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THE resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week should not have come as the total shock across the nation it did.
Nor should it have come as the shock it did that there was as much nastiness in the reaction to it, as there was sadness.
It would have been one of the most polarising decisions I’ve ever seen in politics in all my years.
But there are some things I believe need to be said in Ms Ardern’s defence. At no time in the history of our nation has any leader been asked to deal with so much in such a short time frame – just five-and-a-half years.
Think about these things.
The unprecedented global pandemic of Covid and its entire (and continuing) economic fallout.
The terrorist attack in Christchurch where 51 people lost their lives – terrorism in its modern-day meaning had been completely alien to us as a nation.
The unbelievable loss of 22 lives on White Island.
Then there were the “smaller” events. The war in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, which has had a profound effect throughout the world; the implementation of policies to reflect the changing climate requirements and many more of the 21st Century changes, which will be followed through by any future party which comes to power following the next election.
If this wasn’t enough, the viciousness spewed forth by the misinformed, by the disenfranchised, by the self-entitled on an ongoing daily basis had to be mind-numbing in its ferocity.
In workplace situations, we talk of stress as being something under current legislation we must ensure we take care of and to remove either ourselves or our employees from.
For the vast majority of us, that stress level is related to the pressures of work on a cog-in-a-company basis, dealing with what we need to do, and the odd personality clash of either those we work with or a customer or two.
For the prime minister, it’s completely different. They know, stepping into the role, that roughly half the population is never going to agree with anything they have to say, and for many, on principle alone.
A good percentage of those will be uninformed, uneducated, misinformed, and some just plain ignorant. And this, it must be stressed is on both sides, both left and right.
So, they are going to have to deal with the stress of those who can’t differentiate between who they are as a person, and the party they lead.
And I’ve seen some unbelievably nasty comments from people I regard as friends when it comes to what they think personally of a woman they have never met. To have to deal with this day in, day out, to have your partner subjected to unsubstantiated criminal claims, to wonder about how your child will cope when they start school … it’s no wonder there is no petrol left in the tank.
New Zealand needs to take a good long look at itself. No matter where we sit on the political spectrum, we need to accept we are never going to agree with every policy or politician who steps up in Wellington. And that’s fine. But let’s just stop with the attacking of the person. The message is what matters – not the messenger.
Jacinda, I applaud your decision to step down. It is timely, well thought out and very fair both to your party and to your voters. And most of all, to yourself.
And while I haven’t agreed with several of Labour’s policies, I take my hat off to you as one of the greatest prime ministers I’ve seen in my lifetime in terms of your leadership skills, your unflappability and your inimitable strength in the face of adversity – which was all you ever faced during your entire term.
Kia kaha in any future endeavours; you were and are an asset to Aotearoa New Zealand.
