therefore is facing a bad time now; she oversaw using that time to get the job done, despite pushback and public fatigue. In any case those who care about leading as service rather than as power for its own sake should recognize when the job is burning them out and step back. She may be one of those few both interested in leading as service and with that self awareness. Ignorant outsider view. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/25 "2023-01-20T17:46:37Z")
With many issues it is impossible to please everyone. Her problems were the initial benefit of isolation and a perception more use could have been made of that time once everyone started getting it anyway. Your view might be outside, but is not really ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/26 "2023-01-20T17:50:05Z")
> **[Jacinda Ardern: political figures believe abuse and threats contributed to...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/20/jacinda-ardern-speculation-that-abuse-and-threats-contributed-to-resignation)** > > Ardern says she slept soundly ‘for the first time in a long time,’ as colleagues in New Zealand deplore her treatment as PM and race begins to replace her I think this could well be true. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/27 "2023-01-22T15:31:28Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > And the thing is: we are still in a pandemic. Next year? We almost certainly will still be living with the pandemic. There is no waiting for the pandemic to be over before starting the reforms. Because that isn’t how the world works. There is no such thing as a perpetual pandemic. That is not how the world works, and that is not how language works. Covid quit being a pandemic several months ago. It is now **ENDEMIC** , just like the flu, the common cold, and any number of other contagious diseases that flare up periodically. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/28 "2023-01-22T18:44:58Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > There is no such thing as a perpetual pandemic. I didn’t see the word “perpetual” anywhere in **Bear** ’s quote. > [@Bootb](#): > > Covid quit being a pandemic several months ago. Really? Want to tell [WHO](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/when-will-covid-19-become-endemic) that? Maybe [this Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endemic_COVID-19) needs an edit, while you’re about it? Certainly this part: > In **December 2022** , WHO chief [Tedros Ghebreyesus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tedros_Ghebreyesus) said that the death toll was still too high, but that “we have come a long way. We are hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.” Because December 2022 isn’t “several months ago” in my timezone. ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/29 "2023-01-22T21:21:37Z")
Firstly, I must acknowledge **Banquet\_Bear** for taking a not inconsiderable time and effort to reply to my… polemic. Secondly, I feel an apology is due - because I have perhaps signalled an intent to debate New Zealand government policy when it was not really my intent to do so. I imagine the number of people on this board who follow NZ politics closely enough, and who wish to debate it will find local forums better for that purpose. Another reason for my reticence is that I’ve already made my case on one particular issue: the Three Waters legislation. To put this in context, I held a reasonably senior role at Auckland Council a few years ago, involved with both Treasury and Governance, and have been appalled at the lack of any business case offered for what amounts to the forced nationalisation of water infrastructure. I wrote to the then-Auckland mayor, Phil Goff (a previous Labour leader, as I’m sure you know) and his reply reassured me that his own view was very similar. That’s the representative of about a third of New Zealanders. The wider opposition from many other local councils focuses on cost and accountability, and the best summary of the opposite case may be found here: [Communities4localdemocracy](https://www.communities4localdemocracy.co.nz/) On another issue, health, I’m living through this as I work for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, so am very familiar with it. Prior to the disestablishment of the country’s twenty district Health Boards, I attended a talk by Prof. Des Gorman, who has a considerable international reputation as an expert on health reform. Sorry, I don’t have a link to that, but the takeaway message was that it amounted to a bureaucratic shuffling that won’t solve anything. Another expert opinion you may consider is Ian Powell, a doctor who represented the Union of Salaried Medical Specialists. He’s collaborated with Heather Roy (ex- ACT Deputy Leader) on a series of articles laying out the flaws in the new system and why the timing is wrong. His blog is here: [Ian Powell - blog](https://otaihangasecondopinion.wordpress.com/blog-2/) Those two issues aside, the main point I was trying to make (admittedly rather clumsily since I wasn’t especially calm when I was posting) was that Jacinda Ardern has been polarising in this country, and has stirred up a lot of hate against her. People overseas don’t see that much, as she is very skilled in managing her image. And speaking from the political opposite position to Labour, I consider her to have been rather ‘lightweight’ and ineffective in delivery, and too willing to give in to a radical Maori caucus. To back that up, I’ll cite Chris Trotter - a well-known Left-wing political commentator: [https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/119325/chris-trotter-says-if-chippy-able-steer-labour-less-contentious-and-more](https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/119325/chris-trotter-says-if-chippy-able-steer-labour-less-contentious-and-more) > The prospect of arguing her caucus, her party, and a good chunk of her electoral base into abandoning Labour’s commitment to the radical decolonisation project of its Māori caucus was simply too big an ask for Ardern – so she quit. In summary, I simply wanted to offer a counter-view to non-New Zealanders that showed that Jacinda Ardern hasn’t been the perfect leader that they might have supposed. I should though, have acknowledged that the vitriol hurled at her, especially since Covid, is abhorrent. It saddens and embarrasses me that there are people in this beautiful country who wish harm on her. I’ll close by saying that Jacinda Ardern _is_ a remarkable person: to have turned around a failing political party so soon before the 2017 election, and to have managed multiple crises as well as improving our global status are all significant accomplishments. I sincerely hope she now gets to enjoy her family. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/30 "2023-01-23T02:00:01Z")
> [@Ferris](#): > > […] the main point I was trying to make (admittedly rather clumsily since I wasn’t especially calm when I was posting) was that Jacinda Ardern has been polarising in this country, and has stirred up a lot of hate against her. Well, somebody’s definitely been stirring up a lot of hate against Ardern, but I’m not sure the “look what you made me do” victim-blaming is an accurate description. Ardern has been ISTM (and as you also acknowledge) a responsible and law-abiding politician who’s done a pragmatically good job of coping with a number of uniquely difficult crises in NZ. That doesn’t mean that anybody is required to agree with any of her particular policy positions or ideological stances. But it does mean that when massive numbers of right-wingers respond to her actions with outright vicious contumely and hatred, that’s on them for being rabid uncivilized assholes, not on her for being “polarising”. > [@Ferris](#): > > I should though, have acknowledged that the vitriol hurled at her, especially since Covid, is abhorrent. Agreed, and IMHO that acknowledgement should include refraining from implying that she personally is responsible for her enemies’ abhorrent behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/31 "2023-01-23T02:21:41Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > There is no such thing as a perpetual pandemic. :: reads my post again :: …it appears that I never said anything about a “perpetual pandemic.” Can you point out where I said anything about a perpetual pandemic? We are still in a pandemic phase. Some people and some places have declared that Covid is now endemic, but that isn’t the consensus, and that isn’t the case where I live. We had more people die in any single month last year compared to the entire first two years of the pandemic. Heck: typically, more died in a _week_ than the first two years. > [@Bootb](#): > > That is not how the world works, and that is not how language works. Attributing words to me that I never ever said is not how reasonable discourse works. Please stop doing that. > [@Bootb](#): > > Covid quit being a pandemic several months ago. Cite? > [@Bootb](#): > > It is now **ENDEMIC** , just like the flu, the common cold, and any number of other contagious diseases that flare up periodically. You are entitled to share your opinion. But I’ll continue to take my updates on the state of the pandemic from our Ministry of Health, thanks. > [@Ferris](#): > > To put this in context, I held a reasonably senior role at Auckland Council a few years ago, involved with both Treasury and Governance, and have been appalled at the **lack of any business case** offered for what amounts to the forced nationalisation of water infrastructure. The “business case” is the same as it was for Te Whatu Ora. But with Three Waters the case is even stronger. Water management is currently largely in the hands of 67 local councils who, unlike the DHB’s, have a significantly lower incentive to prioritize water management, lower levels of expertise, working at the whims of the local voters who often don’t take local council issues seriously. For those interested, here’s a background on Three Waters. > **[Three waters: What you need to know](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/what-you-need-to-know/452865/three-waters-what-you-need-to-know)** > > Explainer - Councils and the government seem at odds over massive water infrastructure reforms - but is your water system in the drink? RNZ is here to clear it all up. > [@Ferris](#): > > I attended a talk by Prof. Des Gorman, who has a considerable international reputation as an expert on health reform. Professor Des Gorman, among other things is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the New Zealand Initiative. [https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/about-us/our-people/](https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/about-us/our-people/) As you can see from the profile photos, diversity isn’t one of the New Zealand Initiative’s strengths. They were formed when the NZ Business Roundtable and the New Zealand Institute merged. They are the NZ version of the Heritage Foundation. They are conservative, pro 'free market", support the “social investment” approach to social policy, and deregulation. So any “reputation” as an expert on health reform needs to be seen in that light. He was an outlier among experts on Covid, and the go-to person for the media when they wanted someone on the record to disagree with the government. Here are some of his views on the healthcare system: > [@Des Gorman](#): > > Des Gorman, a University of Auckland Emeritus Professor of Medicine, says public health funding needs to move to a pay-it-forward, insurance-based model if it is to become sustainable, affordable and fair. > > … > > “Most New Zealanders are unaware of how dependent we are on a large population of taxpayers who don’t consume healthcare,” Gorman says. > > … > > “Universalism requires rationing and that occurs by way of entitlements and access – in other words, queuing. Most New Zealanders aren’t aware of this rationing until they end up in a queue and they want to know what’s happened to their universal access.” > **[How to design and fund a sucacessful health system: an expert’s view - Good...](https://www.goodreturns.co.nz/article/976520126/how-to-design-and-fund-a-sucacessful-health-system-an-expert-s-view.html)** > > A top health expert is calling for changes in the way public healthcare is funded in New Zealand, saying the current taxpayer-funded pay-as-you-go system is unsustainable, despite the government’s upcoming health reforms. No thanks, Professor Gorman. I don’t want this at all. > [@Ferris](#): > > the main point I was trying to make (admittedly rather clumsily since I wasn’t especially calm when I was posting) was that Jacinda Ardern has been polarising in this country, and has stirred up a lot of hate against her. One of the reasons why I carefully de-constructed your post was because the **actual** things that the Prime Minister has **actually** done are in reality completely different to the things that have “stirred up a lot of hate against her.” None of the hate has any basis in reality. She didn’t “stir any of this up.” Some numbers: > [@Chris Wilson](#): > > This thread (and a more detailed report HEIA will soon release) is an attempt to provide one body of data to inform this debate. > > We analyse a section of the online data we collect, that from some of the platforms where the darkest and most extreme posting often occurs: Gab, 4chan, selected nz telegram channels, reddit, 8kun > > We include posts from 2019 to 2022, **although the quantity of posts collected increased markedly from late 2021**. We endeavour to identify NZ-based posters (maintaining anonymity) using a range of techniques > > We calculated the total number of posts about PM Ardern and 6 other leading politicians and bureaucrats, both men and women, from parties on the left and right, some with prominent positions in the fight against Covid, some not > > While the other high profile figures were each mentioned in between 200 and 400 posts over the study period, the PM was mentioned in over 18,000 posts. This was 92% of the total body of posts > > Of the posts we would classify as negative, hateful, sexually explicit or toxic, those mentioning the PM made up 93% of the total – 5438 posts. The other individuals each had fewer than a hundred such angry or threatening posts directed at them > > A striking aspect of the posting mentioning the PM was that it was largely consistent across the period. While for other figures such posting generally peaks in response to events and then drops, posting targeting the PM was constant, incessant. > Nothing that the Prime Minister has said or done deserves this. I didn’t even vote for Labour at the last election (I gave my party vote Green). It needs to be recognized that this didn’t happen by accident. Note the part that I bolded: that the “quantity of posts collected increased markedly from late 2021.” This is congruent with the research done by the Disinformation Project which reported their findings late 2021. > **[2021-11-09-FINAL-working-paper-disinformation..pdf](https://thedisinfoproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2021-11-09-FINAL-working-paper-disinformation..pdf)** > > 2.31 MB > [@Disinformation Project](#): > > The Disinformation Project reports on emergent trends, themes and signals within a disinformation landscape that is sophisticated, motivated, adaptive, resilient, increasingly violent and significantly volatile. > > Both posts and engagement have drastically increased since 17 August 2021 and show a trajectory of growth and spread that is increasing, widening, and deepening every week. Disinformation activity shows a high degree of coordination and collaboration within and between platforms. This means that content shared into one platform is quickly shared amongst other accounts within the same platform or app, and also transmits across different social media platforms. > > … > > Other content tends to focus on a cluster of notions related to state versus individual rights and responsibilities. It is here that international content, particularly from the US and Australia, is repackaged and re-shared in Aotearoa New Zealand, framing a state that is described as tyrannical, treacherous, and forsaking international and/or national law. > > … > > The online mis- and disinformation content The Disinformation Project observes targets key individuals and groups. This includes but is not limited to Māori, Pasifika, migrants and ethnic minorities, women, gender minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, health workers, government employees. In addition, leading public figures and officials– including members of Parliament, journalists, health officials, academics, and community leaders – receive specific targeting and abuse. > > … > > The ecologies and spread of mis- and disinformation point to a broader threat: that Covid-19 and vaccination are being used as a kind of Trojan Horse for norm-setting and norm-entrenchment of far-right ideologies in Aotearoa New Zealand. Such ideologies include, but are not limited to, ideas about gun control, anti-Māori sentiment, antiLGBTQIA+, conservative ideals around family and family structure, misogyny, antiimmigration. Mis- and disinformation and ‘dangerous speech’ pose significant threats to social cohesion, freedom of expression, inclusion, and safety. We didn’t suddenly become polarised at the end of 2021. There was a deliberate, well funded, targeted disinformation campaign. The occupation of parliament didn’t come out of nowhere. > [@Ferris](#): > > People overseas don’t see that much, as she is very skilled in managing her image. I mean, there isn’t much “image management” going on here. Ardern is just very good at her job. She knows her stuff. She knows the policy back-to-front which means that journalists struggle to catch her out, and she doesn’t have to resort to talking points to get her out of trouble. She also displays remarkable empathy, especially in times of crisis, and all of that stands out. When these things are empirically true, you don’t need to worry about image management. > [@Ferris](#): > > To back that up, I’ll cite Chris Trotter - a well-known Left-wing political commentator: “The left” have disowned Chris Trotter a **long** time ago. He isn’t progressive. He’s a reactionary old man yelling at the kids on his lawn. He’s a contributing writer for the Platform for goodness sakes. (The Platform is a dark-funded “anti-cancel culture anti-woke” kinda Fox News lite) This is the kind-of reactionary stuff that Trotter writes these days. > **[The Woke Supremacy | The Daily Blog](https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/02/04/the-woke-supremacy/)** Trotter doesn’t largely doesn’t represent the “views of the left” any more, he represents the views of the “embittered”. ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/32 "2023-01-23T04:20:25Z")
Well, to speak to the Disinformation Project, I’d agree that there’s been a coordinated effort by a very vocal minority ([Link to RNZ article)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018842409/nz-s-disinformation-dozen) that appears driven by the ‘ultra-right, anti-vax’ crowd you describe. However, IMHO it’s too easy to lump all opposition in with that crowd. Recent Groundswell protests were a case in point, where organisers pleaded with people to stay on message, and didn’t want the kind of ‘Jacinda=Evil’ placards to turn out. If the media then report (truthfully) that the crowds included that sort of person, the entire protest becomes tarred with the same brush. I’m going to bow out here, since we’re poles apart politically and this thread isn’t really about health or infrastructure. It’s about a [popular](https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_update_newsletter_230120) politician. And I think I have at least set out for non-New Zealanders some reasons _why_ Jacinda Ardern left office with a net **unfavourable** rating from pollsters, why Labour’s new leader has been so quick to distance the Government from many of the policies that she was enacting, and why the recent local government elections (and two by-elections) swung Right as much as they did. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/33 "2023-01-23T08:38:00Z")
> [@Ferris](#): > > Well, to speak to the Disinformation Project, I’d agree that there’s been a coordinated effort by a very vocal minority ([Link to RNZ article)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018842409/nz-s-disinformation-dozen) that appears driven by the ‘ultra-right, anti-vax’ crowd you describe. …a “vocal minority” isn’t a fair characterization of what your cite talks about. > [@"RNZ](#): > > The amount of traffic on misinformation pages was at one point higher than that of pages operated by New Zealand mainstream media outlets combined, **on one single day 2 March, they received 350,000 interactions compared with 247,000 for all of the mainstream media sites combined.** That’s a staggering amount of mis+dis-information that had a staggeringly large reach. The fact that we are only talking about “dozen local Facebook accounts at the heart of it” makes it even worse. > [@Ferris](#): > > However, IMHO it’s too easy to lump all opposition in with that crowd. Recent Groundswell protests were a case in point, where organisers pleaded with people to stay on message, and didn’t want the kind of ‘Jacinda=Evil’ placards to turn out. If the media then report (truthfully) that the crowds included that sort of person, the entire protest becomes tarred with the same brush. But I didn’t even mention Groundswell. They aren’t a “case in point.” I’ve got plenty to say about Groundswell but I won’t, unless you bring them up again. But nothing I’ve said has anything to do with them at all. I’m talking about the data, which shows a significant rise in disinformation at the end of 2021, which had lead to a significant rise in misogynistic and hateful discourse surrounding the Prime Minister, that ultimately lead to the occupation of Parliament last year. You can’t dismiss that as “being tarred with the same brush.” > [@Ferris](#): > > And I think I have at least set out for non-New Zealanders some reasons _why_ Jacinda Ardern left office with a net **unfavourable** rating from pollsters, Remember when you said this? > [@Ferris](#): > > possibly more importantly - there’s a radical Maori caucus within Labour pushing for power on a number of fronts that the Prime Minister could no longer control. I responded with this: > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …Ferris won’t ever be able to provide a citation for this because no (legitimate) citation exists. I keep a close eye on stories like these to see where they come from. They have their genesis from stories like this: > [@Dr Muriel Newman](#): > > Our Prime Minister not only failed to inform New Zealanders before the 2020 election that she was planning to replace democracy with tribal rule, but she even kept the _He Puapua_ roadmap hidden from her Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters for the best part of a year. > > When she first became Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern declined to tell New Zealanders that she was embedding the socialist objectives of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 into our legislative and regulatory framework. We only became aware of what was going on when she [boasted](https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/wellbeing-cure-inequality) about her achievements to a Bill Gates Foundation gathering in New York. > > … > > Is it possible that Jacinda Ardern has herself entered into a “partnership” arrangement with iwi leaders that gives a free hand to Nanaia Muhuta and her cabal of Cabinet supporters to implement _He Puapua_? > > In other words, is New Zealand already being co-governed by the radical separatists in the Beehive? > > None of this may be as far-fetched as it sounds. As the Herald’s Audrey Young has [revealed](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kelvin-davis-on-the-treaty-of-waitangi-its-the-perfect-document-its-just-we-happen-to-confuse-it/JDAOHSPFWXXGI3YXMRBL7WJ6KQ/), all policy decisions being made by the Labour Government have to be vetted by the Office for Maori-Crown Relations to ensure they comply with the ‘Treaty partnership’ fabrication being pushed by Maori supremacists. > **[Who is Actually Running the Country?](https://www.nzcpr.com/who-is-actually-running-the-country/)** > > Three (now five) Waters has not only exposed the radical racial agenda that is now dividing our country, but it has also exposed the truth about who holds the reins of power in government. Dr Muriel Newman was a member of the ACT Party and served in parliament from 1996 to 2005. I’ve met here. I served her. Seems like a nice person. But what she is writing here is conspiratorial gibberish. Its nonsense. The Labour Māori caucus is not radical. They are relatively centrist compared to their colleagues in the Green Party and the Māori Party. And so these stories about “Māori supremacists” are laundered and given legitimacy by organizations with names like “the New Zealand Centre for Political Research” and they end up on your uncle’s Facebook page, and your cousin’s Telegram where layers of racism and misogyny get added, then it spreads, and all of a sudden the Prime Minister has a net unfavourable rating. Its no secret about how this happened. The data is out there. The obvious disinformation is everywhere. You very first post here in this thread was essentially a bullet-by-bullet point presentation of the classic talking points in circulation at the moment. The problem is its very easy to say things like “Jacinda reorganised the entire national health system (_during a pandemic!_ ) and added a whole new Maori Health service!” But it’s **much** more difficult (and took me hours of research) to show just how wrong this is. When the zone gets flooded, its very hard to dig your way out. And besides that: I personally think favorability ratings are nonsense. But even if we accept it: this was the first time she had slipped into negative since she was elected, the Prime Minster was on -1%, but the Leader of the Opposition was also on -1%, so they were both as “bad” as each other. > [@Ferris](#): > > why Labour’s new leader has been so quick to distance the Government from many of the policies that she was enacting Which policies has Hipkins been quick to distance the Government from? Can you be specific? Perhaps with a quote? > [@Ferris](#): > > and why the recent local government elections (and two by-elections) swung Right as much as they did. I mean: are you laying the blame for the local government elections at the feet of the Prime Minister now? Since when has that been a thing? I don’t think it’s the PM’s fault that Auckland decided to vote in Wayne Brown. I think Aucklanders should take responsibility for that. As for the by-elections: Hamilton West was always going to be a shit-show thanks to Sharma, and prior to 2020 the seat had been National’s since 2008. It’s a swing seat. It swung. As for Tauranga? Its been a National seat ever since they dethroned the kingmaker in 2005. Absolutely nobody was surprised when Uffindell won Bridge’s old seat. ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/34 "2023-01-23T19:59:47Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > But it’s **much** more difficult (and took me hours of research) to show just how wrong this is. I suppose I should be flattered that you took that much time. I certainly can’t maintain that level of commitment to the tangential issues here, which is why I said I was bowing out. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/35 "2023-01-23T21:04:58Z")
> [@Ferris](#): > > I suppose I should be flattered that you took that much time. I don’t think you need bother; ISTM that Banquet\_Bear undertook that task in the general cause of fighting ignorance rather than as a mark of special regard for your post. Certainly there is no obligation on any Doper to spend any more time than they choose posting on any particular issue in SDMB forums. But if two posters are trying, as you claim, to “set out some reasons” behind some current political developments for the benefit of less-informed foreigners, and one poster is more careful than the other about sources and details, naturally the more careful poster is going to end up using more time for the task. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/36 "2023-01-24T00:07:19Z")
Canadians, on the whole, are nice people who grew up in the shadow of American culture and sometimes spend time worrying about how they are perceived. A tabloid article on Canada anywhere in the world will be endlessly dissected by our domestic media. Our current prime minister Trudeau, has many positive attributes and many flaws. When he was newer on the scene, he had a lot of positive coverage in the foreign press for his idealism, relative youth and progressive-sounding ideas. These sometimes were not followed through on, could seem insincere or hypocritical in certain situations, took the place of more substantial priorities, or just did not work well in practice. I still like Trudeau. But I wonder if he has some similarities with Ardern - foreigners might only hear or overrepresent the good things, or lack a nuanced view. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/37 "2023-01-24T00:24:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > But I wonder if he has some similarities with Ardern - foreigners might only hear or overrepresent the good things, or lack a nuanced view. You’re probably correct here. Another similarity might be that the right-wing hates Trudeau with the passion of a thousand burning suns. and will turn ANY conversation around to this topic. They use black and white thinking too… If you don’t hate him too, then you must LOOOOOOVEEEE him. There is no middle ground. Sounds like there is a contingent in NZ who think of Jacinda Ardern in much the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/38 "2023-01-24T00:37:08Z")
…I think that this article by Giovanni Tiso provides the best summary of the Ardern legacy that I’ve read over the last few days. > **[The end of the politics of care - Overland literary journal](https://overland.org.au/2023/01/the-end-of-the-politics-of-care/)** > > The daily spectacle of televised briefings was not unique to New Zealand, and it may simply be the case that Ardern thrived when given the opportunity to speak to the public directly—in other words, that she was better than others at it.... ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/39 "2023-01-24T02:26:57Z")
So now Chris Hipkins is Prime Minister? Do those in the know here expect him to be able to turn around Labour’s slide in the polls? If the National Party does take over in October’s election what major policy direction changes would result? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438/40 "2023-01-24T03:04:04Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Do those in the know here expect him to be able to turn around Labour’s slide in the polls? …no idea, to be honest. Its important to understand the political environment before the 2017 election. They had just been through four leaders, all of them slightly the same-shade-of-the-same as the other: Phill Goff, David Shearer, David Cunliffe, then Andrew Little. And Andrew Little was getting hammered in the polls. Little saw the writing on the wall and (like Ardern did now) rightly stepped down, Ardern took over and everything turned around. Hipkins isn’t the sort of inspirational leader that Ardern was, but almost nobody out there is. He’s a “blokey bloke”, that is unoffensive enough and a sharp contrast to his political opposite, Luxon. I think that taking Ardern “off the chessboard” will put a significant dent in the National Party’s strategy. They had been coasting along on dogwhistles and “anything but Jacinda” but this will force them to step up their game. But I’m not going to predict this one. I’ve seen how quickly it can turn (both ways) and I think it could possibly turn quickly here. > [@DSeid](#): > > If the National Party does take over in October’s election what major policy direction changes would result? I won’t pretend not to be biased, so I’ll just direct you to their website here: [https://www.national.org.nz/priorities](https://www.national.org.nz/priorities) Taxes, gangs, the economy and the cost of living crisis are their priorities. The Labour Party platform is here: > **[Our Priorities](https://www.labour.org.nz/priority-pages/our-priorities/)** > > NZ Labour Party A focus on a strong economy, housing, child poverty and climate change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jacinda-ardern-resigns-as-prime-minister-of-new-zealand/978438.md?page=3)