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Nicola Willis, finance minister of New Zealand, discusses the country’s inflation forecast and what the government and central bank are doing to get inflation back into the target range.
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Tag: New Zealand government
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Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is writing a book on leadership
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday she is writing a book, with the focus more on leadership than on politics.
In an Instagram post, Ardern said she is often asked whether she will write about her five years as New Zealand’s leader.
“At first, my answer was no. I didn’t want to write a book that hauled over the internal politics of the last five years, and then someone convinced me that I didn’t have to,” Ardern wrote.
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“That maybe it might be worth expanding on some of things I talked about in my valedictory instead — like the idea you can be your own kind of leader and still make a difference. And so that’s what I’m planning to do.”
Ardern said she had no date for when the book will be published.
“But I hope when it’s done, it’s the kind of book that would have made a difference to my 14-year-old self,” Ardern wrote.
Just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, Ardern was seen as a global icon of the left. She shocked New Zealanders in January when she said she was stepping down because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice in an election year.
Since then, Ardern has announced she will temporarily join Harvard University this year after being appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also taken on an unpaid role combating online extremism.
This month, Ardern received one of New Zealand’s highest honors for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and pandemic. She was made a Dame Grand Companion, meaning people will now call her Dame Jacinda.
Ardern said she was working with a team of publishers — Penguin in New Zealand and Australia, Macmillan in Britain and Crown in the United States. The publishers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
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Zelenskyy asks New Zealand to focus on war’s ecological toll
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged New Zealand to take a leading role in focusing on the environmental destruction his country is suffering as a result of Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy delivered his message via video link to lawmakers who packed the debating chamber at 8 a.m. Wednesday. He became just the second foreign leader to address New Zealand’s parliament, after Australia’s Julia Gillard did so in 2011.
Zelenskyy said it was possible to rebuild a nation’s economy and infrastructure, even though it may take many years.
“But you can’t rebuild destroyed nature, just as you can’t restore destroyed lives,” he said.
Zelenskyy is pushing for a 10-point peace plan that, as well as environmental protection, including items such as nuclear safety and justice. He has been asking various countries to take a lead on different points.
He said some of the environmental effects of the war included poisoned groundwater, ravaged forests, flooded coal mines and huge areas of Ukraine that remain contaminated from unexploded mines.
Zelenskyy thanked New Zealand for their contributions to Ukraine’s war effort so far and offered a message of hope.
“Various dictators and aggressors, they always fail to realize the strength of the free world’s governments,” he said.
New Zealand announced it was providing another 3 million New Zealand dollars ($2 million) in humanitarian aid through the International Committee of the Red Cross, adding to the NZ$8 million it had already provided.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Zelenskyy her country’s support for Ukraine wasn’t determined by geography or diplomatic ties.
“Our judgment was a simple one,” she said. “We asked ourselves the question, ‘What if it was us?’”
She said that in such a scenario, New Zealand would want nations in the international community to use their voices, “regardless of their political systems, their distance, or their size.”
Lawmakers finished the address by singing a World War II-era song in the Indigenous Māori language.
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New Zealand PM Ardern caught name-calling rival on hot mic
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was caught on a hot mic Tuesday using a vulgarity against a rival politician in a rare misstep for a leader known for her skill at debating and calm, measured responses.
After five years as prime minister, Ardern faces a tough election campaign in 2023. Her liberal Labour Party won reelection two years ago in a landslide of historic proportions, but recent polls have put her party behind its conservative rivals.
The comment came after lawmaker David Seymour, who leads the libertarian ACT party, peppered Ardern with questions about her government’s record for around seven minutes during Parliament’s Question Time, which allows for spirited debate between rival parties.
As an aside to her deputy Grant Robertson, Ardern said what sounded like, “He’s such an arrogant pr———,” after sitting down. Her words are barely audible on Parliament TV but are just picked up in the background by her desk microphone as House Speaker Adrian Rurawhe talks.
Ardern’s office said she apologized to Seymour for the comment. When asked by The Associated Press to clarify, Ardern’s office did not dispute the comment. In an interview with the AP, Seymour said she had used those words.
“I’m absolutely shocked and astonished at her use of language,” Seymour said. “It’s very out of character for Jacinda, and I’ve personally known her for 11 years.”
He said it was also ironic because his question to the prime minister had been about whether she had ever admitted a mistake as leader and then fixed it. “And she couldn’t give a single example of when she’s admitted she’s wrong and apologized,” Seymour said.
Seymour said that in her text, Ardern wrote that she “apologized, she shouldn’t have made the comments, and that, as her mom said, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.”
Seymour, who said he admired some of Ardern’s political skills immensely, said he’d written back to Ardern thanking her for the apology and wishing her a very Merry Christmas.
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Solomon Islands agreed to accord after China references axed
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Solomon Islands agreed to sign an accord between the United States and more than a dozen Pacific nations only after indirect references to China were removed, the Solomon Islands foreign minister said Tuesday.
“There were some references that put us in a position where we’ll have to choose sides, and we did not want to be placed in a position where we have to choose sides,” Jeremiah Manele told reporters in Wellington.
His remarks represented the first time Solomon Islands has publicly acknowledged it had initial concerns about the agreement and expressed why it had a change of heart.
The accord was signed in Washington last week, with President Joe Biden telling visiting Pacific leaders that the U.S. was committed to bolstering its presence in the region and becoming a more collaborative partner.
The administration pledged the U.S. would add $810 million in new aid for Pacific Island nations over the next decade. The summit came amid growing U.S. concern about China’s military and economic influence in the Pacific.
But the final agreement focused mainly on issues like climate change, economic growth and natural disasters. A small section on security contained mostly broad language, and while it specifically condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it made no mention of China.
Ahead of the summit, diplomats had said Solomon Islands was signaling it was unlikely to sign the joint declaration, which would have represented a diplomatic blow for both the U.S. and the Pacific nations.
Many in the U.S. and the Pacific had been eager to get Solomon Islands on board after becoming alarmed about the increasing ties between Solomon Islands and China, especially after the two nations signed a security agreement earlier this year.
“In the initial draft, there were some references that we were not comfortable with, but then with the officials, after discussions and negotiations, we were able to find common ground,” Manele said.
Pressed further by reporters on those concerns, Manele acknowledged the draft had contained indirect references to China.
He said the Solomon Islands security agreement with China was part of a national security strategy and there was no provision in it for China to build a military base, as some had feared.
Manele met with his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington at a potentially awkward venue — Parliament’s so-called Rainbow Room, which is dedicated to the nation’s gay, lesbian and transgender communities. The room features photographs of LGBTQ lawmakers and framed copies of bills relevant to those communities.
In Solomon Islands, gay and lesbian sex remain illegal.
Manele said Solomon Islands was a young democracy.
“These are emerging issues. These are challenges that as a young country we will find ways to discuss,” he said.
Mahuta said there was no undertone or message intended in the choice of location. “It was the only available room for us to use,” she said.
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