Jacinder Ardern resigns

[Holly]

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to step down
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/01/19/prim ... step-down/



Wow, I didn't see this coming. Just last October she said this

The Prime Minister says she has no plans to quit her job ahead of next year's election after rumours began swirling.

Rumours Jacinda Ardern was planning to leave her role before the November 2023 election began circulating earlier in the month.

Ardern has been Labour leader for five years but is facing increasing pressure and a decline in popularity. She's also heading into a difficult election as Kiwis face high inflation and a cost of living crisis.

And it's driving speculation she's planning to step down instead of potentially losing the election.

But speaking with AM on Monday, Ardern told co-host Melissa Chan-Green she has no plans to step down.

"I've heard this. This rumour has floated around my entire time five years in Government. I have no plans to change my role as leader, I am not going anywhere. I've said this on the show a number of times," she said.

"Rumours circulate and it's just part of the role but this is not the first time I've had this one and it did come up the last election as well. I am the Labour leader and I have no plans on changing that."

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics ... mours.html

[Jason]

Makes you wonder if they’ve found dirt on her and she’s stepping down rather than being forced out ?

Either way, I liked her.

[Holly]

Makes you wonder if they’ve found dirt on her and she’s stepping down rather than being forced out ?

Either way, I liked her.

Yes, I talked to a few people today and they also seem to think that's what might be the cause of her stepping down, because it came so out of nowhere.
Just 3 month ago she grinned into the camera and said, she's going nowhere.

She didn't look happy when she announced it today. Something might have happened
She likes the limelight too much, all the oversees travel and meeting world leaders and celebrities.

However, it's also a known fact that she has ambitions to join the UN, so maybe she had an offer she couldn't refuse? (That would be my guess)
...and because she isn't faring too well in the polls and might know that she won't win a re-election in October. The majority of people aren't happy with her.
I don't believe she resigned because "her tank was empty" and she wanted to be there at her child's first school day. That's a lame excuse for someone so politically ambitious.

[Cactus Jack]

I don't think there's anything more sinister to it than a bit of party management to win the next election

She wouldn't have announced beforehand because one of the problems with the American system is the final year of the second term where a President is seen as a 'lame duck' unable to get stakeholders to invest political energy in helping them acheive certain goals and aims that will only be a part of their legacy rather than future political capital for anyone else. We saw it in the UK when Tony Blair announced his intention to resign way ahead of an election.

New Zealand's inflation rate right now is just 4.2%, less than half what we have in the UK, and although economic growth has slowed to only 1% that's still a lot better than deepening recession other countries are seeing as a result of how they have responded to the energy and food crises. You may not like it but it's an easy platform to contest an election on and more so if you've got a new face to front the campaign.

A change of leader is probably a way of denting the Nationalist by giving the Labour party a slight poll bounce ahead of elections in October this year,

[Stooo]

She's missed out on her kids' upbringing and as the empathetic person that she is it must have preyed on her mind, there is also the possibility that she may be ill but of course I hope not. Although not massively popular at home she was admired globally especially after her reactions to the terrorist attacks and her success of managing the pandemic.

Thinking of Christchurch her inbox must be full of RW incels threatening to rape her kids and murder her and her family. We saw it happen here with Jo Cox and David Amess, politics is a risky business.

[Holly]

She's missed out on her kids' upbringing and as the empathetic person that she is it must have preyed on her mind, there is also the possibility that she may be ill but of course I hope not. Although not massively popular at home she was admired globally especially after her reactions to the terrorist attacks and her success of managing the pandemic.

Thinking of Christchurch her inbox must be full of RW incels threatening to rape her kids and murder her and her family. We saw it happen here with Jo Cox and David Amess, politics is a risky business.

Oh stop it, that's ridiculous. Things like that don't happen in NZ. Yes of course she would get hate mail, just like every other politician in the world, it comes with the job. There will always be nutters around, including on the left, but I doubt anyone would have threatened to rape her kid and murder the family She even said that it's not why she left.
She and her partner often get seen walking on the beach without any security, and if they are around, they're a fair way away from them. Nobody really wants to harm her. NZ is very laid back and is still the safest country in the world to live in, according to google. Lot's of big mouths around of course, but no action.

The Christchurch attack was a one off and that guy was an Aussie, not a Kiwi.

And global popularity doesn't count, it's the NZ voters which do.

I think she knew she will not win the next election, so she bowed out to get on with the next step of her career.

[Holly]

I don't think there's anything more sinister to it than a bit of party management to win the next election

She wouldn't have announced beforehand because one of the problems with the American system is the final year of the second term where a President is seen as a 'lame duck' unable to get stakeholders to invest political energy in helping them acheive certain goals and aims that will only be a part of their legacy rather than future political capital for anyone else. We saw it in the UK when Tony Blair announced his intention to resign way ahead of an election.

New Zealand's inflation rate right now is just 4.2%, less than half what we have in the UK, and although economic growth has slowed to only 1% that's still a lot better than deepening recession other countries are seeing as a result of how they have responded to the energy and food crises. You may not like it but it's an easy platform to contest an election on and more so if you've got a new face to front the campaign.

A change of leader is probably a way of denting the Nationalist by giving the Labour party a slight poll bounce ahead of elections in October this year,

Who told you that?

Kiwis warned to 'prepare' as new grim picture of 'challenging' 2023 emerges


New Zealanders are being warned to "prepare now" for what one major bank predicts will be a "challenging 2023" due to "stubbornly high" inflation and an official cash rate expected to hit a 14-year high.

Inflation sat at 7.2 percent in the September quarter, down from 7.3 percent in the June quarter. While economists had previously thought inflation had peaked, the Reserve Bank came out in November forecasting it will rise again to 7.5 percent in early 2023.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/20 ... erges.html

New Zealand 'pretty much in recession already' - economist Shamubeel Eaqub

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/20 ... eaqub.html

[Guest]

Jacinda has thrown the towel in, just like Bale, another welsh born leader.
It’s sad, but how much criticism can anyone take.
The despicable mosque slaughters, the awful volcano death toll, keeping a country safe during covid?
Hard times, one female having to deal with it all.
Meanwhile, a former comedian is fighting Russian aggression.
Is she wrong? Is she weak?

[Holly]

Jacinda has thrown the towel in, just like Bale, another welsh born leader.
It’s sad, but how much criticism can anyone take.
The despicable mosque slaughters, the awful volcano death toll, keeping a country safe during covid?
Hard times, one female having to deal with it all.
Meanwhile, a former comedian is fighting Russian aggression.
Is she wrong? Is she weak?

Well she has just said recently that she will run again, and that she isn't going anywhere, so what has happened between then and now? Why would she not finish her term? It's only 9 month to go
She either knew she will lose and decided to leave before that happens, or she was forced. I don't believe for a moment that she resigned because she wanted to be there at her kids first school day, or because her tank was empty. That's rubbish. Jacinda is a very, very ambitious politician and has her eyes set on the UN. Everybody knows that, and that's where she will be heading, having been convinced she will lose the next election anyway. Watch this space.

Apparently she's now considering job offers from around the world according to the news. So much for wanting to be there for her kid

[Cactus Jack]

She did get death threats - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... nda-ardern

And other jobs won't be 24/7

[Stooo]

She's missed out on her kids' upbringing and as the empathetic person that she is it must have preyed on her mind, there is also the possibility that she may be ill but of course I hope not. Although not massively popular at home she was admired globally especially after her reactions to the terrorist attacks and her success of managing the pandemic.

Thinking of Christchurch her inbox must be full of RW incels threatening to rape her kids and murder her and her family. We saw it happen here with Jo Cox and David Amess, politics is a risky business.

Oh stop it, that's ridiculous. Things like that don't happen in NZ. Yes of course she would get hate mail, just like every other politician in the world, it comes with the job. There will always be nutters around, including on the left, but I doubt anyone would have threatened to rape her kid and murder the family She even said that it's not why she left.
She and her partner often get seen walking on the beach without any security, and if they are around, they're a fair way away from them. Nobody really wants to harm her. NZ is very laid back and is still the safest country in the world to live in, according to google. Lot's of big mouths around of course, but no action.

The Christchurch attack was a one off and that guy was an Aussie, not a Kiwi.

And global popularity doesn't count, it's the NZ voters which do.

I think she knew she will not win the next election, so she bowed out to get on with the next step of her career.

And if it happens on a beach the next time?

Things like that did happen in NZ and the fact that he was an Aussie carries the same weight if he was any other type of extremist, in this case he was a nazi rather than a brown person like his targets. Not victims, he dehumanised them and slaughtered them and it had fucking nothing to do with Australia, Mecca, China or any other cultures or countries, his first victim got it right by telling him to get a girlfriend. He was an incel far right wing nazi who wanted to wipe living human beings out because he learned to hate them in his inadequacy. He's hardly the first and they're easy to manipulate.

She can't walk down the beach any more and that's something to think about.

If she moves abroad to work are you assuming that she will commute or will the normal 'whole family moving' thing happen after a lot of conversation in her family about the pros and cons like most people do, you moved to NZ for instance.

I'm not taking the piss about Jo Cox.

[Holly]

She did get death threats - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... nda-ardern

And other jobs won't be 24/7

One drunken fool.

I bet most leaders of other countries get a hell of a lot more threats like that. You don't even have to be anyone in the public eye, how many ordinary people on SM get death threats?

And she knew that she's taking on a 24/7 job when she ran for the position, not once but twice, she was also pregnant the first time around.

[Holly]

She's missed out on her kids' upbringing and as the empathetic person that she is it must have preyed on her mind, there is also the possibility that she may be ill but of course I hope not. Although not massively popular at home she was admired globally especially after her reactions to the terrorist attacks and her success of managing the pandemic.

Thinking of Christchurch her inbox must be full of RW incels threatening to rape her kids and murder her and her family. We saw it happen here with Jo Cox and David Amess, politics is a risky business.

Oh stop it, that's ridiculous. Things like that don't happen in NZ. Yes of course she would get hate mail, just like every other politician in the world, it comes with the job. There will always be nutters around, including on the left, but I doubt anyone would have threatened to rape her kid and murder the family She even said that it's not why she left.
She and her partner often get seen walking on the beach without any security, and if they are around, they're a fair way away from them. Nobody really wants to harm her. NZ is very laid back and is still the safest country in the world to live in, according to google. Lot's of big mouths around of course, but no action.

The Christchurch attack was a one off and that guy was an Aussie, not a Kiwi.

And global popularity doesn't count, it's the NZ voters which do.

I think she knew she will not win the next election, so she bowed out to get on with the next step of her career.

And if it happens on a beach the next time?

Things like that did happen in NZ and the fact that he was an Aussie carries the same weight if he was any other type of extremist, in this case he was a nazi rather than a brown person like his targets. Not victims, he dehumanised them and slaughtered them and it had fucking nothing to do with Australia, Mecca, China or any other cultures or countries, his first victim got it right by telling him to get a girlfriend. He was an incel far right wing nazi who wanted to wipe living human beings out because he learned to hate them in his inadequacy. He's hardly the first and they're easy to manipulate.

She can't walk down the beach any more and that's something to think about.

If she moves abroad to work are you assuming that she will commute or will the normal 'whole family moving' thing happen after a lot of conversation in her family about the pros and cons like most people do, you moved to NZ for instance.

I'm not taking the piss about Jo Cox.

Yes, she can still walk the beach with very little threat to herself.
She also often gets seen in pubs mixing with the locals.
I once saw John Key the previous PM in a small corner shop buying milk, he was all by himself, no security in sight and people didn't hassle him, some just said Hello.
It's not in Kiwi's nature to assassinate politicians.

New Zealand is still the safest country in the world.

But anyway, like I said, it's a known fact that she always had ambitions to join the UN, and since she probably knows she won't win the next election, she resigned now to give Labour a chance. I don't think she even wanted to do another 4 year term.

Analysis: Could Jacinda Ardern be destined for the United Nations, and what are her chances?

ANALYSIS: It's barely 24 hours since the Prime Minister shocked the country by announcing her resignation, but speculation is already mounting as to Jacinda Ardern's next move with some suggesting it could be to the United Nations in New York.

"Any government leader who has held the reins of power, especially at the top, all of that has to be a benefit to any candidacy to be the UN Secretary-General," he said.

If Secretary-General isn't for Ardern, Roth suggested she could be suited to another powerful role at the UN - or even in an ambassadorial role for New Zealand.

Ardern's relationship with current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is a positive one that has seemed to develop during their respective terms in office, and may help her chances if she wanted to secure a major role.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics ... ances.html

[Cactus Jack]

She did get death threats - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... nda-ardern

And other jobs won't be 24/7

One drunken fool.

I bet most leaders of other countries get a hell of a lot more threats like that. You don't even have to be anyone in the public eye, how many ordinary people on SM get death threats?

And she knew that she's taking on a 24/7 job when she ran for the position, not once but twice, she was also pregnant the first time around.

Given how sensitive you have been to what I had perceived as relatively mild criticism I find it surprising that you regard death threats to another woman and her children so lightly.

I feel very differently, to the extent that I have tried to take on board your criticism of my choice of language and use of imagery because you were so clearly upset by it and were considering stepping back from a job you do very well because of my poorly chosen words.

[Holly]

She did get death threats - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... nda-ardern

And other jobs won't be 24/7

One drunken fool.

I bet most leaders of other countries get a hell of a lot more threats like that. You don't even have to be anyone in the public eye, how many ordinary people on SM get death threats?

And she knew that she's taking on a 24/7 job when she ran for the position, not once but twice, she was also pregnant the first time around.

Given how sensitive you have been to what I had perceived as relatively mild criticism I find it surprising that you regard death threats to another woman and her children so lightly.

I feel very differently, to the extent that I have tried to take on board your criticism of my choice of language and use of imagery because you were so clearly upset by it and were considering stepping back from a job you do very well because of my poorly chosen words.

I'm not dismissing it lightly, but people who threaten don't usually act up on it. That would be stupid to send out a warning first.
There has never been an attempt on her life or her child.

Things like threats come with the job unfortunately, but they are also very carefully monitored.
Of course it's not nice, of course I feel for her, I feel bad for everyone who gets threatening messages.

I have been sent numerous horrible messages over the years by that lunatic Philagain, like him wanting to jump and chomp on my head, kick it, cutting it off, wants to hit me, shoot me, wants me to die of cancer, wants my family, my pets etc to die painfully, the list goes on and on. So no, it's not nice, whether you're a public figure or not.

Most politicians and celebrities, will always have to deal with shit like that.
Unfortunately there will always be lunatics running around amongst us.

I don't believe for a moment that was the reason she quit, Jacinder is tough as nails, very ruthless and wouldn't be scared off by a few keyboard warriors. She either knew she would lose next election, was pushed, or had a better offer. What ever her reason, I'm glad she is gone, and so are over two thirds of the country.
I actually voted for her, I thought she was a breath of fresh air, I liked the fact she was a woman, her youth and her enthusiasm. She turned into a freaken evil dictator.
Now lets see if Chris Hipkins (the new PM) can do better.

And I appreciate your last paragraph