Upset by the vitriol over honour for Dame Jacinda

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

I was incredibly upset to hear the comments of Mike Hosking’s followers regarding the award of a damehood to our former Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern.

Those National and Act supporters don’t have the guts to put their names in the public eye. It is so easy for talkback radio callers to be anonymous — why not stand behind who you are, and be truly counted?

They claim that it is a political appointment, but surely they must admit that Rob Muldoon and Jenny Shipley became Sir Rob and Dame Jenny. (At least the National Party under Jim Bolger had the grace to award Geoffrey Palmer a knighthood.)

Tell me, what did Sir Rob and Dame Jenny do for NZ that over-powered the achievements of Dame Jacinda?

Dame Jenny became our first female PM through stabbing Jim Bolger in the back. What did she do for our country in her brief term as PM?

No need to discuss Sir Rob, apart from the fact he was knighted while still PM!

Sir John Key created a rock-star economy by selling state assets and spending nothing on hospitals, etc. He just kept the cash in the bank.

Do people realise that dozens of countries would categorically have taken Jacinda Ardern as their PM? That global recognition has never been bestowed upon any other NZ Prime Minister.

I appreciate that I am an out-and-out Labourite but in my 82 years on Earth, apart from David Lange or Michael Joseph Savage, I cannot think of a better or more qualified person to lead our country.

Dame Jacinda deserved her award. Don’t be biased.

National supporters, to you I ask, what member of your party could have done better through those years of turmoil — a massacre, eruption and pandemic?

Do you believe National did a great job after the Christchurch earthquake? I have spoken with people involved with that tragedy and I know how they feel.

If the Nats win the next election, which I doubt, I look forward to their promises and excuses. It is so easy to touch up after the hard work has been done.

Mike Hosking certainly has a blue rosette. Will he get knighted?

Mike Mulrooney