When we recently interviewed the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, in Auckland, we took with us some questions from our readers.

Twelve hours after our call-out for suggestions, we had received hundreds of question from you. We filtered these down to five which we thought were not already being covered in our main interview.

Ardern answered everything she was asked and here are those responses.

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Ms Ardern has identified poverty and inequality as an issue she wants to tackle. How does she plan to inspire her fellow citizens who are well off or comfortable that this is a matter of national significance that warrants the investment of public funds to be successful? – Katrina, Australia



Ardern: Katrina that’s a great question and something that you think about a lot particularly when you’re in the election cycle. But the thing I take great heart from is, I already believe New Zealanders from all walks of life have concerns around this issue and that’s not just based on my instinct but I have seen surveys taken before elections that show poverty and inequality is ranked as amongst the top few issues at election time, so I do think there is concern about it already. What we have to try and get into is the ways we can address that and resolve that as a government.

Will you improve the status of teachers, amid the teacher crisis and shortage? – Robert, New Zealand

Ardern: The teacher crisis is something we are really worried about during the byelection in Mount Albert. I counted across a month seven teachers I identified just in my area who were all leaving – not the profession but Auckland. So we know we’ve got a problem attracting to certain areas because of the cost of living, so we’re thinking about things from how do we ensure key workers have accessible and affordable housing, also how do we attract people into teaching as well. So we are looking at everything from scholarships [and more] to make sure it is an attractive option. I think it is also about the way we talk about our teachers and the way we value them in New Zealand.

Pregnancy is not a disease. However, how do you run a country when being pregnant for many women means weeks of nausea, restless nights and feeling exhausted by early evening? Could a pregnant woman with all the above discomforts manage a country the size of the US, for example? – Carmela, Australia

Ardern: Carmela I’d like to think that actually even regardless of the size of the country that you’re running, there are particular demands that you just actually are similar. I accept there is definitely a scale difference. So you’re right, pregnancy is not a disease, but it certainly can feel like an illness for a really long period of time. And I had 16 weeks of morning sickness. And no one knew about it. It was possible. And it was possible probably because actually I just focused as much as I could on the job at hand. Used a few remedies to try and quell the worst of it and had at least the knowledge that it would pass and get better. I think a lot of people struggle with things in their day to day lives that their workmates will never know about and I just happen to be one of them. Obama, I said to him yesterday as well on the expectation that I get it, being the prime minister of a country like New Zealand is not the same as being the president of the free world, but he was like ‘”Actually, you’re still in charge, the scale is different, but you’re still in charge.”

Are there any conditions under which Australia will accept New Zealand’s offer to house refugees from Nauru or Manus? – Peter, Australia

Ardern: Hi Peter, thank you for your question. As you rightly point out we made an offer to the Australian government that as it looks to resettle refugees on Manus and Nauru that we were open to taking up to 150 of those refugees. It’s an offer that still remains on the table; it hasn’t been removed. My understanding is the focus has been placed by Australia on the United States offer, but ultimately it is up to them. But as I say, it hasn’t been removed, it is still there, so could well be taken up, but ultimately that will still be a question for the Australian government.

How will your government tackle the obesity epidemic? On current trends NZ will soon have the highest obesity rate in the OECD. – Robert, New Zealand



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