Clive Bibby: The misuse of kindness and other politically overused metaphors to describe our leaders

We appear to be living at a time when it is virtually impossible to rely on the political character references being sold by the party propaganda machine.

In that context, one has to wonder why our former Prime Minister, Dame Jacinda Ardern, has chosen a country other than the one she led for almost two terms in which to settle after her " flash in the pan, meteoric" political career ended so abruptly.

Chris McVeigh: Dame Jacinda - hit or myth?

A small part of me wants to take some pride in the bestowing of an honorary degree by Oxford University on our former PM, Dame Jacinda Ardern. However I can't quite escape the feeling that I'm watching the equivalent of a Michelin star being awarded to our local Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. I know that's a little unfair because their hot'n' spicy chicken wings with a side of potato and gravy is actually pretty damn good but I think that even that old huckster Colonel Sanders would agree that they'd be unlikely to trouble the gastronomer's inspectorate.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What did Jacinda's latest testimony really tell us?

Jacinda Ardern is back in the news after transcripts of her behind-closed-doors testimony to the Royal Commission were published by the New Zealand Herald today.

While the contents of the testimony contain few surprises, the transcript is notable as much for what it omits as for what it includes.

Pee Kay: We didn’t realise how lucky we were!

In the interests of free speech and freedom of thought I will not repeat my, expletive littered, thoughts on the authors state of mind!

But does this article go some way to explaining why Labour/Hipkins hold a 6% lead over National and Hipkins holding a 1.7% lead over Luxon as preferred PM? Surely Luxon’s inability to utter forthright statements, the failure to be able to answer questions in a manner that makes you think he truly believes in the answer are not the sole reason for his shocking poll results?

Matua Kahurangi: Hey Australia, can we have Pauline Hanson? We’ll gladly give you Jacinda Ardern.

Politics makes for strange envy.

Across the Tasman, Australia has the blunt, unapologetic force of Pauline Hanson. Here in New Zealand, we had the polished, globally adored Jacinda Ardern. If you judge by overseas headlines alone, you would think we were the lucky ones.

Many Kiwis would disagree.

Matua Kahurangi: Hey Australia, you can have Jacinda, we don’t want her

So it is official. Jacinda Ardern is now based in Australia, at least for the moment. We are told it is about work, family logistics and convenience. We are told she will still spend time back home. Cut the bullsh*t.

The reality is that she walked away from the job before voters could pass their own verdict, and now she has walked away from the country she once claimed to love so fiercely. For a leader who preached kindness and solidarity, the exit was cowardly.

Pee Kay: We’ve Been Shunned!

Oh, the unbearable betrayal! We’ve been officially ghosted, discarded like a lukewarm flat white!

Apparently, we’ve been given the Ardern elbow for Albo!

Eliora: This Dark and Angry Man

This man talked, wrote and lived like he was possessed by the devil. He was ‘demon possessed’ according to his family members and friends and indeed many biographers. He was a dark, foreboding and angry man, who hated Jews and the Jewish God, but championed the devil of the Bible and, in doing so, rejected his family’s history of Jewish Rabbis. He railed against the political and religious establishment.

Some excerpts of his poems grew darker over time.

Clive Bibby: A Leopard never changes its spots

One of the features of modern politics that continues to baffle me is the number of so called “authoritative” commentators who want us to believe past leaders have become reformed characters and are no longer a danger to the public health.

Simon O'Connor: Do as I say, not as I do

How did we reach a moment where a Prime Minister saying she wanted to punch another MP in the face is seen as acceptable by many?

I’m not sure about you, but it is hard reconcile the words of Jacinda Ardern who on one hand said she wanted to punch a political colleague in the face and yet on the other is discussing wanting a different type of politics, one based around kindness and decency. This contradiction has more recently come to light during an interview with UK talk show host, Graham Norton.

JC: We Are Done With Ardern

The left media either don’t realise how far behind public opinion they are or they’re deliberately trying to annoy us. These lefty journalists who inhabit newsrooms for the sole purpose of inflicting their less than wholesome opinions upon us need to get a grip. They need to stop bombarding us with puff pieces about their poster child, Jacinda Ardern. Where, why and what is the need to keep focusing on this despised individual, now popularly regarded as the country’s worst prime minister EVER!

Wendy Geus: Mike Waltz 'cleans house' at UN – hopefully nixes Ardern's Secretary General aspirations

Mike Waltz, recently appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations has been doing a bit of housework at the UN lately and as of now has swept up $1 billion dollars of savings, and 'we're only getting started', he says. (see link below)

John McLean: Hey there, George's girl!

There’s Jacinda Ardern on the rise...

When Jacinda Ardern quit as New Zealand Prime Minister in 2023, she announced in her resignation speech, “You cannot, and should not, do it unless you have a full tank — plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges”.

The Morrinsville Meteor’s metaphor of running short on fossil fuel somewhat missed her mark, given Ardern’s ardent adherence to climate change carbon catastrophisation. In her campaign speech before New Zealand’s 2017 general election, she’d pontificated, “This [climate change] is my generation’s nuclear-free moment, and I am determined that we will tackle it head on”.

Matua Kahurangi: Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand’s most hated export - live in London, because she can’t show her face at home

Picture this: a cozy Sunday afternoon in late November 2025, the kind where London’s fog clings to the Thames like a bad hangover. At some upscale venue, details fuzzy because who needs transparency when you’re selling inspiration, Jacinda Ardern will grace the stage for a How To Academy event titled A Different Kind of Power. There, in a fireside chat hosted by comedian Bill Bailey, she’ll regale a fawning audience with tales of empathetic leadership, her “compassionate” response to the Christchurch mosque attacks, her pandemic “heroics”, and the trials of being a mum in the spotlight. Tickets start at what feels like a small fortune, with premium ones tossing in a copy of her shiny new memoir. Subscribers get a discount because nothing says “people power” like paywalls and perks for the elite.

Ian Wishart: How is Jacinda Ardern so sure about the impending climate disaster?

Ardern – tipped as a probable candidate for the UN’s top job in the new unauthorised biography, Jacinda: The Untold Stories – was being interviewed by BBC’s Ione Wells at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, when she was asked about how to get urgency across as a leader in the face of public backlash:

Matua Kahurangi: Jacinda Ardern

The price of power and the weight of public hatred

Jacinda Ardern has been back in the spotlight over the last couple of weeks. The release of the documentary Prime Minister and a children’s book titled Mum’s Busy Work have brought her name back into headlines. The title itself is almost ironic. The phrase “busywork” is defined as tasks that keep someone occupied but hold little real value. Perhaps unintentionally, the name echoes how many already view Ardern’s leadership.

Matua Kahurangi: Jacinda Ardern - I was human

Jacinda Ardern likes to remind us she’s human. That’s true. But so was Hitler, and the comparison is closer than most dare to admit.

Her rule over New Zealand during the Covid years was authoritarian in the extreme, leaving behind fear, economic ruin, and a society traumatised.

Bob Edlin: True, our rock economy has faltered.............

True, our rock economy has faltered – but let’s not skip GDP data when measuring how we are faring

Joel Maxwell, described by The Post as an experienced senior journalist and Stuff’s kaiwhakamāori/translator, has written an article which reminds Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of something he said on the campaign trail in 2023.

Fair enough, too. Luxon should be reminded of a great deal he has said – and in a year or two he is likely to be reminded of things he is saying now.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time - 19 July 2025

Spotlight on Chris Bishop

He’s consistently one of the highest performing ministers in the Government and there are a couple of things I want to highlight about Chris Bishop this week. First is his excellent speech at the LGNZ conference in Christchurch. It takes a steel spine to stand up in front of a room full of local government egos and tell them to pull their heads in. Standing ovation!

Matua Kahurangi: The propaganda playbook

How the Ardern government funded online propaganda during COVID

During the Covid pandemic, it was nearly impossible to question the government narrative without being piled on by an army of self-proclaimed experts, keyboard warriors, and smug “trust the science” types. It felt strangely coordinated at the time, as if there was an unspoken campaign to shut down any conversation that strayed from the government’s script. Many suspected that certain voices were being backed and funded to discredit dissent. Now we know that suspicion was not only justified, it was completely accurate.