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Editorial

Decision day across the ditch for Jacinda Ardern

Judging by opinion polls giving New Zealand Labour a 15-point lead over the conservative National Party, Jacinda Ardern is on track for a substantial victory in Saturday’s election. It would be unfortunate for New Zealanders, however, if — in her second term as prime minister — the exemplifier of woke gesture and progressive symbolism so beloved of much of the international commentariat steers her nation on a more leftward trajectory that would compound the failures of her first term.

If Labour falls short of an absolute majority and Ms Ardern’s coalition partner, Winston Peters’ New Zealand First, does as badly as anticipated, she will need an alliance with the Greens to govern. Such a coalition would accentuate the ambitions of some New Zealanders to be a busybody global watchdog on human rights, social justice and environmental compliance.

For Australia it could mean stronger criticism of our refugee policy (though we are far more generous on that score than New Zealand) and a more negative view of Australian mining.

Ms Ardern deservedly won widespread praise for her empathy and leadership over the Christchurch massacre in March last year, and last December’s White Island disaster. Her “go hard, go early” response to COVID-19 also was much lauded, with the country of five million people (fewer than Sydney’s 5.23 million) having only 1880 cases, resulting in 25 deaths.

New Zealand’s success resulted from Ms Ardern’s imposition of one of the world’s most severe “medieval plague” lockdowns. But larger nations such as Taiwan and South Korea also got the virus under control while keeping their economies intact. New Zealand’s economy shrank more than 12 per cent in the June quarter, compared with 7 per cent in Australia. That result has contributed to Ms Ardern abandoning significant electoral pledges such as building 100,000 affordable homes in a decade. Neither has homelessness been eradicated, as promised, nor child poverty reduced. And despite Ms Ardern’s pledge of zero carbon emissions by 2050, emissions are not expected to peak until 2025. For all that, Ms Ardern’s undoubted popularity is expected to carry her across the line.

Read related topics:Jacinda Ardern

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/decision-day-across-the-ditch-for-jacinda-ardern/news-story/406de9120e58934d68543ba7ef51be36