Chris Hipkins, who will succeed Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister of New Zealand, condemned the “abhorrent” treatment that Ardern had to undergo and vowed on Sunday to protect his own family. His comments came three days after Ardern abruptly resigned from her position.
Hipkins blasted the personal abuse that Ardern had endured while she was in the top job for more than five years, hours after he was unanimously endorsed by Labour Party MPs as the party’s leader and the next prime minister of the nation. Ardern had been in the top post for more than five years.
When Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday that she would be resigning as Prime Minister, she cited the fact that she no longer had “enough in the tank” as the reason for her decision, which ignited a discussion across the country about the strains that she had been under.
Although she did not bring it up directly, numerous politicians and other prominent members of the public have spoken out against the “vitriol” that Jacinda Ardern faced during her time as Prime Minister, particularly on social media.
“The way in which Jacinda has been treated, in particular by some elements of our society — and they are a small minority,” Hipkins said, “has been completely revolting.”
According to the education and police minister, who is 44 years old, the statement “does not represent who we are as a country.”
It is the role of males to speak out against such treatment and assert that “it is not ok.”
The potential future prime minister, who is best known for his nearly two-year-long leadership of a national crackdown on COVID-19, stated that he was aware that putting himself forward as a potential leader meant that he would become “public property.”
“But no one in my family is,” he said to the media.
Hipkins stated that he wanted his son, who is six years old, and his daughter, who is four years old, to grow up with a “normal Kiwi kid life.” He added that his decision to divorce his wife in a peaceful manner was his own business.
“I have seen the great scrutiny and pressure made on Jacinda and her family, and therefore my answer will be to keep my family entirely out of the spotlight,” he added. “I have seen the enormous scrutiny and pressure imposed on Jacinda and her family.”
After guiding New Zealand through the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack, and a volcanic eruption, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that she was fatigued.
“I am human, when the time comes, we give as much as we can for as long as we can, and then we call it quits,” the leader, who is 42 years old, remarked.
After Ardern formally stands down from her position as prime minister, Hipkins is expected to be sworn in as the nation’s 41st prime minister by the governor general on Wednesday.
Hipkins stated that New Zealand will shift its focus from COVID-19 to improving the economy while he is in charge of the country.
The cost of living, rising inflation, and worker shortages are some of the factors that have been attributed to Labour’s drop in the polls since 2020. The opposition center-right National Party is presently ahead of Labour in the polls.
“The COVID-19 virus and the pandemic together caused a public health emergency. Now that it has, it has generated an economic one, and that is where the focus of my government will be,” Hipkins added.
The incoming leader of New Zealand has pledged to address the country’s soaring crime rates.
“We are well aware that we need to put in additional effort to re-engage young people in order to address the systemic factors that contribute to criminal behavior.”
Hipkins made the announcement that Carmel Sepuloni will become the nation’s first deputy prime minister to be of Pacific Islander heritage.
In 2008, when Sepuloni was 46 years old, he was elected to the parliamentary position of minister for social development, a position he has held since 2017.
It was in 1964 that Sepuloni’s father, who was of Samoan and Tongan descent, immigrated to New Zealand in order to find employment on the railways.
She remarked that it was “extremely hard to understand” that his daughter would ascend to the position of Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand.
To recognize the significance of this for our Pacific community is something I’d like to do immediately.
Eight percent of New Zealand’s total population of 5.1 million people consider themselves to be Pasifika, which refers to a New Zealander of Pacific Island ancestry.
It is anticipated that Grant Robertson, who served as deputy prime minister under Jacinda Ardern, will continue in his role as minister of finance.