Jacinda Ardern has bid farewell to New Zealand’s parliament with a tearful valedictory speech, a call for more diverse leadership, and a plea to keep climate change politics-free.
The departing 42-year-old said she would “happily be known as Neve’s mum” as she enters a new phase of her life.
The former NZ prime minister addressed colleagues for the final time on Wednesday, with former prime ministers and luminaries watching from packed public galleries.
Ms Ardern entered parliament aged 28 and when Labour took power under her leadership in 2017, she became the world’s youngest female head of government.
“My internal reluctance to lead was matched by a huge sense of responsibility,” she said.
Climate change was a constant theme in her most important speeches: her maiden speech, her leadership campaign launch, and in her valedictory.
“Climate change is a crisis. It is upon us. And so one of the very few things I will ask in this house on my departure is that you please take the politics out of climate change,” she said.
“There will always be policy differences but beneath that we have what we need to make the progress we must.”
NZ’s climate change-tackling infrastructure – including the Zero Carbon Act, an independent climate commission and carbon budgets – is among Ms Ardern’s signature achievements.
She also gave special thanks to members of the country’s Islamic community, who she said humbled her “beyond words” with their stoic response to the Christchurch Mosques terrorism attack.
A number of survivors and widows of the 51 killed in the 2019 attack were given seats for the address.
Ms Ardern spoke ruefully of the rise of misinformation in politics, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So much of the information swirling around was false,” she said.
“Seeing the rage that often accompanies these conspiracies, I had to accept that I … could not single-handedly pull someone out of a rabbit hole.
“But perhaps collectively, we all have a role to play in stopping people falling down in the first place.
“They are answers I will keep looking for.”
She will do that with one of two roles she will take up when she resigns her seat on April 15.
Ms Ardern will continue her work countering online extremism as NZ’s special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a multilateral partnership between tech companies and nations.
She will also take up a board seat on Prince William’s conservation project, the Earthshot Prize.
As she concluded her speech, Ms Ardern described her battle to conceive her daughter Neve, now four, as she began her prime ministership.
“When I ran for parliament in my 20s I remember being afraid that I was choosing a path that meant I wouldn’t get to have children,” she said.
“I experienced a failed IVF round when I became leader of the Labour Party. I thought that I found myself on a path that I wouldn’t be a mother.
“Rather than process that, I campaigned to become prime minister.
“Imagine my surprise when a couple of months later I discovered I was pregnant.
“I leave knowing I was the best mother I could be.”
Ms Ardern said she wanted her prime ministership to inspire and be an example to others from non-traditional leadership backgrounds.
“You can be anxious, sensitive, kind and wear your heart on your sleeve. You can be a mother or not. You can be an ex-Mormon or not. You can be a nerd, a crier, or a hugger. You can be all of these things.
“And not only can you be here – you can lead, just like me.”
Ms Ardern announced her retirement from politics in January, saying after a summer of soul-searching she “didn’t have enough in the tank” to continue on to the election, due on October 14, and beyond.
© AAP 2023
