Imagine if Scott Morrison picked Pauline Hanson as his emissary to global Islam
Jacinda is good, Jacinda is devoid of politics. Lisa Wilkinson, 10daily.com.au, March 20:
… there is something about the way Jacinda Ardern has gone about guiding her nation through the eye of such unspeakable tragedy, that has been so uniquely female, so inspirational, so utterly genuine and completely devoid of politics, that women, and men, across the globe have suddenly remembered what real, engaged, compassionate and powerful leadership looks like.
Ardern sends her deputy PM, Winston Peters, to reassure an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation in Istanbul. Peters’s statement, March 22:
In a country that practises religious tolerance, an attack on one of us, observing their beliefs, is an attack on all of us. New Zealanders … feel a profound sense of grief and loss. Millions have embraced their Muslim neighbours … We have been humbled to have the global Muslim community stand with us in our bleakest hour.
Peters rises to speak in the NZ parliament after the June 2017 jihadist attack in London, June 6, 2017:
Inevitably, we will be told the wider community knew nothing, and neither did the friends or the family … What is happening is that families, friends and confidants are choosing (silence) … rather than turn these monsters in … (This is) not acceptable in NZ. While the Islamic community must clean house by turning these monsters in, it starts with their own families … We must avoid the same politically correct trap that has allowed such communities apart to form …
New Zealand goes to the polls. The Guardian, September 24, 2017:
The future of NZ’s new government has been put in the hands of Winston Peters, a cantankerous, anti-immigration politician … Neither of the major parties — National, led by the incumbent prime minister, Bill English, or Jacinda Ardern’s Labour — secured enough seats to form a majority government … Peters, the unpredictable leader of the populist NZ First party, became kingmaker after gaining 7.5 per cent of the vote …
Peters makes Ardern PM and rebuffs English, despite the Nationals winning a bigger share of the vote, stuff.co.nz, October 19, 2017:
The price of power (demanded by Peters): deputy PM, four ministers in Cabinet, one more outside Cabinet. And some big policy wins, including immigration. It was a price Jacinda Ardern was prepared to pay, and one that Bill English judged as too high.
Ben Mack, The Washington Post, November 8, 2017:
A shadow is poisoning Middle-earth.
On the surface, NZ’s new government sounds like a progressive dream: a young, energetic prime minister reminiscent of Barack Obama or Justin Trudeau who not only discusses the importance of feminism but calls people out for misogynistic comments on the spot … and the fact that the heads of the three branches of government are all women. But for all the excitement around Jacinda Ardern and her new government, the real power lies with the far right … Led by veteran politician Winston Peters — who has made racist comments toward immigrants and people of Asian descent … NZ First has traditionally been an afterthought in NZ politics. That all changed this past September (when this far-right party) had the power to decide who would rule. The effects of the far right’s influence are already being felt. Amid pressure from NZ First, the government has vowed to slash immigration by tens of thousands …