Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has won lots of favourable publicity, while attending the Queen’s funeral in London and the UN General Assembly in New York.
It was a sombre mission in London, less so but no less tiring in New York (although the nuclear threat from Russia was sobering).
On both occasions, Ardern has represented the country so outstandingly that New Zealanders for a week or two might have overlooked how poorly the government has been performing at home.
Indeed, one commentator – Matthew Hooton in the NZ Herald – suggested that if NZ became a republic he would back Jacinda Ardern for president.
Nobody, he says, better personifies contemporary New Zealand globally and in national celebration or grief. Continue reading “The PM has basked in the glow of approving publicity overseas – but the dollar’s dive should bring her back to earth”