New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern makes stopover on Gold Coast to cheer on Kiwi Games team
NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has arrived on the Gold Coast to cheer on Kiwi athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games in a surprise visit.
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NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made a stopover on the Gold Coast to meet Kiwi athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games.
Ms Ardern avoided what the New Zealand press has dubbed ‘Jacindamania’ when she touched down at Brisbane Airport around 6.30pm for a brief stopover at the Gold Coast Games en route to London to meet the Queen.
Ms Ardern went straight to Carrara Stadium to watch athletes including New Zealand shot-putter Valerie Adams and 800m women’s runner Angie Petty compete.
KIWIS IN NO RUSH TO HOST GAMES, SAYS ARDERN
Ms Ardern will have breakfast with New Zealand athletes and supporters on the Gold Coast on Saturday before she attends the Australia V New Zealand gold medal women’s hockey showdown at Labrador.
She will speak to the media at New Zealand House at The QT Gold Coast in Surfers Paradise at 3pm and attend a team New Zealand medal celebration.
As of 10pm Friday, New Zealand’s Day 10 Games medal tally stood at 10 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze.
The trip marks Ms Ardern’s first visit to the Gold Coast since she became Prime Minister last year.
According to the 2016 Census, 44,189 expat New Zealanders live on the Coast — eight per cent of the city’s population of 555,721.
Ms Ardern is scheduled to fly out of Brisbane late on Saturday to continue on to Paris where she will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday.
She will travel to Germany on Tuesday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before she heads to London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Ms Ardern will also attend a private one-on-one meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Known as an “on appointment audience”, the one-on-one meetings with the Queen are offered to new prime ministers of countries where the Queen is head of state.
Ms Ardern is also expected to meet Prince Charles and Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, at Clarence House on Wednesday.
Ms Ardern, who became Labour leader only weeks before her country’s federal election in September last year, leads a three-party government after forming an official coalition with the nationalist New Zealand First Party and a confidence and supply agreement with the left-leaning Greens.
Her flying Coast stopover comes just hours after her surprise announcement that New Zealand will ban oil exploration and transition to a zero-carbon economy.
Ms Ardern, who campaigned heavily on preventing climate change in the run-up to last year’s tight election, said the decision was a responsible step that would provide certainty for businesses and communities.
Ms Ardern previously visited Australia in March to meet with her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull for the first time since she was sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister in October last year.
Ms Ardern made headlines at home earlier this week when she responded to Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi’s claims New Zealand is “racist”.
Speaking on New Zealand radio on Tuesday, Ms Ardern said “we should all strive” towards ending racism.
“Is there racism in New Zealand?” she said.
“Undeniably. Is there racism in most countries? Undeniably. Can we do better? Yes. And I’m really proud of the efforts we make daily to do better.”
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