As Dame Jacinda Ardern shines on the world stage, some hateful Kiwis are poking out their own eyes
While global audiences gush over Dame Jacinda Ardern, following the release of a movie about her leadership, for some New Zealanders the publicity is like a red rag to a bull.
Although most Kiwis are proud to see their former Prime Minister couch-surfing the top talk shows and receiving the sort of breathless acclaim usually reserved for movie stars, a small but vocal minority is seething.
Ardern remains a polarising figure in her own country, her very name capable of engendering the most hateful commentary. The woman who led this country through one of the most painful periods in its history, showed extraordinary humanity to the Muslim families who lost loved ones to a gutless shooter and who empowered a generation of girls and young women to reach for the stars - we ran that gal out of town.
Much analysis has been done as to why Ardern’s legacy has been distilled into pockets of deep disdain here, but the nasty backlash has always appeared gendered, irrational and wholly disproportionate - not a response to her politics so much as to the very essence of who she is.
This ‘girl in a skirt on a power trip’, in the withering words of one sideline critic, was perhaps too tall a poppy for this place, too nice, too attractive, too smart and too vulnerable. As for having a baby on the job!
New Zealanders are generally understated. We don’t like to blast on our own trumpets or stand out from the crowd so, seeing their former PM enjoying such off-the-charts adoration is deeply uncomfortable, even enraging to some.
Although ‘Prime Minister’ debuted to a standing ovation at Sundance, has a 95% Rotten Tomato rating and is being tipped for an Oscar, many New Zealanders chose not to see it when it was released here in September. Why? Many friends have told me it’s because they ‘know the story.’ Fair enough but I suspect the real reason is more nuanced. For many of us it’s just too raw. We don’t want to be reminded of how COVID came calling with death on its breath or to watch Ardern in a hijab comforting the bereaved families of Muslim worshippers gunned down while they prayed at two Christchurch mosques in 2019. Perhaps, like a drunk the morning after, we can’t bear to revisit the apocalyptic scenes of a lawless mob, in a frenzy of post-Covid resentment, ripping up the grounds of Parliament while Ardern watches with anguish from her office window. To be fair, it is a hard watch that sucks the very breath from you, but it’s also an opportunity to review the extraordinary scale of challenges Ardern faced during her leadership, as well as the personal cost.
Ardern herself admits she didn’t get everything right (it could be argued she was somewhat distracted from pure politics) but she undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of lives through early and decisive action during the Covid-19 pandemic. She showed extraordinary leadership in her handling of the Christchurch terror attack and the volcanic eruption that claimed the lives of tourists at Whakaari White Island. Her critics cut her zero slack for any of that. She finally stepped down partly because she felt she had become a lightning rod for all that was perceived to be wrong with our country. However, despite her exit from politics and the country, the vitriol has, if anything, has intensified.
It’s a brave person in this country who stands up for Ardern these days. To do so is to unleash a torrent of abuse, a backlash of bitter, misogynistic hatred from the fingertips of often anonymous keyboard thumpers. Like bedbugs, they lurk in the crevices waiting for fresh meat. As soon as they’re baited by the key words ‘Jacinda Ardern’, they’re at it. So personal, so disgusting, so utterly hateful.
A few years back I wrote a children’s book called The Essential Fairy. It was inspired by our former PM addressing the concerns of children during the Covid lockdown, by declaring the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny ‘essential’ workers. Whilst it’s been a hit with the kids, any attempt to promote my book on social media brings the haters, trolls and bots out of the woodwork, so I no longer bother.
Our current PM, Christoper Luxon, is a wealthy former businessman with no political pedigree or interesting backstory. He heads a coalition government that includes right-wing factions he is unable to control. Under his watch, climate action has been sidelined, race relations set back years, gun control laws relaxed, and world-leading public health initiatives abandoned. Government policies continue to penalise society’s most vulnerable, whilst boosting the fortunes of business-owners, farmers and landlords, like himself. So grim are things here that 1400 Kiwis are leaving the country every week, yet Luxon isn’t subject to anything like the sustained and deeply personal attacks levelled at Ardern.
Significantly, he’s also been spared the need to step up to the plate in any meaningful way during his tenure or to govern during even the sniff of a crisis. Still, he can tie a Windsor knot and back slap the bros and, for some, that seems to count for more in our sad little nation than all Dame Jacinda stands for.
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