Category Archives: Jacinda Ardern

Lifestyle

12 Dec, 2021 07:14 PM3 minutes to read

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joked with TVNZ's Breakfast team as she opened her hen's do present.Video / TVNZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may be getting married this summer - but maybe don't expect a wild hen's do beforehand.

That is if her reaction to a gift from TVNZ's Breakfast team is anything to go by.

At the end of her last interview on the Breakfast show for the year, the PM was given a gift from the team.

As she opened it, host John Campbell revealed it was something for her hen's party, if she had one - to which Ardern made a face.

"Wow, this could be any manner of distasteful gifts," she joked.

She then lifted out a sparkly headband emblazoned with the word "bride", a bridal sash and a bottle of wine.

Holding up the headband, she laughed: "I can promise you, this will never see the light of day."

Her upcoming wedding to Clarke Gayford is planned for this summer in Gisborne.

Asked on ZM this month about how her wedding plans were going, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said "you'd have to ask Clarke, he's in charge".

"I said to someone I do really think I'm the least-engaged bride. I know the big stuff, but he's really doing the lot."

12 Dec, 2021 12:14 AMQuick Read

11 Dec, 2021 12:00 AMQuick Read

12 Dec, 2021 07:35 PMQuick Read

10 Dec, 2021 04:00 PMQuick Read

Asked if he was moving a marquee in on the back of a truck, in reference to Clarke's TVNZ show Moving House, "you know what, it's not that far off".

And while the joke could have revealed details of her wedding ceremony, Ardern denied that would be actually happening on her big day.

She said her comment just represented "that it's going to be pretty low key".

In July, Ardern admitted in a radio interview that she won't be embarking on a honeymoon after her big day. She is too busy leading the country after all.

Chatting to MoreFM hosts Gary and Lana, Ardern was asked if she had any honeymoon plans in the works.

"No, no, I don't. I'll probably be going back to work," the PM confessed.

She added she didn't think she's missing out on a right of passage for a bride.

"I guess it's my choice, for having major life events while in this job. So, no one's fault except my own. No complaints from us."

Read the original post:

Jacinda Ardern wedding: Prime Minister reacts to hen's-do gifts from TVNZ Breakfast team - New Zealand Herald

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly column looking at the lighter side of politics.

This is the last Declassified of 2021. See you in 2022, which will either be better or much, much worse.

Whats the best way to navigate a pandemic? Try and pretend its not happening, it appears.

This week a survey of the worlds most admired people had podcaster Barack Obama in first place for men, and the star of Netflix childrens series Waffles + Mochi Michelle Obama in the top slot for women (both also topped the same poll in 2020).

Older readers may remember the time the Obamas spent in the White House a lifetime ago (or so it feels).

Sadly for Europes political leaders, none of them made the list (although Angela Merkel who finished 8th was still German chancellor when the polling was conducted, just not when the results were released). The lists only contain 20 names, so maybe well never know if Charles Michel was just a few votes away from making the cut or if Ursula von der Leyen was oh so close to displacing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern or Chinese actress Yang Mi and getting onto the list.

However, EU nemesis Vladimir Putin whose sending of troops to the border with Ukraine was on the agenda of not one but two top-level meetings this week came in at number nine and world nemesis Donald Trump finished 13th.

If ever there was an illustration that we live in strange times, its that in 6th place on the mens list was Elon Musk, who was also this week named Time magazines person of the year. Thats right, a man who once live-tweeted himself taking a shit was deemed the most important person of the year.

But if not Musk, then who should have been named person of the year? Dolly Parton surely has to be a contender. All doctors and nurses? Everyone who worked on coronavirus vaccines?

There has to be a controversial choice on any list, so how about the Italian man who wanted to get his COVID pass but didnt want the vaccine, so turned up for his jab wearing a fake arm! Or perhaps the American air passenger who staff believe was breastfeeding her cat on a flight! Or whoever took part in Boris Johnsons lockdown-busting quiz and decided to name their team Prof. Quiz Whitty!

A big round of applause for 2021, everybody!

Two cops: ones idealistic, the others a rule-breaker. Coming soon to Netflix Manu and Vik.

Can you do better? Email[emailprotected]or on Twitter@pdallisonesque

Last week we gave you this photo:

Thanks for all the entries. Heres the best from our postbag (theres no prize except for the gift of laughter, which I think we can all agree is far more valuable than cash or booze).

A big hand for the new chancellor, by Tom Morgan.

Paul Dallison isPOLITICOs slot news editor.

Visit link:

The worlds most admired people? Has-beens and online poopers - POLITICO Europe

After the Biden administrations announcement concerning the diplomatic ban of Chinas Winter Games, Jacinda Arderns government has distanced itself from western allies once again but it would be wrong to assume that Wellington has any illusions about China.

The US government confirmed this week it would diplomatically boycott the Winter Olympic Games to protest against Chinas persecution of the Uyghur people in the countrys Xinjiang province. Australia, UK and Canada subsequently indicated they would join the boycott.

Meanwhile, Grant Robertson, New Zealands deputy prime minister, said the New Zealand government had informed Chinese officials it would not send any ministers to the 2022 Winter Games, but left open the possibility that some diplomats may attend.

Robertson said this decision was due to a range of factors but mostly to do with Covid and human rights issues in China. However, he believed New Zealands position on the games did not amount to a diplomatic boycott.

New Zealand had earlier broken ranks by signing the United Nations Olympic Truce a tradition to ensure conflicts do not affect competition in sport but none of the Quad members (US, India, Australia and Japan) or partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing networks, namely, Australia, Canada, UK and US, have been willing to sign it.

New Zealands stance toward Beijings Winter Games is only the latest in a long line of diplomatic efforts under Jacinda Arderns leadership to engage with China in a way that is distinguishable from its allies.

For one thing, New Zealand signed a 2017 non-binding cooperation agreement with respect to Chinas belt and road initiative (BRI), an option spurned by other western states.

In addition, the government framed its 2018 ban of Huawei on technical grounds and did not rule out Huaweis future participation in that network if the company took corrective steps.

Moreover, after a successful visit to Beijing by Ardern in April 2019, the two sides agreed to accelerate work on upgrading their 2008 FTA.

And even though New Zealand followed other members of the Five Eyes network in suspending their extradition treaties with Hong Kong in July 2020, it was the last to do so.

The government has been depicted as soft on China by some media outlets in the US, UK and Australia.

But while the government has sought to minimise differences with China New Zealands biggest trade partner it is not the case that Wellington has any illusions about Chinas authoritarian system and its growing assertiveness internationally.

Among other things, the Ardern leadership responded to concerns about Chinas growing influence by announcing a NZ$714m Pacific Reset in March 2018; issued a strategic defence policy statement explicitly identifying China as a threat to the international rules-based order; and passed legislation in late 2019 banning all foreign donations over NZ$50 in an apparent move to limit Chinese influence in domestic politics.

At the same time, the government has repeatedly raised concerns with Beijing about human rights violations in Xinjiang, supported Australia in its spat with China in 2019 over the use of a doctored image to spotlight Australias war crimes in Afghanistan, and the latest Defence assessment warns New Zealands position in the South Pacific is now threatened by a growing Chinese presence that could fundamentally alter the strategic balance.

So if New Zealand shares many of the strategic concerns of close allies about China, why does it express them in a more nuanced diplomatic fashion?

In essence, the government does not accept the worldview underpinning the new strategic pact between Australia, the UK and US (Aukus) that the fate of the Indo-Pacific rests on US-China rivalry and, in particular, on the capacity of America and its closest allies to uphold the international rules-based order and counter Chinese forcefulness in the region.

This perspective is seen as exaggerating the ability of great powers in the 21st century to shape and influence a region as large and diverse as the Indo-Pacific.

China and the US find themselves today in an increasingly interconnected world where there is a growing number of problems like Covid-19 that do not respect borders and can only be resolved through concerted international cooperation.

While states like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam remain deeply concerned about Chinas assertiveness, it does not mean they see Aukus, an enhanced security arrangement involving three English-speaking states two of whom have had difficult historical links with the region as the answer to this problem.

Indeed, Aukus runs the risk of boosting domestic support for Xi Jinpings China-centric foreign policy at a time when there are growing signs of a power struggle behind the scenes in the ruling Communist party.

In the circumstances, the government clearly believes a measured independent foreign policy, which combines elements of counterbalancing and accommodation in relation to China, remains the best way of maximising New Zealand interests in what is now the worlds most important economic and strategic region.

Original post:

New Zealand isnt naive about China but it doesnt accept the Aukus worldview - The Guardian

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sat down to wrap up the year in her Christmas-time interview.Video / Marty Melville

It's been a tough year on top of a tough year - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern knows that.

Sitting down for her annual round of traditionally light-hearted Christmas interviews, Ardern veered between Christmas levity and Covid solemnity.

Ardern said the summer break will give her time to reflect on the year that's been, and the decisions she's made this year. And while she wouldn't give an example of a particular decision she regrets making - she said she would be reflecting on the course she charted through the pandemic.

"We are in the best possible position at the end of this year to weather that [the pandemic] next year.

"The way we got there was hard - and I will spend a lot of time, I know, over the summer thinking about how could we get there it in a way that had more certainty, that was smoother - I will reflect on that a lot," Ardern said.

One specific thing Ardern said would occupy her reflections was the vaccine rollout, and the decisions made around rationing and prioritisation.

She acknowledged parts of the strategy were "hard" for some communities.

"What's been difficult about this year is the choices have been between two hard things.

"At no point has it been well here's the easy option and here's the hard [option]," Ardern said.

"I spend a lot of time thinking about them, but I also go into them thinking 'this is where we need to go' and once those decisions are made, you have to move on to the next one, and eventually give yourself space to cast back," Ardern said.

10 Dec, 2021 07:00 PMQuick Read

10 Dec, 2021 04:00 PMQuick Read

10 Dec, 2021 03:17 AMQuick Read

9 Dec, 2021 10:52 PMQuick Read

"I'm really determined that we will get to the end, that we will be able to cast back and reflect on what went well, what could have been done better, because we do have to take all of that with us.

"I'll look at the vaccine rollout and say 'how could we do better for the 5 to 11-year-olds? What do we need to learn from the overall rollout for that next stage," Ardern said.

Ardern wouldn't say whether she had regrets about the vaccine rollout, which was roundly criticised for its sluggish speed and for the fact it did not prioritise Mori. She said the advantage New Zealand has when it comes to vaccinating 5 to 11-year-olds is there is now enough vaccine supply.

"One of the massive advantages we have is that we have enough vaccine for everyone to start with, so there are no sequencing decisions," Ardern said.

She also acknowledged some vaccine providers faced challenges in the early phase of the rollout when it came to taking vaccinations into the community.

"One of the things I reflect on is that in the beginning it wasn't easy for our providers to get out and do what they needed to do. I think they're in a better position now," Ardern said.

"I think the thing that I would pick up is how, from what we had, when we had it - how could we make it as effective as possible in reaching the people we need it to.

"When we had limited supply, we had to do a lot of static sites and just try to bring people to us, and that was a hard strategy for delivery for some of our communities".

Christmas for Ardern will be "very simple", and will include visiting her family in the Waikato and the family of fiance Clarke Gayford on the East Coast.

She said she'll be catching up with people she hasn't seen "in a very long time, just like lots of others".

"I'm going to be spending some time in the sun, which Wellington really struggles to produce," Ardern said.

Ardern said she's always up for a "really sentimental Christmas film", having acquired a taste for sentimental Christmas films from her mother.

She was happy to weigh in on the long-running dispute over whether the classic 1988 Bruce Willis flick Die Hard is a actually Christmas film or just a film set at Christmas.

"I'm going to put it in there [in the Christmas film category]" Arden said.

"That doesn't mean it should only be watched at Christmas - so that's where I'd land on that," she said.

The 1990 film Home Alone, is her "first Christmas film love" followed by "Love Actually".

Despite Ardern's fondness for Love Actually, she said she'd never contemplated recreating the famous scene in which Hugh Grant, playing the British prime minister, dances through Number 10 Downing Street at night, having scored a win over the US President.

The Herald put to Ardern that she might contemplate recreating the scene before her occupancy of Premier House ends.

"It's a classic scene - and Premier House does have the stairs for it," Ardern said.

She also noted one advantage Premier House had over Downing Street - the fact it is not a working office .

"It doesn't have the same number of people in it to be caught out by," she said.

Ardern did not rule out recreating the scene before her tenure as Prime Minister was up, although "not publicly".

"I mean, just for my own satisfaction, maybe," she said.

One thing that will be slightly different for Ardern this Christmas is it will be the first time in recent years she will not be participating in an annual exchange of gifts with Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.

The pair have typically exchange gifts each Christmas.

Last year, Hosking gifted Ardern a reusable mask emblazoned with his face, and Ardern gifted Hosking a 2020 campaign hoarding suggesting he was himself a Labour candidate.

Upon opening her gift last year, Ardern told Hosking she "briefly worried it was a g-string And I thought, maybe he's gone too far?"

"Maybe that's for next year," Hosking joked back.

But following Ardern's decision to pull out of her weekly slot with Hosking, the gift-giving tradition ceased - there was no next year.

"Now that you point it out - I haven't had an approach from Mike, wanting to exchange gifts, but if we did, I would absolutely consider doing it," Ardern said, confirming that despite cancelling slots on the show, she had not put Hosking on the "naughty" list.

"If he wanted to still exchange gifts with Neve, I know she was always very enthusiastic," Ardern said, noting Neve was particularly enthusiastic for a toy vacuum cleaner Hosking had once given her.

Looking to the new year, Ardern was confident it would be an improvement on the year just past.

Speaking with other world leaders, she thinks people around the world have been reckoning with the Covid future much like New Zealanders.

It has slowly dawned on people that the pandemic is likely to be around for longer than people had hoped.

"What I really picked up is the way that we're all feeling - when I talk to other leaders everyone else is experiencing the same thing.

"I think in 2020 there was a sense of - having a bit of a view that vaccines are on the horizon - and then in 2021, Delta everyone has had to come to terms with the fact that this pandemic is not going away quickly and we're going to have to find new ways to live our lives and keep people safe and keep going.

"Everyone feels the exhaustion of that and knowing we're going to have to keep going with the pandemic in the background next year as well," she said.

But she thinks there's cause for optimism too - and she's calling on New Zealanders to draw on some of that pride in the Covid response that seems to have ebbed away in recent months.

"If you look at where we were in 2020, and now here - still the lowest case rate, the lowest deaths, some of the highest vaccination rates and on top of that some of the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD.

"We have as a country finished strong - I know we had so much pride in our response and we should still hold that because relative to other countries we have finished strong," she said.

With more and more Covid treatments on the horizon, Ardern is hopeful that while the pandemic may be with us for some time, it will be easier to live with.

"We have antivirals now that are coming onstream to ease care, we have the prospect of vaccinations for our kids and we have so much more information about Covid - so I am cautiously optimistic," Ardern said.

She thinks there are reasons to be cheerful on the non-Covid front too.

She's hopeful next year will see the signing of the long-awaited free trade agreement with the European Union.

"We had a great FTA that we managed to produce this year - I want to add another one to that next year. That will make a big difference for our exporters," Ardern said.

"I want to continue to make progress on our climate goals - because by doing that we put our economy on a surer footing. Climate change is one of our biggest economic challenges too," she said.

Ardern's also hopeful the housing market will see the impact of some of the Government's measures to open up supply and rein in speculation.

"There's a lot of speculation about the market turning and we've done a lot around investors and tilting the playing field on RMA reform and of course there's been record consents," Ardern said.

A better housing market "has to be the goal".

She challenges the Herald to check in on housing, health, climate change and trade in 2022.

Despite the challenging year, she hasn't given a thought to a possible life after politics.

"My focus has to be here. It is all-consuming," Ardern said.

"I've always said I'm not one to sit down and map out my 10-year plan.

"That's always served me well in politics - it can be a fickle place".

Go here to read the rest:

Jacinda Ardern on Christmas, Covid, vaccines and movies Die Hard, Home Alone and Love Actually - New Zealand Herald

Jacinda Ardern insists the trans-Tasman friendship with Australia is in fine health, and she won't join the international pile-on critiquing Scott Morrison's foreign engagement.

But nor is the New Zealand prime minister willing to support her Australian counterpart for recent dealings that have left France fuming, the USA cold and have further provoked China.

In a rare sit-down interview with Australian media, Ms Ardern said she hadn't drawn any conclusions about Mr Morrison's trustworthiness from the AUKUS episode, which upset a trio of world powers.

"I don't have to base the relationship on what I observe of others because I've got my own experience to base the relationship on," she told AAP from her Wellington office.

The two leaders' most recent dealing came last week, when New Zealand joined Australian forces in the Solomon Islands to diffuse tensions there.

"We do stay in regular contact ... and we don't schedule it, we just pick up the phone," Ms Ardern said.

The trans-Tasman relationship is pivotal to New Zealand, which has one fifth of Australia's population and a GDP seven times smaller.

Australia's centrality was demonstrated this week by new opposition leader Christopher Luxon, who was quizzed by TVNZ's QandA program after taking the top job.

"Our most important relationship is that of Australia ... our economy is very tied to the success of Australia," he said.

Ms Ardern is an avid follower of Australian goings-on, referencing the vaccine rollout in Queensland and COVID-19 restrictions in the ACT during the interview.

She is acutely aware of the upcoming federal election, which could unite the Australian Labor and NZ Labour parties in office - which has happened for just one year of the past three decades.

Ms Ardern has an association with Mr Albanese, having invited him to Wellington previously, and the pair maintain irregular contact but she insists she will "not jump into the politics" of Australia.

"Our relationship with Australia is so important to us that I will place a priority on making sure that there is a solid one with the prime minister of Australia, and we do have a solid relationship."

Still, Ms Ardern's leadership has coincided with trans-Tasman tensions.

Last February at a joint press conference in Sydney, Ms Ardern summoned bravado rarely seen by a Kiwi prime minister to tell Mr Morrison "do not deport your people or your problems".

And this February, she excoriated him again for wiping the Australian citizenship of a dual-national woman linked to Islamic State, leaving New Zealand to host her.

"If the shoe were on the other foot, we would take responsibility. That would be the right thing to do. And I ask of Australia that they do the same," Ms Ardern fumed.

In Wellington this week, Ms Ardern said this was part and parcel of a close relationship.

"What you've seen there is us both speak openly and frankly, about our position on those issues," she said.

"You can see very transparently the positions that we've taken, because I will say privately what I will say publicly and so no one's left in any doubt about our view on those things. And actually, that suits us both."

Foreign policy-watchers either side of the Tasman believe the pair - of different generations, different genders and different worldviews - don't get along.

"We get along fine," Ms Ardern said.

"We are from different political parties. And so that does mean we'll take different positions. But that hasn't stopped us from being able to make the relationship work well."

Read the rest here:

Ardern: NZ-Aust bond will always be tight - PerthNow

OPINION: The National Partys recent call for a royal commission of inquiry into New Zealands pandemic response may have been part of a wider political strategy, with former leader Judith Collins highly critical of the governments handling of the Delta outbreak.

But the idea predated its recent advocate, and there are good, non-political reasons for holding such an inquiry not least that it would be powerful and independent. Royal commissions reach further and dig deeper than parliamentary select committees, and are free from partisan sway.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield give an update on the Covid-19 situation.

Nor is this a novel recommendation. In 1919, the Influenza Epidemic Commission investigated what happened after the arrival of the disease in New Zealand the previous year. That commissions influence can still be felt today.

The 1918-19 pandemic killed at least 8831 people (still probably an underestimate), with Mori making up almost a quarter of the total, the single worst human disaster recorded in New Zealand history.

READ MORE:* 'It's a hellscape': The age of misinformation is here - can government close the rabbit hole?* Covid-19: Jacinda Ardern defends decision to keep Auckland border in place* Coronavirus: Helen Clark wants full inquiry into NZ's Covid-19 response* Why we need a royal commission into the pandemic response * Coronavirus: ACT calls for Royal Commission to investigate Government response to Covid-19

Mark Tantrum/Getty Images

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial at Pukeahu War Memorial Park in Wellington.

Parts of the 1919 commission report read like they were written today. The virtues of masks, quarantine, ventilation, the importance of Mori settlements, and basic health education are all canvassed.

Other parts are simply curious, such as the discussion of whether alcohol helped, with some medical witnesses testifying two or three whiskeys and soda a day were the best medicine. But there are also surprisingly accurate predictions of what inoculation might look like in the future.

Mostly, however, the commission was concerned with questions of how the pandemic made it into the country, how local health systems had collapsed, and what could be done to prevent history repeating.

Its answers provided the foundations for the 1920 Health Act, which provided the basis for the current law, on which much of the contemporary legal and policy responses to Covid-19 have rested.

A royal commission, then, is the appropriate forum for assessing New Zealands Covid response and making recommendations that will stick. Its the highest form of official inquiry into matters of public importance, more powerful than a government inquiry.

Such commissions have been used extensively throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, including after the Christchurch terror attack, the Canterbury earthquakes and the Pike River mine disaster. Right now there is a royal commission investigating the historical abuse of children in state care.

There can be no doubt New Zealands handling of the pandemic justifies the same attention. It has overshadowed everything in the past two years, and no New Zealander has been untouched by it in some way.

But such a commission would certainly differ greatly from the 1919 influenza inquiry, if only because of the scale and duration of Covid-19 and the relative success of government policy in combating it.

With 44 deaths recorded so far, the governments first duty to keep its population safe appears to have been met, at least when compared to the horrors experienced in other countries, and indeed during the 1918-19 pandemic.

However, that success has come at a cost to mental health, the economy, rights and freedoms and, to a degree, social cohesion. All of these will be important elements of an inquiry.

While most people suffered in some way, the burden has not been equally shared. In particular, the impact on Mori currently the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal hearing will be a focus of inquiry.

Similarly, a royal commission will need to look at how women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, and anyone affected by international border closures or access to vaccines and health care have fared.

Of course, how the economy weathered the pandemic will form a significant part of an inquiry: how much was spent and where, who benefited or lost, and what will be the long term consequences?

Finally, the entire legal framework surrounding the governments response needs the scrutiny only a royal commission could provide.

In the past two years, the countrys legal system has creaked and groaned in response to the myriad decisions that affected the lives of ordinary New Zealanders in unprecedented ways.

Critical pieces of legislation curtailing personal rights and freedoms were rushed urgently through parliament, arguably weakening existing democratic safeguards. Where these decisions have been legally challenged (unsuccessfully so far), the courts have been left to find the delicate balance between individual and collective rights.

A royal commission would allow for these personal, economic and democratic costs to be fully documented, measured and evaluated. Most importantly, it can recommend improvements and remedies. And it should be scheduled to start on March 19, 2022 two years exactly from when New Zealand first closed its borders to the outside world.

Present generations have learned some hard but valuable lessons from COVID-19. Given the possibility of future pandemics, its vital those lessons are passed on to future generations.

Alexander Gillespie is a Professor of Law at the University of Waikato and Claire Breen is a Professor of Law at University of Waikato.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Go here to see the original:

A century on from the 1919 influenza inquiry, NZ needs a royal commission into the Covid-19 response - Stuff.co.nz

Jacinda Ardern has come ahead of the Queen on the annual Forbes list of powerful women. Photos / Getty Images

Every year, Forbes releases a list of the 100 most powerful women in the world - and this year Aotearoa's own Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been featured.

The wide-ranging list includes several female celebrities, CEOs and politicians who have made an impact in their roles over the past year.

New Zealand's PM Ardern made the list at number 34, ahead of Britain's Queen Elizabeth at number 70 and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard at number 93.

It's not the first time Ardern has made the list. Last year, she came in at number 32 ahead of the Queen at number 46.

US vice president Kamala Harris came in at number 2, following author and philanthropist Mackenzie Scott - who also happens to be the ex-wife of Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

In May this year, Ardern came in at the top of the Fortune World's Greatest Leaders list in recognition of her work to eliminate Covid-19 in New Zealand in 2020.

While the list includes 40 female CEOs this year, there are two fewer heads of state than there were on last year's list.

And BioNTech cofounder and immunologist zlem Treci has made her debut on the list at number 48 for her role in leading the company's development of the mRNA Covid vaccine in partnership with Pfizer.

You can read the full list of recipients here.

9 Dec, 2021 12:10 AMQuick Read

Read more:

Jacinda Ardern and the Queen: Forbes reveals 100 most powerful women of 2021 - New Zealand Herald

A few weeks ago, during a Facebook livestream, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in the middle of giving the nation an update on Covid-19 restrictions when she was interrupted by her 3-year-old daughter, Neve.

"You're meant to be in bed, darling," Ardern told her daughter. When Neve called for her again, she responded "Pop back to bed, I'll see you in a second," before turning back to the camera to laugh about the darling little interruption.

After continuing for another five minutes, Ardern called it quits when little Neve reappeared at the door.

It's adorable. It's funny. It's heartwarming. Mostly though, for the caregivers out there trying to be both a parent and a professional at the same time, it's totally relatable.

It's also kind of shocking.

Over these past 18 months, I've had many "important calls" where I've told my wife to "keep the kids away and quiet for the next 45 minutes ... no matter what!"

Whom am I kidding? Here we have a world leader, addressing the people of New Zealand about pandemic restrictions. No call of mine is, or will ever be, close to this level of importance (sorry to my clients). And yetArdern is seen here acting as both prime minister and parent, and switching between the two roles with absolute ease and grace.

While this may not be "normal"leadership behavior, I would argue it is exactly the type of leadership we need within our governments and organizations.

We can all take a page from Ardern, including myself. So let's remember these four things:Be vulnerable, be confident, be compassionate, and be authentic.

Be vulnerable in front of people

As a leader, you always want to be 10 steps ahead of everyone else. So, when you're caught off guard and your team is there to witness, it can often feel like you're losing control. While you may think this moment of vulnerability makes you appear weak, it can actually make you stronger in the eyes of other people -- if you know how to cope.

When her daughter initially interrupted her video, Ardern could have turned off the camera or muted herself. Instead, she let the world see her jump into "Mom mode" because she didn't want this moment of vulnerability to stop her from doing her job. It was a no-brainer for her.

If you find it difficult to be vulnerable in front of others, you can practice developing your emotional courage. Emotional courage is the "willingness to feel."Since being vulnerable can feel uncomfortable, we tend to do everything we can to avoid it, even if it makes our job as a leader harder down the line.

Be confident when things happen unexpectedly

Imagine if Ardern had appeared embarrassed in the video by fidgeting with the camera and lowering her voice when talking to her daughter. This type of response would have likely changed how this situation was perceived. Why? Because people tend to assess a person's competence by their level of confidence.

Although vulnerable moments can be great for showing your "human side,"as a leader, it's imperative that you maintain a degree of self-confidence that shows you're still capable of getting the job done. If self-confidence is something you struggle with, you may benefit from practicing self-leadership.

Self-leadership is a reframing technique that allows you to see setbacks as opportunities for growth. Articulating this positive expectation helps mold your thoughts in a constructive direction, allowing you to better manage your emotions and build self-confidence.

Be compassionate in the face of frustration

Being interrupted while doing something important, likeaddressing your nation's citizens, is a familiar and frustrating experience. Since it's so easy to lose your temper during these moments, Ardern's compassionate response to her daughter was all the more impressive.

As a leader, showing compassion towardyour team, especially when they make mistakes, is imperative. However, that doesn't mean you need to let poor performances go unchecked for the sake of sparing someone's feelings. Instead, what you should do is practice wise compassionate leadership.

This leadership style involves two factors. The first is wisdom: a deep understanding of what motivates people and the courage to approach uncomfortable situations with transparency. The second is compassion: showing genuine care and concern for the well-being of others and providing help and guidance when needed.

Together, wise compassion allows you to push your team to perform at their bestwhile ensuring they feel cared for and supported along the way. In essence, wise compassion humanizes the experience of leading a team. Unsurprisingly, job satisfaction is 86 percenthigher for employees who work for a wise and compassionate leader than for those who don't.

Be authentic even amongthe haters

At that moment, Ardern laughs and calls her daughter's interruption "a bedtime fail" and asks, "Does anyone else have kids escape like three, four times after bedtime?" Considering millions of parents were forced to work from home while caring for their kids during the pandemic, her question was likely answered by tens of thousands of viewers with a resounding "Yes!"

This livestream reflected positively on Ardern because so many people could relate to her. Relatability is such an important trait because as humans, we tend to like people more when we believe they are similar to us. This is true even when similarities seem small, like enjoying the same TV show or even having the same birthday.

Now, this doesn't mean that you should strike up a conversation about a band you hate just because one of your team members likes them. Instead, opt for authenticity. To be authentic, you must cultivate your self-awareness. Spend some time reflecting on what's important to you and how you'd like to lead your team. Knowing this will help you develop a strong sense of who you are, which will help you better relate to your team.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Continue reading here:

Jacinda Ardern's Facebook Livestream Gets Interrupted. Her Reaction Is the Best Lesson in Leadership I've Ever Seen - Inc.

Auckland boundary restrictions should have already been lifted, advice to the Government said.

Auckland boundary restrictions should have already been lifted and the whole country, bar Auckland and Northland, should be in the orange setting, according to previously unreleased public health advice.

The Ministry of Health also initially thought some regions should start in green - though this was later revised due to the spread of Delta - despite its concerns that starting the traffic light system in early December could put vulnerable Mori at greater risk.

This warning was outlined in a ministry paper on November 24, two days after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had already announced the new system starting from December 3.

Ardern ultimately took a far more cautious stance than the ministry, with several districts outside Auckland and Northland Taup and Rotorua Lakes, Kawerau, Whakatane, ptiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Rangitikei, Whanganui and Ruapehu also in red for at least two weeks, no region in green, and movement in and out of Auckland only starting from December 15.

The public health advice is contained in director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's affidavit to the Waitangi Tribunal, which this week is looking into whether the Covid-19 response and the traffic light system are consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

"Our advice was that the 'hard or enforced' boundary around Auckland should be removed when Auckland and the rest of the country move to the CPF (Covid Protection Framework, which is the traffic light system)," Bloomfield's written evidence to the tribunal said.

"This is because there will be no public health justification to maintain a boundary around Auckland under the CPF. Put another way, the boundary around Auckland has served its purpose. It has been effective, alongside other public health measures, in greatly reducing the risk of the virus 'escaping' Auckland."

That didn't mean the virus wouldn't escape, but Bloomfield said the new framework, alongside increasing vaccination coverage, would minimise the chances of "serious illness and death, both in and beyond Auckland".

Maintaining the boundary would also take testing capacity away from higher priority tasks, including "quick turnarounds for close contacts and those who are symptomatic".

Bloomfield also revealed public health advice to start some regions in the green setting likely parts of the South Island, given that it would be easier to check the testing or vaccine passes of everyone travelling there rather than a place like Tairwhiti.

7 Dec, 2021 04:00 PMQuick Read

7 Dec, 2021 01:43 AMQuick Read

7 Dec, 2021 01:55 AMQuick Read

7 Dec, 2021 01:00 AMQuick Read

"Our preliminary view was that various regions could enter into the CPF on green. However, given our assessment committee's concerns about the number of areas with low vaccination status, particularly for Mori, and current active cases in several DHBs not just limited to Auckland metro DHBs, this preliminary view was adjusted," he said.

"The final recommendation was that regions should be placed at orange, except for Northland and Auckland metro DHBs, which should enter at red. This adjustment was based on a precautionary approach and should be viewed as an interim measure for the coming weeks."

Cabinet's decisions to relieve Auckland of different lockdown steps, abandon the elimination strategy and move to the new system have prompted concern about putting Mori unjustifiably at risk.

While case numbers in Auckland have been declining, experts have warned that the move to the new system is expected to lead to an increase in cases, though how many is very difficult to predict.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has previously said there was a difference between leaving no person behind, and restricting those who did the right thing for the sake of those who have chosen to be unvaccinated.

The Government has also consistently been more cautious than health officials' advice, such as on mandating mask use on public transport earlier this year. Bloomfield had also floated the idea of moving Auckland out of level 4 five days earlier than what Cabinet eventually decided, and he mooted having some parts of the country in level 1 while Auckland was still in lockdown.

Ardern also rejected the latter, saying level 2 was a buffer in case someone inadvertently carried the virus from Auckland to another part of the country.

Asked during Question Time yesterday about the criteria to move Auckland from red to orange, Ardern said: "Auckland is the epicentre of an outbreak in New Zealand that the rest of the country continues to be concerned about. We have Auckland businesses that are pleased to be open, and other parts of the country concerned about the spread of Covid. We have to manage all of those interests."

She said the focus was on avoiding the kinds of outbreaks that would overwhelm the health system.

"If at any point we got to that level, it would mean contact tracing would have fallen over, public health units would be overwhelmed. We would have been like many other countries, and we have not been."

Hipkins told the Herald yesterday the Government was taking a "cautious approach" to the Auckland boundary.

"The decision not to relax the boundary at the same time [as starting the new system] was to give regions a bit more time to get their vaccination rates up, and to allow the Government a two-week period to review the framework settings."

The cautious approach also meant keeping more regions in red than just Auckland and Northland, he said.

"Vaccination rates, health system capacity and the need to protect vulnerable communities during an increased period of travel played a significant role in our decision that other regions should also enter the new framework at red."

Bloomfield's affidavit also had a public health warning about an early move to the traffic light system.

"Transitioning to CPF in early December 2021, rather than relying on the 90 per cent vaccination rates across all DHBs, could put vulnerable Mori communities at greater risk of Covid-19 infection sooner than expected."

This advice was contained in a ministry paper on November 24, two days after Ardern had already announced December 3 as the date to start the traffic light system.

The implementation of the new system, Hipkins said, was brought forward because of high vaccination coverage in Auckland.

Bloomfield's affidavit also revealed that a 70 per cent target was initially used as a bottom line for moving the country to the new framework; other jurisdictions, such as Australia, aligned the loosening of some restrictions with vaccination targets including 70, 80 and 90 per cent.

He cited modelling in early November that showed Auckland reaching 90 per cent in mid-December, and all other DHBs needing "considerably longer".

"Public health advice was that there was marginal additional community protection in waiting for rates to increase by 1-2 per cent.

"Instead, our advice was that it may be more appropriate to loosen restrictions and focus protection measures on the communities that are known to be vulnerable."

National Hauora Coalition clinical director Dr Rawiri Jansen told the Waitangi Tribunal yesterday that those targeted measures from the Government, including a $120 million package to help Mori health providers, have been too little, too late.

Half of the package is for Mori vaccination efforts, and half is for building resilience in Mori communities to handle an outbreak under the traffic light system.

"Six weeks ago, we put a proposal that actually addressed both parts, and they said, 'Oh no, we think that's going to be next year'," Jansen said.

"It beggars belief that in an outbreak, they wanted to hold us off from organising around supporting whnau during an outbreak.

"And to be clear, up until right now, we have not had a response to our proposal for funding."

Read the original here:

Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Revealed - The public health advice to have Auckland unshackled by now and why Jacinda Ardern rejected it - New Zealand...

Ardern said it would surprise her if National wants to make changes.

"That would be interesting to me because of course at the core of the development of those discussions was their new deputy leader Nicola Willis, so I would be surprised if there were significant changes to those plans. But look, we'll be talking about it again this week," she told The AM Show on Monday.

"I note though that from the National Party, basically the only thing I've heard that they've suggested around addressing the housing crisis has been RMA [Resource Management Act] reform. We've been working on that for some time and I would've expected that if that continues to be the thing that they think is the most significant around the housing crisis, I would expect that they would continue to support it.

"I'm saying I would be surprised by that given their new deputy leader was a part of the discussions when we were putting those proposals together in the first place."

It comes as new poll results from data insights firm Kantar show two out of five Kiwis want the Government to forcibly bring down house prices. It reflects the latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor findings which show housing is the top issue for Kiwis despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's not hard to see why. The national average asking price rose 3.4 percent to a record $969,604 in November, from the previous month. Recent figures from Quotable Value showed a jump of 60.4 percent in average residential house values across Wellington since 2018. Every suburb in the capital is now worth more than $1 million.

The Government announced a suite of policies in March to try and help first-home buyers into the market. It included the controversial move to end tax deductions on interest costs for rental properties, after it was revealed investors made up the biggest share of buyers in the housing market.

Since becoming leader, Luxon's property portfolio - including three investment properties and a Remuera home worth more than $7 million - has come under the spotlight.

"You can attack me for being successful. I can't defend that," he told Newshub.

Go here to read the rest:

Jacinda Ardern 'would be surprised' if National seeks to change housing deal given new deputy Nicola Willis 'was a part of discussions' - Newshub