Politics

Moving fast to remould the world order

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s United Nations visit was a chance to press the flesh with fellow leaders, state New Zealand’s values to the world - and show what a working mother can do. At the end of her time in New York, Ardern spoke to Sam Sachdeva about a budding coalition of the young, the downsides of megaphone diplomacy, and life on the road with Neve.

There is an undeniable sense of grandeur inside the United Nations.

Making it to inside is a hassle: navigating the blockades and overly officious New York police leaves you sticky from the muggy heat and occasionally soaked from bursts of rain.

But once you make it through security and into the General Assembly chamber, the illuminated UN logo on a gold-leaf backdrop and rows of delegates from 193 member countries live up to the hype.

Jacinda Ardern’s debut, for the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, didn’t provide her with much time for contemplation beforehand or reflection afterward.

“I thought I’d go out and sit in the chair for a bit and take it all in, then I’d go and have the chance [to speak] - I was walking past and they said, ‘New Zealand, please can you speak immediately’, and so just walked straight out and so kind of probably it was lost on me a little bit because it was all a bit rushed.”

The thrill of being on the world stage doesn’t necessarily wear off, Ardern says, as much as it’s left lagging behind in the sprint from one event to another.

A coalition of the young?

After her first round of world events last year, Ardern’s focus quickly shifted from any sense of novelty to building what she now describes as “some decent relationships”.

Among those strong ties, she lists Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

With Austria’s Sebastian Kurz and Colombia’s Ivan Duque, most share one thing in common - youth, relatively at least, in the small circle of world leaders.

"There’s a new generation of leaders, but we have to make sure we’re speaking to the new generation otherwise you’re just a young person in an existing mode of working."

Age is “part of the conversation”, Ardern says, but wasn’t the focus for her engagements.

With her UN speech focusing in part on the current generation’s “borderless” reality and demands for reform of the internationalism, it seems however as if a coalition of the young may be slowly building.

“I don’t think many people are giving voice to that: there’s a new generation of leaders, but we have to make sure we’re speaking to the new generation otherwise you’re just a young person in an existing mode of working,” Ardern says.

Jacinda Ardern names Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as one of the world leaders with whom she is forming a strong relationship. Photo: Supplied.

In a week where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke about his fears of growing “trust deficit disorder” and US President Donald Trump was unrepentant about his “America First” isolation, Ardern insists she was heartened by what she heard both on the UN floor and in private conversations.

“What I predominantly heard from most was buy-in to multilateralism and an acknowledgement about connection and connectedness on issues...

"I think this was one of the most significant showings of leaders at this UN General Assembly, so I think there has been a reinforcement of the things we wanted to see upheld here.”

"We’re going to put our worldview, we’re going to be consistent about it, most of the time we’re also going to walk the talk but will we come up and shake our finger at everyone else? That’s just not actually the way we do things.”

On Trump, who Ardern has appeared to treat as He Who Must Not Be Named, she rebuffs the suggestion politicians have a duty to be more direct as the man occupying the role described as “Leader of the Free World” seems to close off his country more and more by the day.

Former foreign minister Murray McCully spoke of his aversion to so-called megaphone diplomacy, and it’s a sentiment Ardern shares.

“That’s the way we’ve always done things: we’re going to put our worldview, we’re going to be consistent about it, most of the time we’re also going to walk the talk but will we come up and shake our finger at everyone else? That’s just not actually the way we do things.”

Me Too to We Too

One megaphone message heard loud and clear was Ardern’s suggestion in her UN speech was that “Me Too must become We Too”, a line given added poignancy due to its timing alongside the sexual assault allegations made against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“I think you could have said it a month ago, or you could say it in a month’s time and it’ll probably feel relevant,” she says.

The point she was making that individual action needed to evolve into governments “doing our bit”, whether on domestic violence, the gender pay gap, or women’s access to education and other opportunities.

“That’s all us, so that’s where we’ve got to translate that movement of individuals coming together to a movement where governments come together.”

It’s tempting to wonder whether Winston Peters should take that sentiment on board, having in recent weeks derided a female journalist in Parliament as a “media airhead” and described Ardern’s critics as “a cabal of commentators, many of whom are women…[who] don’t know anything about her role or job or how well she’s doing”.

Jacinda Ardern said governments needed to pick up the sense of collective responsibility established by the Me Too movement - but she stopped short of calling out Winston Peters for some of his recent rhetoric. Photo: Supplied.

Predictably, Ardern is unwilling to admonish the Deputy Prime Minister in public, saying: “Each of us will take responsibility for our own language, each of us.”

She has “a hugely respectful relationship” with Peters, “and he is very respectful of me”.

She does suggest Parliament’s environment must change, although places the blame on all sides.

“You've seen it, it’s Westminster style, it's robust, it’s pretty aggressive, and even if one side chooses to opt out of it, it still comes, and it comes thick and fast.

“I think a bit about this, how do we change that environment, because it’s only one small part of politics and yet it’s a pretty off-putting part.”

Neve leaves a mark

Important as UN geopolitics are, the most indelible memories from the Prime Minister’s time in New York, both for Ardern and the wider world, are likely to be related to her daughter Neve.

There was the look of unbridled delight as Ardern returned to her UN seat to find partner Clarke Gayford with their child - photos of the occasion hailed around the world as an example of what should be possible for working mothers.

There were some more private moments of work-life balance, too: Gayford gently rocking Neve’s portable bassinet with his foot in the back row of an audience, dangling his Bloomberg accreditation pass above her as a makeshift mobile while Ardern discussed the need to rebuild trust in trade.

Of life on the road with Neve, Ardern says: “Mmm, you know, she's great, she’s a real trooper, but it has its challenges.”

Photos of Jacinda Ardern cuddling her daughter Neve on the floor of the UN General Assembly quickly won praise from diplomats and the public. Photo: Getty Images.

Challenges of a “poonami” nature, as she once described to one reporter shortly before returning to office?

“We have had to change her in some unusual places, so I’ve kind of left it at that.”

Gayford helpfully coloured in the details of at least one incident on, speaking on Twitter of the “startled look on a Japanese delegation” who walked into a room at the UN during an impromptu nappy change.

Has the intense focus on her motherhood, and her daughter, started to wear thin? There was the slightest hint of an edge in her response to an American reporter who asked whether Neve had been a help or distraction in New York: "It's a necessity - I'm a breastfeeding mother, so I need to keep her alive."

"I hope when I leave this job that I leave enough behind that I’m not remembered as being the lady leader who had a baby, but someone who actually did some good things for New Zealand.”

Yet she insists she is comfortable, for the moment at least, with the articles and tweets about Neve.

“I’m a mum, I’m going to be defined as being a mum: lots of mums are, that becomes part of who they are, so I don't mind that description, and obviously she’s part of who I am so they're going to be part of my story in leadership.”

There is a crucial “but”.

“But, I hope when I leave this job that I leave enough behind that I’m not remembered as being the lady leader who had a baby, but someone who actually did some good things for New Zealand.”