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”.
