The release of Ardern: Prime Minister is the latest attempt to mythologise Jacinda Ardern’s tenure as a time of compassionate and decisive leadership. The documentary frames her as a selfless leader who guided New Zealand through crises, from the Christchurch terror attack to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for us, this hagiography obscures the real impact of her government: increasing inequality, expanding state power, and deepening social divisions. The reality of Ardern’s leadership is far removed from the carefully curated narrative of “kindness” and “transformational politics” that the film promotes.

A Neoliberal in Progressive Clothing

Ardern’s rise to power was built on promises of radical change. Labour’s 2017 campaign vowed to fix the housing crisis, reduce child poverty, and overhaul the economy to serve working-class interests. Yet, by the time she resigned in 2023, New Zealand’s inequality had worsened, the housing market remained inaccessible to ordinary people, and the government had failed to challenge the economic structures that keep capital entrenched in power. Instead of confronting the root causes of social issues, Ardern’s government relied on progressive branding while maintaining the neoliberal status quo. The housing crisis was met with half-measures like Kiwibuild, which failed to deliver affordable homes. The government increased welfare payments slightly but kept the punitive welfare system intact. The much-hyped Fair Pay Agreements were too little, too late—scrapped as soon as National regained power.

For all the talk of transformational leadership, Labour’s economic policies primarily benefited property owners, banks, and corporations. Ardern’s government continued to subsidise landlords and failed to implement a meaningful wealth tax. Despite unprecedented state intervention during the pandemic, the government refused to take structural steps toward economic justice. Instead, it handed billions to businesses while ordinary workers were left struggling.

COVID-19: From Unity to Division

The documentary portrays Ardern’s handling of COVID-19 as a heroic success story, but in reality, her government left behind a deeply polarised nation. In 2020, Ardern was lauded internationally for New Zealand’s elimination strategy. The “team of five million” rhetoric painted the response as a collective national effort, yet the burdens were not shared equally. Working-class and Māori communities bore the brunt of lockdowns, job losses, and economic hardship, while property owners and the wealthy profited from soaring house prices. By mid-2021, frustration was growing. The MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) system became a symbol of government failure, arbitrarily locking out thousands of New Zealanders while celebrities and business elites secured priority access. Families were separated, workers were stranded, and public trust in the system eroded.

Vaccine Mandates and the Erosion of Trust

One of the most divisive aspects of Ardern’s COVID-19 response was the implementation of vaccine mandates. While vaccination could be seen as crucial for public health, the government’s heavy-handed approach alienated many. Instead of engaging with vaccine-hesitant communities—particularly Māori and working-class people with historical reasons to distrust state healthcare—the government imposed mandates with little discussion. This only deepened opposition and pushed many toward conspiracy-driven narratives. The 2022 anti-mandate occupation at Parliament was a culmination of this alienation. While far-right elements were present, many protesters were ordinary people—workers, Māori, small business owners—who felt betrayed by a government that had preached kindness but refused to engage with their concerns. Ardern’s government dismissed the protesters entirely, allowing police to violently disperse them instead of addressing the legitimate frustrations that Labour’s policies had helped create.

The Shift to “Living with COVID” and the Betrayal of Workers

By late 2021, Ardern’s government abandoned the elimination strategy, pivoting to “living with COVID.” This shift, largely driven by business interests, prioritised economic concerns over public health. The same government that had demanded strict compliance from the public was now forcing workers back into unsafe environments. By 2023, the Labour government had alienated both sides of the COVID-19 divide. Those who had supported strict public health measures felt betrayed by the sudden policy reversal, while those who opposed mandates and lockdowns had already lost trust in the government’s legitimacy. The result was a fractured society, where resentment festered long after Ardern’s departure.

State Power and the Expansion of the Surveillance State

Ardern’s tenure also saw an expansion of state surveillance and policing. Following the Christchurch attack, the government passed sweeping gun control laws, but also increased funding for the police and intelligence services. The new firearms registry, while framed as a safety measure, has been used as an excuse for greater state monitoring. The Royal Commission into the attack revealed that intelligence agencies had spent more time surveilling Māori, Muslim, and activist groups than actually preventing far-right terrorism—yet Ardern’s government did little to address this. During the pandemic, the government deployed heavy-handed policing to enforce lockdowns, disproportionately targeting Māori and working-class areas. This pattern continued with the anti-mandate protests, where state repression was prioritised over dialogue. Despite Labour’s progressive image, its approach to law and order remained authoritarian, treating dissent as a problem to be suppressed rather than a sign of systemic failure.

Ardern’s Departure: Avoiding the Consequences

In January 2023, Ardern announced her resignation, citing exhaustion. But her departure also allowed her to escape the political consequences of the crises she had overseen. Labour was already struggling in the polls, and the divisions created by her government’s policies had weakened the left’s credibility. Her successor, Chris Hipkins, was left to manage the fallout, but by then, the damage was done.

The documentary frames Ardern’s resignation as an act of humility, but in reality, it was a strategic retreat. She left behind a fractured Labour Party, an increasingly disillusioned working class, and a political landscape more volatile than when she took office that led to the election of a right-wing coalition. Her exit allowed her to maintain her global reputation while leaving others to clean up the mess.

The Danger of the Ardern Myth

The Ardern: Prime Minister documentary is not just a sanitised account of her time in office—it is an ideological tool designed to reinforce the illusion that progressive rhetoric can substitute for real change. By presenting her as a leader who embodied kindness and empathy, the film distracts from the fact that under her watch, inequality deepened, state power expanded, and social divisions worsened.

For anarcho-communists, the lesson of Ardern’s tenure is clear: genuine transformation will not come from within the political system. Labour, like National, serves the interests of capital, maintaining the structures that keep workers and marginalised communities oppressed. The real task is to build power outside the state—through grassroots organising, direct action, and community-led solutions that challenge the status quo.

Ardern’s legacy is not one of radical change, but of missed opportunities and deepening contradictions. The challenge now is to ensure that the next iteration of progressive politics does not fall into the same trap of empty symbolism over real action.

https://awsm4u.noblogs.org/post/2025/02/02/jacinda-ardern-the-myth-of-kindness-and-the-reality-of-division/

AOTEAROA WORKERS SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT

aotearoa_anarchism@riseup.net

© Scoop Media