The magazine “Thrive” has published an interview with the Prime Minister which was conveniently transcribed and summarised in the NZ Herald yesterday. This appears to be the standard direction the NZH ventures in whenever Ardern is up against the wall of public opinion. The focus was on the cuteness of Neve and the wonderful supporting role Gayford provides. The model family we must all aspire to.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and partner Clarke Gayford have demanding careers but they try to make sure one of them is home to put 2-year-old daughter Neve to bed every night.
Being the Prime Minister may be a 24/7 job, but Ardern says any relaxation time she gets is spent with Neve.
[…] She shares other heart-melting Neve moments like the time she asked “Are your ouchies better, Mummy?” when Ardern resorted to using her plasters and laughs about the time Neve took off in the airport and left her running after her holding her briefcase and a massive stuffed penguin – much to the amusement of other passengers.
NZ Herald
The comments within the interview that took my eye was Ardern’s declaration that “her maternal instincts shape how she does her job”…“’I feel like it’s my job to look after people.’” And that, in my opinion, is the major flaw in her management skills. I had my own mother, bless her soul, and at the age of seventy two I’m not in need of another.
Ardern may be a wonderful mother, and I say that sincerely, but with the election of the 2017 Labour government, regardless of how bizarre the circumstances, they were not appointed because the nation required a mother figure. The Labour landslide of 2020 contradicted that assessment. It has now transpired that the nation’s younger generation is indeed in need of such a role model. A society that depends on this is a sick society. It identifies a declining maturity amongst the population and a growing dependency on “mother”. And, as is a natural response, they will protect their “mother” in spite of all the flaws that are exposed in her administration.
Ardern has played this role brilliantly due to the events of the last couple of years and has been provided with the stage to exhibit her only skill to perfection. But now “mother” has sent her children to their rooms once too often. When children are punished for something they have no control over, they rebel. Ardern is beginning to observe that her role as PM requires more than “her maternal instincts”. Her children are now teenagers, rebellious and disobedient and making plans to leave home. We can only live in hope.
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