You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling the unprecedented levels of abuse Ardern has unfairly received during her tenure as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
In light of the vile threats that have plagued her, Ardern’s decision to resign is entirely understandable. Some of these threats were even directed towards Ardern's young daughter Neve, making it a decision about serving her country or protecting family. It's therefore doubtful that any level-headed Kiwi, particularly those of the female persuasion, would begrudge such a difficult decision to make.
Today, RNZ reported:
Jacinda Ardern will need 'more ongoing protection than any PM in NZ's history'
Departing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will need more ongoing security and protection than any former New Zealand PM, according to political scientist and former intelligence worker Paul Buchanan.
“Let’s start by saying things have changed dramatically since the day John Key stepped down, and one might say fundamentally,” Buchanan said.
“The security requirements for ex-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern are going to be far tougher than any previous prime minister – by a lot.”
Threats against Ardern are well documented and were recorded to have tripled between 2020 and 2022. In mid-January police started investigating after leaflets threatening to “eradicate” Ardern were delivered to houses in Northland.
A good example from the various articles written by those trying to absolve their role in provoking this unprecedented amount of resentment being directed towards Jacinda Ardern, which has ultimately resulted in the Prime Ministers resignation, is this piece from 1 News reporter Jessica Mutch McKay.
Last Thursday, 1 News reported:
A surprise Ardern’s resignation came so soon
She said that being prime minister takes a lot of hunger, and "the prime minister has decided today that on her own terms, she's just not anymore".
Mutch McKay entirely ignoring the real reasons for the resignation and claiming that Ardern is no longer hungry enough to be Prime Minister is another misdirect to take the focus off of her own misreporting.
And here is muckraker Tova O'Brien claiming that Ardern has resigned simply to save face.
Jacinda Ardern wouldn't have quit if she genuinely thought she could win
Cut out the poison and all will be well but I struggle to truly believe that. Elections are presidential - the likely candidates for her job Hipkins, Wood and Allen are all good but they aren’t Ardern good.
She was the reason there was still a real contest in this election - she was the star power despite many in the country turning on the government.
Like John Key before her, Jacinda Ardern has chosen to protect her legacy and save face in the face of a loss.
So, Ardern is apparently something to be cut out, but also the only chance Labour had of winning the next election. Talk about a ridiculous contradiction in terms and a sickening way to describe a world-renowned leader. I mean how exactly does the largely irrelevant O'Brien even begin to justify likening anyone, particularly a Prime Minister of New Zealand, to cancer?
Of course they, like most of the right wing propagandists who are trying to reclaim the narrative, are at pains to avoid the real reasons for Ardern stepping down. In effect dirty politics has won again, which is why the right wing keep using such underhanded tactics to undermine the left.
The deluded O'Brien also likening Ardern’s justifiable decision with Key’s downfall is laughable, being that the mainstream media has never divulged the real reason behind his resignation. But sure, rewriting history as well as looking at the tea leaves to predict the future apparently now passes as political analysis in this country.
Even the usually level headed Duncan Greive decided to have a brain fart about the mainstream medias continued biased reporting against Jacinda Ardern.
On Saturday, The Spinoff reported:
Jacinda and the media: a very complicated relationship
For years, her extraordinary communication skills buoyed her leadership. But then the public mood changed – and the media followed suit.
Obviously much of the mainstream media has been terribly negative towards the Labour Party and Ardern throughout their previous two terms of governance, even when the Prime Ministers public opinion polling eclipsed that of any previous or likely future leaders.
As well as the bad takes from a large number of New Zealand’s biased political commentators, a few American fools and other offshore based idiots have been trying to interfere in our political discourse. In particular Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch’s gang of disinformation merchants have been attempting to sway public opinion against the New Zealand Labour led Government. But thankfully not everyone is putting up with this kind of unjustified political shenanigans.
Here is some good fact checking by Alan Austin, who debunks a number of their preposterous claims.
Also on the other side of the coin, Alison Mau penned an excellent article about the misogyny all female leaders face, and the abuse Jacinda Ardern in particular has endured.
Yesterday, Stuff reported
Shame on our misogyny: It's no wonder Jacinda Ardern was driven from office
Even as she announced her resignation, the pack was howling about the emotion she struggled to contain. The common denominator being hate directed at her personally, rather than the actions of her government.
As she resigned, Ardern avoided naming the wave of abuse as a contributing factor. She has not talked about the toll these vile attacks have taken on her and her family - indeed, she cannot talk about the thing that often drives women from positions of public power.
She can't name the evil as she steps down because If she does, she loses. Her attackers would have whipped her for it. As Massey University School of Management Senior Lecturer Dr Suze Wilson put it, she could not admit to it, because it would have told the trolls they'd won.
In my opinion, it seems likely that the vast majority of voters will correctly understand Ardern’s predicament and in light of the unwarranted abuse she’s received provide Labour with a third term in power. It will certainly harden the left wings resolve in the lead up to the next election.
We may even see some steadfast right-wing supporters change their voting preferences, being that their wealth has in recent years markedly increased thanks to Labour and the tactics from the right wing are largely unpalatable. Obviously most business leaders wouldn’t have prospered if a National government were mismanaging the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
And that’s where the right wing’s problems generally reside. Not only is the opposition leader entirely flat footed and promising economic death by a thousands cuts, most voters will likely sympathise with a left wing leader who has always had Aotearoas best interests at heart and clearly deserved far better treatment from the fourth estate.
We obviously have political parties in New Zealand with vested interests who’ve been actively undermining the current government via the mainstream media. They’ve effectively been sabotaging our progress in order to benefit themselves and bolster their own political prospects.
The irony is they’ve got what they wanted, but the fallout from their continued negative campaigning may just upset their chance to once again cook the countries books. So let's not have anymore premature narratives solely bassed on the right wings' dodgy polling. The election isn’t a slam-dunk by any means and the National and Act Party's don't have it in the bag, because as we all know, a week can be a very long time in politics.
