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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/world/australia/jacinda-ardern-valedictory-speech.html
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| Who Jacinda Ardern Really Is | Who Jacinda Ardern Really Is |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter in Melbourne. | The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter in Melbourne. |
| In her first speech to lawmakers in 2008, Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister, told her new colleagues a little about what they might expect from her. | In her first speech to lawmakers in 2008, Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister, told her new colleagues a little about what they might expect from her. |
| “Some people have asked me whether I am a radical. My answer to that question is very simple: ‘I am from Morrinsville,’” she said, referring to the small New Zealand town where she grew up and where her father was a police officer. She added: “Where I come from, a radical is someone who chooses to drive a Toyota rather than a Holden or a Ford.” | “Some people have asked me whether I am a radical. My answer to that question is very simple: ‘I am from Morrinsville,’” she said, referring to the small New Zealand town where she grew up and where her father was a police officer. She added: “Where I come from, a radical is someone who chooses to drive a Toyota rather than a Holden or a Ford.” |
| More a “social democrat” than a revolutionary, she said, she had a “passion for social justice” and a deep commitment to “the values of human rights, social justice, equality and democracy, and the role of communities.” | More a “social democrat” than a revolutionary, she said, she had a “passion for social justice” and a deep commitment to “the values of human rights, social justice, equality and democracy, and the role of communities.” |
| She mentioned the power and influence of her family; her teenage campaign for the right of schoolgirls to wear trousers instead of a skirt; her pride in New Zealand; her concerns about the future of the climate; and the scourge of child poverty. “My love of politics came when I realized that it was the key to changing what I saw,” she said. “And there is much to change.” | She mentioned the power and influence of her family; her teenage campaign for the right of schoolgirls to wear trousers instead of a skirt; her pride in New Zealand; her concerns about the future of the climate; and the scourge of child poverty. “My love of politics came when I realized that it was the key to changing what I saw,” she said. “And there is much to change.” |
| Citing her status as then the youngest person in the chamber, at 28, she added, “I am the first to concede that I am not a normal young person.” | |
| This week, Ardern made her final speech to lawmakers as she relinquished her role as a member of Parliament, ending a career in New Zealand politics. Over five years as prime minister, she had steered the country through history-making crises, including a pandemic, devastating terrorist attacks and a major volcanic eruption. |