Jacinda Ardern gives final speech in parliament

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave her final speech in parliament on Wednesday morning.

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ARDERN RETIRED EARLIER THIS YEAR

Jacinda Ardern announced earlier this year that she is stepping down as prime minister and that she is retiring from politics.

“It was a cross between a sense of duty to steer a moving freight train… and being hit by one,” she said during her valedictory address.

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Ever since her appointment as prime minister, Jacinda has led New Zealand through many natural disasters, the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These stories and phases are engraved in my mind and likely will be forever. That is the responsibility and privilege of the role of prime minister.”

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JACINDA ARDERN VALEDICTORY SPEECH FOCUSED ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Jacinda dedicated a big part of her speech to climate change. She urged the country’s politicians to work together. “One of the very few things I will ask of this house on my departure is that you please take the politics out of climate change.”

She said that she will dedicate herself to stamping out online extremism as part of the Christchurch Call project.

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POPULARITY WANES

As previously reported, Jacinda’s popularity waned as she battled declining trust in the government, a deteriorating economic situation, and a resurgent conservative opposition.

The stress has been evident in recent months when Ardern showed a rare lapse of poise when she was unwittingly caught on the microphone calling an opposition politician an “arrogant prick”.

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