David Cohen

When I first met Jacinda Ardern in the early 2010s, the notion that the young MP with the toothy smile in front of me might one day go for the top job at the United Nations was unlikely. After spending the past couple of years stitching together a portrait of New Zealand’s fortieth prime minister, I’d be more inclined to ask: what took her so long? Writing an unauthorised biography of any major political figure is a rum business. It’s rather like breaking into someone’s house and then tidying up the living room. My attempt to chart Ardern’s public life and her ‘politics of kindness’ led me helter-skelter through a maze of false starts, frequently contradictory anecdotes, and the occasional source who spoke as if they were auditioning for a spy novel.

During the five years Jacinda Ardern led New Zealand, much was made of her ‘transparent’ style of touchy-feely leadership and willingness to deal with thorny questions. Yet on the biggest issue of her record – her zero Covid policies – the former Prime Minister has gone missing. A planned week-long public hearing at an inquiry in New Zealand into the nation’s Covid response was abandoned last month, after Jacinda Ardern and other senior figures from her government unexpectedly refused to testify. Ardern’s no-show came as a surprise to many, including the country’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, who said his predecessor’s decision was ‘not right’.

‘Everyone must go!’ New Zealand’s new tourism declares, but so far almost everyone seems to be cringing. The prime minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, this week unveiled the latest tagline aimed first at holidaymakers from Australia but also those living further afield. Critics say the wording of the latest marketing campaign sounds like something from a Boxing Day sale, or even a cry of desperation from the back of a typically long toilet queue on one of the country’s frequently crowded hiking trails.

Diplomatic storm clouds are gathering around the Cook Islands, a picturesque tourist destination in the South Pacific known for its creaking palms, pink beaches and deliciously warm nights.  The microscopic island-nation has a long-standing ‘free association’ with New Zealand, which sees Wellington give the islands defence and financial support. Now though the islands are in the middle of striking an agreement with China, and New Zealand says it has been kept in the dark about the nature of the pact.  ‘We can confirm that there are a number of issues on which New Zealand and the Cook Islands government currently do not see eye-to-eye,’ a spokesman for New Zealand’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, tersely told the public broadcaster RNZ.

In the UK, the Labour party has pledged to halt any new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, which the Tories today suggest could cost billions in tax revenue over the next ten years.  When it comes to energy policy, Labour could really benefit from looking at what happened when New Zealand’s Labour party tried the same thing in the South Sea.  Six years ago, the Jacinda Ardern government enacted a similar policy in New Zealand. Today, gas-dependent industrial sectors find themselves with something of a python around their necks. Politicians here in this nation of 5.5 million have even begun to openly fret about the country’s ability to keep the lights on.

The government of New Zealand this week tightened the country’s working visa rules in order to stem historically high numbers of international migrants making their way to the South Seas. New Zealand’s infrastructure seems to be groaning in response to the surging number of international newcomers Immigration minister Erica Stanford said that the changes will allow businesses to make greater use of local workers while still attracting high-skill migrants where there are skill shortages. ‘Getting our immigration settings right is critical to this government's plan to rebuild the economy,’ she says. The new rules have also been billed as protecting migrants from exploitation.