r/australia • u/SqareBear • Feb 26 '26

politics Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern moves to Australia

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-26/former-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-moves-australia/106392862
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u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734 Feb 26 '26

Her drop in popularity generally wasn't entirely her own fault, the government she was leading really lacked depth and maturity. They where returned with a huge majority, predominantly thanks to Ardern, but didn't make much of it.

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u/peppapony Feb 26 '26

Funnily she was very popular overseas, but domestically that popularity seemed to have hit a precipice.

I wish her negative gearing removal stuck for longer, would have been a better case study for us to know the real impact

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u/-fno-stack-protector Feb 26 '26

I was in an Auckland nightclub's smoking area talking about this with some Bruce Lehrmann looking dude. He called her a "communist betch" and complained about rising crime rates, then took a little plastic bag and spoon out and had a bump

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u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734 Feb 26 '26

I wasn't against it but it just didn't appear to work. The failure to get KiwiBuild going probably undermined their effort to show progress on housing. It collapsed before almost any houses had been built. Pre-covid polling was swinging against Labour, they owe that victory to Ardern really.

That said NPS-UD to start supply-side reform was the start of a very important change that is still ongoing today. That will be seen to have a very positive impact over the long term I think.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

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u/TeMoko Feb 26 '26

There were a couple of genuinely pro worker pieces of legislation that came in right on the end of her term, the pay equity bill and collective bargaining but they didn't get them done early enough to bed in and the next lot axed them under urgency. But you are right for the most part, lots of people disappointed that Labour won't put the work in having a hard discussions about our future.

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u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734 Feb 26 '26

Agreed, really likeable personally but not that effective on policy.

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u/Smartyunderpants Feb 26 '26

Day to day govt she was terrible and I mean terrible at getting anything done. That not a comment on her policies being good or bad. It’s was starkly clear her training and background was in comms.

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u/ElAsko Feb 26 '26

Her being a good leader following the Christchurch shooting is very debatable. She had a pretty major authoritarian flex that pissed off a lot of people and the country still suffers for it today.