Jacinda ardern - Approaching New Zealand, the World, and the Future with Empathy

By: Vanessa Ellia

Being a political leader is a tough job as it is, with the effects of climate change worsening each day, the growing presence of technology, and of course a global pandemic, the task has proven to be a formidable challenge for leaders all around the globe. For New Zealand (NZ), however, handling issues like these are only a few of the many ways it has set a high standard for proficient leadership with their Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Born July 26, 1980 in Hamilton, NZ, Ardern cultivated a widely known and revered presence in politics far before her election in 2017. Having grown up in a small town affiliated with a lot of gang activity and inequality, Ardern was inspired to pursue politics from a young age. Her ample experience in politics came from joining the NZ Labour Party at just 17 years old, followed by working two and a half years in the cabinet of British Prime Minister Tony Blair as an associate director, becoming the president of the International Union of Socialist Youth in 2007, and many other notable achievements. Finally in August 2017, Ardern became the leader of the Labour Party and in October of that same year, the country’s youngest PM.

Since then, Ardern has been named one of the most powerful women internationally, profiled in the media as a leader who operates on trust and empathy. In a TIME Magazine article, she was described as having a “real gift to articulate a form of leadership that embodies strength and sanity, while also pushing an agenda of compassion and community.”

Her ample publicity and applause stems from her long list of successful approaches to issues like the pandemic, a volcanic eruption, the Christchurch terrorist attack, and even everyday issues like LGBTQI+, minimum wage and immigration. In the case of COVID-19, NZ imposed a national lockdown and banned travelers from China much earlier than other countries; before it had even registered a single case of the virus. It then shut its borders when only a handful of cases broke out. Despite these severe and sudden policies, a poll in April 2020 found that 88% of the population trusted their government to handle COVID-19 and 84% approved of Ardern’s response. Since her re-election in 2020, her goal has been to not only flatten the curve like most countries, but to eliminate the virus in NZ altogether. As of January 13, 2021, NZ has 2228 total COVID-19 cases with 2141 recovered and only 25 deaths, and with NZ’s booming health system that has yet to overload, Arden may reach her goal.

Alongside COVID-19, Ardern’s also faced a devastating volcanic eruption and terrorist attack during her term. The eruption occurred on White Island, and Ardern immediately started providing assistance to the affected community through relief funds and government-provided resources. She displayed the same quick response time when Greater Christchurch suffered from a terrorist attack. Refusing to name the attacker publicly, Arden announced gun control measures just 6 days after and banned all military style semiautomatics just weeks later.

Going into her second term, Ardern focused on raising the number of accepted refugees by 50%, providing more funding for LGBTQI+ mental health resources, increasing minimum wage from $15.75 to $18.90, and delivering a Well-Being Budget focused on COVID-19 recovery by creating jobs and supporting businesses. These are only a few of her achievements; in fact, the full list is so long that when challenged to run through it in 2 minutes, she was nowhere close to finishing in time.

Pushing forward, Ardern’s plans for the future are just as impressive. Since the terrorist attack, Ardern has worked with technology experts like Microsoft’s Brad Smith to monitor social media, and respond to and prevent any media sharing of extremist or terrorist activity. She has also prioritized climate change through banning nuclear vessel weapons, offshore oil exploration, as well issuing hefty fines to retailers using single-use plastic bags. 150 million trees were also planted and Ardern has signed several multilateral treaties with other like-minded nations and urged politicians to join their fight against climate change.

Through her extensive record of achievements, Ardern has displayed a model of authority that puts kindness first for; “kindness, and not being afraid to be kind, or to focus on, or be really driven by empathy,” she has said is at the heart of her leadership. With a tenacity for displaying sincere goodness and initiative when approaching issues, Jacinda Ardern has truly served as a leader that solidifies her and her country’s reputations as safe, stable and welcoming and this fact will prevail as her legacy. Her methods of handling any issues thrown her way with such grace is something that should not be ignored, but serve as a model for how leaders all across the globe should act. I believe New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern is someone worth looking towards for influence; someone who is taking major steps in the direction of making our world a better place. The hope here is that young people and government systems everywhere use her as a role model now and for many years to come.