New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to meet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has opened up about what caused her response to the Christchurch mosque attack, saying it shouldn’t have been noteworthy at all.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has opened up about her “instinctive” response to the Christchurch mosque shootings in March, speaking at an event in Melbourne on Thursday.
Ms Ardern made headlines with her calm and compassionate response to the Christchurch tragedy in which 51 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on two mosques in the middle of Friday prayers.
Ms Ardern immediately went to the scene and met with community leaders, donning a hijab out of respect and asking how she could be of help. Pictures of her hugging people who had lost loved ones were beamed around the world and became a symbol of tolerance and love in the face of hatred.
“It’s instinctive when your mourning with someone, to reach out in that way. It just felt to me like a human response but perhaps I’d add another layer to that, it’s a Kiwi response,” she said in Melbourne.
But she said she was saddened at how surprised some were at her response. “I was saddened by it. It shouldn’t have been noteworthy,” Ms Ardern said.
The 38-year-old leader will meet with her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Friday.
“Last time I saw Jacinda was under the most difficult of circumstances when we were in Christchurch for the memorial service which was a heart-wrenching exercise,” the Australian leader told reporters ahead of the meeting.
Mr Morrison has since moved initiatives at the G20 as part of the “Christchurch call” to send a message that social media and internet platforms “can’t be weaponised by terrorists”.
While the meeting is likely to be congenial, Ms Ardern said she would raise one thorny issue — deportations of kiwi criminals to New Zealand.
“I consider that to be a corrosive part of that policy and it’s having a corrosive effect with our relationship — so I’ll continue to raise that as well,” she said on Thursday.
Climate change and childhood poverty have been on the agenda for the New Zealand leader.
“Child poverty and climate change those are the two areas where I’d love to ensure what we do lasts,” Ms Ardern said at Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday night.
She was asked what it would take to get meaningful global action on climate change.
“I think a visit to the Pacific Islands might do it. I think we actually just do need to humanise this,” she said.
“If you visit Kiribati or Tuvalu, it is real. This is not a hypothetical. The changes they’re seeing in their natural environment is happening now,” she said.
Ardern also told travelling media she would be looking to push the Aussie Prime Minister on the rights of Kiwis who live in Australia — specifically those trying to gain citizenship.
Although not an official bilateral meeting, Ardern said it would be a good opportunity for the pair to discuss a number of topics.
Aside from her “corrosive” comments, Ardern has spent much of the trip talking up New Zealand’s relationship with Australia.
“You are helping New Zealand to thrive,” she told a group of would-be Australian investors looking to spend up in New Zealand.
“Australia has long been a firm part of that ecosystem and will continue to be, but unlike any other.”
And it’s clear the admiration is not one-sided.
Australian media were scattered outside the airport as Ardern left with her convoy, with cameras craning to get a shot of the Kiwi Prime Minister.
There was a sizeable Australian media pack at most events Ardern was at during the day.
It should come as little surprise why Aussie media are so interested.
A recent poll from the Lowy Institute international policy think tank showed that nine in 10 Australians say they have confidence in Ardern to “do the right thing in the world”.
“That places her far ahead of any other world leader, including many of Australia’s own leaders,” Lowy Institute research fellow Natasha Kassam said.
In fact, the iconic image of Ardern in a hijab embracing a Muslim woman after the March 15 terror attacks in Christchurch has been painted on the side of a silo in this very city.
Ardern had a full day of meetings with officials and dignitaries — but she was greeted on the tarmac by her friend and mentor, Dame Annette King — New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia.
King, a former Labour MP and Cabinet minister, was something of a mentor to Ardern when the pair were in Opposition.
In fact, Ardern took over from King as Labour Deputy Leader in 2017.
They hugged on the tarmac, before getting into a car to head for Ardern’s first engagement of her trip — a meeting with Victoria Governor Linda Dessau at Government House.
Ardern, along with her partner Clarke Gayford, met with Dessau and her partner for morning tea at Government house.
As the foursome posed for a photo Dessau found herself standing beside Gayford, instead of her husband.
She then proceeded to joke about how she and Ardern had swapped.
“We’re not that modern here.”
Parts of this story first appeared on the NZ Herald website and are reproduced here with permission.
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