KEY POINTS:
⋅ Jacinda Ardern quits as Prime Minister: Labour to elect new leader on Sunday,
⋅ ‘A leader in decency’: How the world reacted to PM’s shock resignation
⋅ Audrey Young on the next PM and who’s the only replacement worth considering
⋅ ‘Remarkable leader’ or ‘hypocrite’? How Kiwis reacted to Ardern’s resignation
⋅ ‘A leader in decency’: World reacts to Jacinda Ardern’s resignation
A relieved Jacinda Ardern says she knows she has made the right decision to step down as Prime Minister, but concedes the move is “tinged with sadness”.
Ardern kept a low public profile yesterday after revealing she was walking away from the top job. Today she spoke to reporters gathered at Hawke’s Bay airport in Napier, where the Labour caucus had gathered for a retreat.
Asked how she was feeling, Ardern said she “slept well for the first time in a long time”.
“But still a range of emotions, I of course feel sad, but also I do have a sense of relief.”
In a short stand-up, Ardern said she felt “deeply humbled” by the response she’d received to her decision to step down. She had seen excerpts of all the tributes and intended to catch up on them when she had the time.
“To have those messages of gratitude has been really moving for me and for my family.”
Ardern planned to go home for a few days and get ready for time in Wellington.
”The focus for the team is selecting a new leader of the Labour Party and therefore a new Prime Minister for New Zealand. It’s an incredibly important decision and the team is very focused on it.”
Ardern said she had not considered calling a snap election while considering her future.
She said the normal practice when a Prime Minister decided to step down was to have a transition.
”Elections are incredibly disruptive. There was no need for one in this case.”
Asked if candidates should tell the public if they wanted the top job, Ardern said the first thing they need to do was to determine that for themselves.
”This process is so condensed that it will move quickly ... there will be a candidate and then voting on that candidate.
“Everything I’ve seen from the caucus [is that] caucus are very determined to make that decision on Sunday and get on with the job.”
Asked about the misogyny many commentators say she had faced, Ardern told reporters that played no role in her decision to stand down.
“And my strong message to women in leadership and girls who may be considering leadership in the future, this is a place where the foundation has been laid long before me to make it possible for us to be in these roles in a way that in the past it just wasn’t [possible] ... you can have a family and be in these roles, you can lead in your own style. Is there more work to do? Yes. But that was not the cause for my departure,” she said.
Asked if it was hard, she replied: ”I think any leader in a role like this will face difficult moments and I have. But I’ve also faced incredible support and I don’t lose sight of that.”
Ardern said she intended to remain neutral in Labour’s selection of the next Prime Minister, although she will be voting as a member of caucus.
Asked if she thought Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson would reconsider running for the top job, Ardern said: ”His decision has been made. I have deep respect for Grant Robertson, He’s a friend, he’s a colleague. I see day in and day out all he gives for the job and he of course wants to continue to give his all in the role that he has. But he’s ruled himself out for this one.”
Asked if Robertson had tried to talk her out of resigning, Ardern said he’d wanted to make sure she’d given everything consideration.
She also confirmed said she had spoken with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese since her decision to resign: ”He’s become a friend and I respect him greatly. So I sent him a message. We had a quick conversation afterwards yesterday and he only had words of kindness.”
Cabinet Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters at Wellington Airport Ardern had served the country “remarkably well for the last five and a half years”.
”I think we’re all indebted as a country to her for the contribution that she has made to New Zealand.”
“I think a lot of people will be very, very sad to see Jacinda go and I am one of those. She is not only a very valued colleague, she’s a close personal friend and I’m sure she will continue to be.”
“During her tenure as Prime Minister she’s probably faced more bumps and obstacles and challenges than most Prime Ministers would face even if they were serving twice as long as that.”
Asked if he would be putting his name forward to be Prime Minister, Hipkins said: “I’m involved in conversations with my colleagues about making sure that we make a good, sound decision about who should be the leader of the party, that the party then unites behind that new leader and that we continue to provide the stability of leadership that New Zealanders have come to expect from us for the last five and a half years.
“The conversations that I’ve had with my colleagues suggest that they take their responsibility very, very seriously, there is no fight going on here, everybody is just really constructively engaged in making sure we make a good decision.”
Asked if he could be that person, Hipkins said: “I’m not saying who’s in or out, I think it’s really important that people have an opportunity, you know it’s not even 24 hours since the Prime Minister made her announcement, I think it’s important people have the chance to digest the news, to talk to their colleagues, to think about their own futures, to do all of those things and people need a bit of space to do that.”
Asked why Ardern had not called a snap election, Hipkins said: “New Zealanders have elected a Labour Government for this term of government, generally speaking we haven’t had snap elections, if there has been a change in Prime Minister during a parliamentary term and I don’t really see any need for that to change.”
Labour’s support has reached a new low in a Taxpayer’s-Union Curia poll.
The poll was taken before Jacinda Ardern announced she would resign.
Labour’s vote fell to 31.7 per cent, a fall of 1.4 points.
The National Party’s support also fell, but from a higher base. It’s vote fell 2.2 points to 37.2 per cent.
Act was up 0.4 points to 10.8 per cent while the Greens were also up - rising 2.5 points to 10.6 per cent.
In Parliament, this would mean a National led Government with National having 49 seats and Act 14. Labour would be in opposition with 41 seats, losing 23 MPs from its current caucus - a third.
The Greens would add four MPs, getting 14.
Speaking in Napier, Michael Wood said Ardern was an “exceptional leader” and her resignation was a “big change” for the Labour caucus before Sunday’s vote for a new leader.
”I’m a team player, we’ve all agreed that we’ll do this as an internal team process. I don’t think that politicians ever do themselves or their parties of the country any favours by playing these things out in public.”
“I think there’s a, there’s a strong will for us to build consensus to be united and have a leader that we all back to make progress for New Zealand.”
Wood believed the caucus would be able to select a new leader during Sunday’s meeting.
Labour MPs are expected to pick from three frontrunner Cabinet ministers but there remains an outside chance Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson may yet be convinced to stand for the top job, says a political commentator.
Political commentator Bryce Edwards is picking an open contest between Chris Hipkins, Kiri Allan and Michael Wood, with no clear consensus on who should succeed Ardern.
But despite Robertson saying he would not be putting his hat in the ring for the top job, Edwards believes his caucus colleagues may still nominate him for the role.
“I think Grant Robertson would actually probably be Labour’s best hope,” said Edwards.
“He’s currently Deputy Prime Minister, he’s Minister of Finance, he’s known [around] the country as [well as] Jacinda Ardern, he has a lot of respect.
“I think New Zealanders would very quickly get used to saying Prime Minister Grant Robertson in a way that it’s going to take a lot longer for them to get used to saying Prime Minister Michael Wood, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins or Kiri Allan.
Edwards said people should not be surprised if Robertson felt pressured by his own colleagues to end up standing.
But if he did not end up being part of the leadership race there were three frontrunners, one of whom would likely become prime minister on Sunday.
Edwards believed Chris Hipkins was the most likely to succeed.
“He’s the one with the most experience, most name recognition in the public, and he has a very strong reputation as a politician that gets things done.
He said that would be the “safe and solid option” for the caucus when they’re making the decision.
Though he wouldn’t be surprised if Wood won, as a fresh face for Labour, someone who had been rising up in the party in recent years and is seen as very competent.
He said Allan was probably the option that Labour would pick if they wanted to really roll the dice and go with a really fresh face.
While she hadn’t been in Cabinet that long she had a lot of dynamism and charisma.
“For especially the Labour Party and maybe some of the target voters for Labour, she would have a lot of appeal because she’s a young woman and, if she was chosen, she would be New Zealand’s first openly gay prime minister.”
Edwards said there was a huge amount of pressure on the party to avoid a fiercely contended contest to try and come up with a consensus.
“I would expect that behind the scenes, the various factions will come together and work out who should be the leader and yeah, there won’t even be a vote.”
He said it was likely the contenders would " sort it out amongst themselves” so there was more of an anointed process rather than a contested fight.
Education and Police Minister Chris Hipkins would not comment on who the next Labour leader should be - including himself - instead wanting to focus on Ardern’s legacy.
“I really think that we should, you know, take the time to acknowledge the extraordinary leadership that she has shown in terms of where we go from here.
“I think the caucus needs an opportunity to digest the news and to think about it and to talk to each other.
“If we can form a consensus position and then really get behind the new leader, I’m committed to playing my part in that process, whatever that might be.”
Justice Minister Kiri Allan deferred when asked if she would put her name forward to be party leader and prime minister, saying the caucus would be “going through that process over the next few days” with a decision by Sunday.
Allan said Ardern had led the country through “some of the most incredible challenges”.
“I reflect on what she has done in terms of leading with grace, leading with empathy, leading with compassion.
“I am incredibly proud to have served as a minister in her Cabinet and the footprint, the imprint that she will have on what she has given Aotearoa will go down in history as she will be one of our most significant leaders.”
Allan said Labour was “absolutely” in a position to win the election this year.
“Part of her legacy will be the fact that she has got a caucus of 65 MPs that she has invested in, who care deeply about New Zealand. We have a plan, Labour has an economic plan, a social plan.
“We’re in the throes of some incredibly challenging times and from the legacy that she’s left us all I think we’re well-equipped to take the next steps.”
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson released a statement ruling himself out of the running for the top job.
“I am not putting myself forward to be a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party. In 2014 when I failed to secure the leadership of the party for the second time I indicated that I would not put myself forward again. My position has not changed,” Robertson said.
“The level of intensity and commitment required of Prime Minister is an order of magnitude greater than any other role. It is a job that you must unequivocally want to do in order to do it the justice it deserves. I have every confidence that there are colleagues within the caucus who are both capable of doing the role, and have the desire to take it on. They will have my full support.”
He elaborated that he would be happy to support the future leader in whatever capacity he could.
“It is a privilege to be Minister of Finance. I recognise that as the country faces a challenging economic environment, experience, stability and continuity are critical. I remain absolutely committed to fulfilling that role, or any other one the new leader will ask me to undertake. I am also committed to running in the 2023 election to help secure a further term for a Labour-led government.”
Environment Minister David Parker today tweeted “For Grant” but clarified to an RNZ reporter that this was an inside joke.
Asked whether it was a good time to make a joke like that, he laughed and said: “It worked for me.”
Immigration and Transport Minister Michael Wood – who has been tipped as a future leader – would not comment on whether he would put his name forward, saying “today is about celebrating one of the finest prime ministers we have ever had”.
He said he was “very proud” to have served under Ardern.
“Today’s about recognising her extraordinary achievements over a period of momentous years for New Zealand.
“That’s all I’ll be saying today. There’ll be an internal caucus process and that’s all I’ll be saying today.”
Housing Minister Megan Woods would not rule herself out of the leadership race, according to RNZ.
Woods said today was about the “enormous contribution” Ardern had made.
“I’ve stood beside her on so many occasions where I think we’ve witnessed leadership that New Zealand can be immensely proud to have had her as leader.”
She would not add to speculation about who would throw their hat into the ring.
“Apart from the announcement that’s been made about Grant’s intentions, this is a discussion for caucus and no one will be ruling in or out.”
Woods is also chairing the election campaign and said while Ardern was important to Labour as an effective communicator with intellectual grunt, “we have a campaign that is raring to go that is about what we have managed to achieve in the last five years, but more importantly what we want to achieve in the next three”.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta said Ardern had been “courageous” and “empathetic” as leader.
“She’s shown leadership when it really mattered and she’s made a decision that I think is the right time for her.”
She declined to say if she would put her name forward to be leader, saying that was a caucus process.
Health Minister and former Labour leader Andrew Little said Ardern’s decision had taken everybody by surprise and caucus needed to make its decision about the next leader.
“We are seeing a Prime Minister who I think will go down in history as one of the best, most outstanding New Zealand prime ministers we’ve had, step down.
“There was a huge sense of understanding about the difficulty of the decision, but understanding the reasons for the decision ... the number of issues and challenges and the scale and magnitude of them that she’s dealt with in the last five years.”
Corrections Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Kelvin Davis was definitive in ruling himself out of the race for the top job.
“No, I won’t be contesting, I’ll be supporting whoever is the new leader. Definite no.”
Broadcasting Minister and leader of the Māori caucus Willie Jackson said he had never seen a politician like Ardern.
“She’s meant so much to us, you know, and I thank her for the contribution she’s made in terms of Māori. Really just sad and disappointed.”
Jackson said the Māori and Pacific caucuses would meet together, and he felt there could be a “number” of MPs who put their names forward.
“We’ve got people who are looking to put their hand up over the next few days.”
He could “pretty much” rule out putting himself forward, he said.
Former Labour Whip Kieran McAnulty ruled himself out of the running, saying there were no candidates yet but he “most certainly will not” be one of them.
Labour had made the decision to choose a new leader - and therefore Prime Minister - within three days, Ardern said, while announcing her resignation.
A vote will be held on Sunday, January 22.
One individual will need more than two-thirds support within the Labour Caucus - 44 votes of 65 possible votes - to become leader. If this doesn’t happen, the leadership contest goes to the wider membership within the party.
Ardern said she would not back any single candidate for the leadership.
She will stand down as Prime Minister on February 7 but remain the MP for Mt Albert until April, when she will leave Parliament - 15 years after being sworn in.
With RNZ
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