As a general comment I think Adern was extraordinary, especially as a woman at her age pushing back against some pretty conservative politics. Doing things like changing the law so that mandated pay rises for politicians were scrapped made her very popular and she won her second election in a landslide.

The actions that kept thousands of NZ citizens alive through the pandemic should be applauded even though it ultimately dropped her standing in the polls.

Dear Paul1405,

Sorry mate, as much as I despise many of our current crop of politicians the term Uncle Tom Wyatt is just not on. I dislike the term anyway but Wyatt's carriage of the Co-designed report has given a firm foundation for the Voice and so I think referring to him in that manner is in anyway justified.

Dear Steele,

Jacinta Ardern was a remarkable Prime Minister.
She had many shining moments as already mentioned.
She promoted diversity and gender equality. There
were more women, people of colour, and LGBTQI MPs
in her government than ever before in NZ history.

In October 2022 a gender equality milestone happened
with women making up the majority of its parliament for
the first time. Prior to that in 2020 she made it easier
for women to negotiate for equal pay with parliament
passing the Equal Pay Amendment Bill.

She was the first PM to march in a Pride parade.
Then there was the history making (in October) Crown apology
that she delivered to a Maori tribe for warmongering and
breaches to the Treaty of Waitangi. The apology was 30 years
in the making and saw the government agree to $NZ 165 million
redress and the return of 36 culturally significant sites.

There's her commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 landmark
legislation. She introduced a new public holiday -" Matariki"
the start of the Maori New Year.

And there's more. Due to the kindness of the Maori communities
when she was pregnant - she choose a Maori connection in
naming her daughter. Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.

Te Aroha is after the name of the mountain on North Island near
her home in Hamilton.

Ardern might have done lots of stuff that the woke community thinks were important or ground-breaking or that old stand-by, 'brave'.

But the fact is the things she forced upon a reluctant electorate led to her unpopularity. That she is getting out rather than face up to the verdict of the electorate speaks more about her character than any of the political eulogies the woke are penning.

Foxy,

No not like the names you mention, apart from Cormann. The others didn't end up in some UN sinecure. But she will.

Kiwi academic Bryce Woods believes Ardern jumped before she was pushed. She was down to being a 32 percenter, and Labour is plummeting in the polls.

Her own Labour supporters are disillusioned with her.

Hopeless with the economy. To much culture BS. Endless unmet promises.

Foxy,

I never expected you to do anything other than swoon over the woke princess. Her "shining achievements" were mostly virtue signalling and did little or nothing to improve the lives of her constituents in fact mostly the opposite. In fact, without the pandemic which seemed to boost most incumbents, Jacinda was not looking likely to survive the 2020 election.

"Ms Ardern’s election promises, which helped ­secure her such an overwhelming majority in 2020, were turning to dust. Ms Ardern promised to build 100,000 affordable homes within 10 years; five years later, only 1366 had been built.

Emissions have increased by 2 per cent since 2018, net migration has turned negative for the first time in decades as young people flee the country for better opportunities abroad – mostly in Australia – and crime has seen an inexorable rise with a spike in violent gang activity. Like the rest of the world, New Zealand is bracing for a recession this year.

By the end of 2022, rather than laughing and smiling her way through television interviews, Ms Ardern was beginning to look pale and haunted as media interrogators pinioned her on the government’s failures."

mhaze,

For your information:

Tony Abbott - Adviser to the UK Board of Trade since 2020.

Christopher Pyne - Since late 2020 - consultant in the
Australian Defence Industry. He's chairman of several
advisory boards dealing with missiles, and other weapons.

Arthur Sinodinos Ambassador to the US since Feb. 2020.

Julia Bishop Chancellor of the ANU since Jan 2020.

Peter Costello - Goldman Sachs et al.
Josh Frydenberg - Goldman Sachs.

Mathias Cormann - Secreatary General (OECD) since 2021.

And the list goes on.