Plenty of people have been asking plenty of other people what they have made of her time as Prime Minister.
I think it was Geoffrey Palmer who said she would be seen as one of the greats.
He is wrong.
The fact her support has collapsed post her resignation is proof that we have moved on, and fast.
She does have a unique place in our political history, in the sense anyone who was leading a country as Covid hit will always be remembered for that.
And at the start she will be remembered well for her compassion and empathy. They are natural traits she used well.
The Christchurch terror attack added to the reputation and, as a result, it went global and she will almost certainly be remembered more fondly offshore than on. Because, offshore, the fine detail of the Government's actions and abilities are never really covered.
The reality is, she quit.
And she quit because she had become toxic and, as a result of the toxicity, her party were going to lose this year's election.
She had the good grace to walk, as opposed to being knifed or holding out and hoping for a miracle.
But her desire to walk was written all over her face before Christmas. She looked over it and that comes from the fact she never wanted, or expected, the job in the first place.
She was the accidental Prime Minister. You can't forget that she came a distant second in 2017 and got the big job only because Winston Peters is bitter and hated Bill English.
So, the Labour years began.
If it wasn’t for Covid my guess would be they would have been a one term Government. My guess is if she had stayed, their vote would have gone from 50 percent in 2020 to perhaps 25 percent or 26 percent this October.
Essentially, she was an emoter. She talked a lot and had a lot of chat, a lot of meetings, a lot of thoughts and a lot of thought bubbles.
The record of non-delivery speaks for itself.
Her nuclear moments on child poverty and climate are embarrassing.
Her Government's overall record is shambolic. We are in recession, health is crippled, crime is rampant and we have blown out our debt handing out money for nothing.
Most people say they like her. I like her - I always found her affable and pleasant. But to call her one of the greats is to insult the real greats and to be overtly polite.
The reality was - she was OK at best and couldn't hack it, so she walked.
She didn’t finish two terms and for greatness you have to crack three.
She is a living example of how theory doesn’t equate to reality.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
She does have a unique place in our political history, in the sense anyone who was leading a country as Covid hit will always be remembered for that.
And at the start she will be remembered well for her compassion and empathy. They are natural traits she used well.
The Christchurch terror attack added to the reputation and, as a result, it went global and she will almost certainly be remembered more fondly offshore than on. Because, offshore, the fine detail of the Government's actions and abilities are never really covered.
The reality is, she quit.
And she quit because she had become toxic and, as a result of the toxicity, her party were going to lose this year's election.
She had the good grace to walk, as opposed to being knifed or holding out and hoping for a miracle.
But her desire to walk was written all over her face before Christmas. She looked over it and that comes from the fact she never wanted, or expected, the job in the first place.
She was the accidental Prime Minister. You can't forget that she came a distant second in 2017 and got the big job only because Winston Peters is bitter and hated Bill English.
So, the Labour years began.
If it wasn’t for Covid my guess would be they would have been a one term Government. My guess is if she had stayed, their vote would have gone from 50 percent in 2020 to perhaps 25 percent or 26 percent this October.
Essentially, she was an emoter. She talked a lot and had a lot of chat, a lot of meetings, a lot of thoughts and a lot of thought bubbles.
The record of non-delivery speaks for itself.
Her nuclear moments on child poverty and climate are embarrassing.
Her Government's overall record is shambolic. We are in recession, health is crippled, crime is rampant and we have blown out our debt handing out money for nothing.
Most people say they like her. I like her - I always found her affable and pleasant. But to call her one of the greats is to insult the real greats and to be overtly polite.
The reality was - she was OK at best and couldn't hack it, so she walked.
She didn’t finish two terms and for greatness you have to crack three.
She is a living example of how theory doesn’t equate to reality.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
17 comments:
She was certainly one of the most divisive PM's we've ever had. And one of the most hypocritical....and one of the most deceitful....and...let's leave it there shall we.
It is her last day so I don't want to completely ruin it for her.
My tip - do not go near tonight's TV news unless you enjoy gagging.
Oh I've been gagging. Vomiting and dry reaching.
Sorry, I predicted NZ would be lead into debt and resession in 2017. I never understood why you'd ditch a govt.that had the economy sussed. Winnie was responsible for that. Let us not forget it.
The downfall was the deceit she showed in the entrenchment discussion. The FOI release indicated that the conspiracy to defeat normal parliamentary process had been in play for more than a year, misleading the house is a serious issue, Chippy stood next to her all the way through.
She did more damage to this country during her term than if we were at war.
We are in debt, our infrastructure is in disarray and we have forgone nearly six years of progress.
With a war we would, at least, have had a strong social fabric, she managed to torch that as well.
She is the worst prime
Minister in the history of nz and even Dr Michael Basset said this and he was in the Labour party, never were we lied to. Controlled and deceived as much by any
politician she and her secret agenda has destroyed our Country
And this evil shows on her face
Yep, stay away from the telly if you don’t want your evening ruined.
Best we forget JA, put her in the rubbish tin, put the lid on and don’t go there.
Move on NZ.
Here’s hoping for a better start come October.
I will remember her as comrade cindy who locked many thousands of kiwis out of their own country, tried to stop free speech and also wanted to impose a woke marxist regime. I was one of the many many kiwis celebrating with champayne when she resigned.
She is best forgotten if you don't want high blood pressure. Mike Hosking had the best resume I thought. He said if she was great she wouldn't have quit. If she was great she would have done 3 terms. She was cancelled by the LP for bringing vitriol on the party. What an achievement. Chappy will be no better.
MC
I'm of the opinion that anyone that leads a determined and prolonged attack on a sovereign democracy aimed at destroying its economy and its culture, so as to usher in a tribal, Sociologist dictatorship.
Ought to be taken into custody as they make their way down the steps of the Beehive and be held accountable before the court.
I believe her crimes far exceed paying off hush money to some adult film actress.
A very good friend of my brother in law is a very well known New Zealander. When Ardern became PM his words were 'she's just a f***ing communist'. I thought that was a bit of an extreme reaction at the time. He was right.
She was "one of the greats" (Geoffrey Palmer) huh? Great what? Elaboration aplenty already.
To those who say don't watch the telly tonight I say it is compulsory viewing to be ingrained in your memory banks to reinforce that it can never be allowed to happen again.
I have often wondered where Geoffrey Palmer is in the current controversies. I presumed his legal business interests precluded objective comment as he, like most everyone else, is susceptible to cancellation. But if Geoffrey really did make the statement attributed then senility has apparently set in.
if she had real respect for democracy, she should have quit the parliament too in feb. how is it fair that mt albert constituency has no representative in the parliament just because she thought she should avoid a by-election? did her constituency agree to this wonderful idea?
You are being way too kind, Mike. The commentators above have summed her up and given her love of the letter "d", whether oppordunidy or communidy, she's left an appalling legacy of division, debt and disharmony.
I, too, will stay away from the telly tonight, for I couldn't stand another John Campbell gut spill. (Someone please shoot him and put him out of his misery and save us all!)
NB. Please do consider the above as a poem. I'm not endorsing violence and there are more 'layers' to it if one seeks to find them. And Meng, note JC is a white, patriarchal male (well, at a really big push), so he's fair game.
I can remember quite clearly the moment she quit.
I was at Hampton Downs in the cafe having lunch, it was packed.
People were hot and a bit grumpy.
Then out of the blue a loud cheer went up, She's quit, was the comment.
Everyone, straight to the mobile and reading the news.
The noise increased dramatically, the smiles increased and everyone's day was immeasurably improved.
It's at that moment you realize how universally hated she was.
The worst part is she will be living off the NZ Taxpayer for the rest of her useless life.
No problems with high interest rates for her, she will get a pay rise for doing nothing for eternity, like the rest of the unemployed.
Buckingham Palace 's offer has quickly cured the burn out.
A peerage - Baroness Ardern- will surely be the reward for this new assignment ......
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