‘You know me as Aunty, call him Chippy’: Jacinda Ardern hands over the reins to Christopher Hipkins

Jacinda Ardern used her last address as NZ PM to vow Chris Hipkins will make a ‘wonderful’ leader and thanked Kiwis for their ‘kindness’.

Jacinda Ardern gives her final address as Prime Minister at the Ratana religious festival. Picture: Getty Images.

Jacinda Ardern has used her final address as Prime Minister to assure New Zealand voters her successor Chris Hipkins will make a “wonderful” leader, as she bows out of the job.

The outgoing Prime Minister, who has known Mr Hipkins for 20 years and regards him as a friend, told a gathering at Whanganui, in the North Island: “You know me as Aunty, I hope you know him as Chippy (his nickname in parliament).

“He is personable, down to earth and practical with tools,” she said at the Ratana religious festival at the Ratana Pa (village) on Tuesday afternoon, where she was also given an emotional Maori farewell.

While her appearance at Ratana has long been in Ms Ardern’s diary – the second day of the three day festival is widely regarded as the start of the political year and draws leaders across the political spectrum – it held added significance as the place for her final address.

Not only is the Ratana Church – founded in 1925 by Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana – both a religious and pan-Maori political movement with strong links to the Labour party, the

festival was widely seen this year as a test of how popular incoming PM Mr Hipkins and opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon are among the crucial Maori electorate.

Incoming Labour leader and Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaks to the gathering. Picture: Hopkins/Getty Images.

It was also at this marae (meeting place) that Ms Ardern first announced she was pregnant, four years ago.

She thanked the church for the generosity they showed her at the time – even offering her the name Waru for her baby – and also thanked parliamentary colleagues and the country as a whole for the “empathy and kindness” they showed her throughout her tenure as PM.

Since she announced on Thursday her intention to step down as Labour leader and PM, New Zealand commentators – and the Twitterati – have speculated that Ms Ardern’s decision was driven by misogyny and brutal criticism of her leadership abilities.

But in a short address, Ms Ardern denied the claims, insisting her “overwhelming experience” throughout her more than five years leading the country had been one of “love, empathy and kindness.”

“That’s what the majority of New Zealand has shown to me,” said the politician whose own empathy was globally admired, even among her political opponents.

“I leave with a greater love for Aotearoa New Zealand and its people than when I started,” Ms Ardern told Maori leaders and politicians from both Labour, the Maori party and the opposition National party. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

Ms Ardern has faced bitter criticism over recent months as the economy stalled, prices rocketed and key election promises including on health, housing and social welfare, were broken.

The country has also been divided over controversial policies such as co-governance with the powerful Maori tribes, which Ms Ardern’s successor has promised to scrutinise.

The opposition has already leapt on the divisions caused by co-governance, with Mr Luxon controversially using the festival – usually a politics-free zone – to attack the “confusion and fear” caused by parts of Labour's program.

Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins, arrive at the Ratana festival. Picture: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images.

Speaking just before Ms Ardern, the incoming Prime Minister admitted there was “too much uncertainty and misunderstanding between Maori and non-Maori,” which had led to fear and confusion among the population. “We are all in the waka (canoe) together,” he assured the gathering.

“She (Ms Ardern) never allowed our relationship to be characterised by fear. As long as we are the government we will seek to bring New Zealanders together."

Mr Hipkins and Ms Ardern made the two hour journey from Wellington, the capital, together, and Ms Ardern confided that she took the opportunity to “import some experiences” of her years as PM and to offer Mr Hipkins some advice.

“The most important advice I could give was; ‘You do you,’ she told reporters.

“This is for him to carve out his own space, to be his own leader,” she said. “This is now for him. I’ve had my time, it’s time for the new team.”

Bowing out, she added that she was ready to stay out of the limelight. She was, she said, ready to be “a backbench MP, a sister and a mum.”

Before the event began, former Labour chief of staff Matt McCarten told Radio NZ he expected it would be a “very emotional” day for both Ms Ardern and the gathered Maori.

“Jacinda’s had a very strong relationship with Māori … [her departure] is a huge loss for Māoridom because she was an ally in public, but also in the backrooms,” he said.

Mr Hipkins will be sworn in as the country’s 41st Prime Minister on Wednesday.