“I Feel Such A Draw To Be Focused On What’s Needed”: Jacinda Ardern Opens Up On ‘The Project’
"We see ourselves as peaceful and inclusive," Ardern told Waleed Aly of 'The Project'. "The act has been so counter to that. But the response -- the real desire to give a sense of safety and security -- that's New Zealand."
Following a terror attack, citizens tend to look for security — for direction, and for a moral line to be drawn starkly in the sand. In the aftermath of the tragic shootings in the Christchurch mosque, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has provided that direction.
While politicians in Australia have used the shootings as an opportunity to forward their own reactionary positions, Ardern has walked a fine line, acting as a political leader when she needs to — making incisive comments about Islamophobia and refusing to speak the shooter’s name — and as a human being when she doesn’t.
As part of that, she has kept her own emotional state a closely-guarded secret. But, in an interview with Waleed Aly of The Project, Ardern has opened up, revealing that she is “deeply sad”.
Last week, Waleed travelled to Christchurch and sat down with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to find out how she and her country have been coping through its darkest days… #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/AwFcSZBTyu
— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 25, 2019
The interview, which begins with a hug, rapidly takes a swerve into the personal. As Aly begins to prepare to ask Ardern his first, difficult question, she beats him to the punch.
“Are you going to ask me how I am?” she asks with a laugh.
“I’ve actually just avoided the question. Because the answer is, I’m deeply sad.
“But there are moments when there aren’t cameras and where I’ve just been with families, and it’s fair to say those are very emotional moments.”
Ardern reveals that she hasn’t spent much time with her family, and admits that even if she did, the time wouldn’t be “quality.”
“I feel such a draw to be focused on doing what’s needed for those who have lost loved ones. Too much else feels a bit selfish right now.”
If Jacinda Ardern was hypothetically PM in Australia can you imagine the toxic politics and commentary that would have tried to discredit her? #auspol
— PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) March 25, 2019
But, again walking that fine political tightrope, she acknowledges that to become overly concerned with the well-being of Jacinda Ardern would be a mistake.
“I’m the last one that anybody should be worrying about,” she tells Aly. Indeed, she credits New Zealand as a nation with its response to the tragedy, and believes that the country’s handling of the shooting has taught the world “who we are.”
“We are a nation of over 200 ethnicities … We see ourselves as peaceful and inclusive. The act has been so counter to that. But the response — the flood of flowers outside of Mosque … the real desire to give a sense of safety and security — that’s New Zealand.”
Couldn’t put it better, really.