I hate Seven Sharp. I hate Hilary Barry’s supercilious attitude to just about everything, particularly Jeremy Wells, whom she treats like a wayward teenager rather than a journalist (okay, comedian) in his own right. Unfortunately, I’m currently at the house with no smart TV, and therefore no Netflix, so I am very stuck for viewing choice. Don’t worry – we will be getting a smart TV soon, because I keep throwing things at the current one, particularly between 7.00 and 7.30 each weeknight.
On Wednesday night, Hilary interviewed the prime minister.
With less than 18 months to go before the next election, Seven Sharp’s Hilary Barry sat down with the PM at her Auckland home and asked does she see herself leading the country for another term.
“Yes,” Ms Ardern replied. “It’s not up to me though,” she hastened to add. “I’m not done.”
No. If he gets over 5% of the vote, it will be up to Winston, rather than the electorate.
As for the last 18 months or so, Ms Ardern said the highlight on a personal level was easy to pick – Neve.
Ms Ardern is only the second world leader to have a baby in office.
Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford celebrated her first birthday on June 21.
“It’s been just an amazing change in our lives,” Ms Ardern told Seven Sharp.
“I know every parent says that, and you’d expect me to say that. But there’s lots about it that surprised me. And having her to come home to and back to all the time is lovely.”
While many Kiwi women juggle work and motherhood, the mix of Cabinet papers and bedtime stories make Ms Ardern’s situation somewhat different to most.
Why is it? She just gets paid more than most working mothers, which makes her situation much easier. She can afford full-time nannies, and she often leaves the House at 2.30 in the afternoon to make sure she’s home in time to put Neve to bed. Most working women can’t do that.
She recalled coming home after a meeting with a world leader, “and within about half an hour I was covered in mashed pumpkin, and just thinking, ‘If they could see me now!'”
Oh, what a hero. Show me a parent that hasn’t been covered in mashed pumpkin, or vomit… or worse. This is Jacinda, though, and so it is special.
On the tricky question of whether the couple will have another baby, Ms Ardern said she tells everyone who asks her the truth.
“I don’t know. I would hope that either way that New Zealand would be OK with whatever we end up doing as a family.”
Jacinda, Clarke and Hilary Barry need to realise something. Most of us do not care one iota about what they end up doing as a family. What she ends up doing as a prime minister though is another matter altogether.
If you hoped thought that we might be getting rid of her soon, unfortunately, it seems not.
Following Ms Ardern’s exposure on the world stage since becoming Prime Minister, there has been speculation that she may have been headhunted for another role.
TVNZ.
Ms Ardern says she’s heard that too, but she’s not going anywhere.
“I’m here because New Zealand is my home. This idea that this role is somehow just a stepping stone to something else, that’s not at all the case. This is me, this is what I want to do. So no, I’m not going anywhere, sorry,” she said.
I am sorry. Very sorry, because if Jacinda goes, the whole house of cards that is the Coalition of Losers comes tumbling down. Similar rumours about Helen Clark turned out to be true though, so don’t give up hope just yet.
One thing is for sure. If TVNZ has sent the sycophantic Hillary Barry to interview Jacinda, there must be a poll coming out soon. Very soon. Watch out for more magazine covers and more rubbish puff pieces like this in the next week or so.
Or maybe Hilary will be interviewing Simon Bridges with his 3 children tonight? No? Thought not.