Author Madeleine Chapman may be wondering ‘what if?’. What if she could still be adding chapters to her biography Jacinda Ardern: A new kind of leader until the aftermath of Ardern's tackling COVID-19 in New Zealand?
Chances are it would have given an additional example of the kind of empathetic, courageous leadership with Ardern has become synonymous with across the world. As it is, this Ardern biography is crisp and sharp, explaining the optimism that launched a millennial (and only the second world leader to ever give birth in office) into the highest public office of her land.
‘If it is possible to begin building your social conscience when you are a small child,’ Chapman quotes Ardern, ‘then that is what happened to me.’ As a five-year-old, the author relates, the police officer’s kid and future queen of hearts saw injustice and deep poverty in Murupara and Morrinsville, where she grew up. Kids without shoes, people in sickness without healthcare, people dying from suicide.
Ardern has since taken on social justice issues on global stages. In particular, for Australians who hate their various governments’ deplorable stances on asylum seekers and refugees, Ardern’s assertions of human rights and repeated offers to assist them have not fallen on unreceptive ears.
Back to Ardern’s childhood which, Chapman writes, governs the PM today: ‘I never viewed the world through the lens of politics then,’ Arden says, ‘and in many ways [I] still don’t… I try to view it through the lens of children, people, and the most basic concepts of fairness.’
Life lessons were learnt, skills in negotiation and diplomacy were forged, and schoolyard advocate, studious nerd and council president Jacinda Ardern emerged from her childhood ready to take on the world.
'First and foremost, Ardern gained power, the author attests, by "being a mirror" and "embodying empathy" in a new, progressive model of leadership.'
After a stint working in a fish and chip parlour, ‘the Golden Kiwi’ (I kid you not), Ardern undertook a Bachelor of Communications at the University of Waikato before working her way up through the ranks of Labour.
A painful break with the religion of her family and youth, the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) over the issue of homophobia preceded overseas travel and networking, and Ardern’s tilts at pre-selection and elections.
Chapman views the political hard yards of Ardern in establishing herself while appearing to be effortless. Laughing, listening and knowing the first names of the journos at your media conference, and using them, are as much an expression of the heart as they are skill sets of electoral craft, communication, memory and recall.
Charm goes a long, long way in public life, and the author points out the obvious several times — Ardern has it in spades, laughing, talking comfortably with people form all walks of life and relating to people whatever their circumstances; as a chap whom young Jacinda was once very familiar with — St Paul — advised his team, ‘laugh with those who laugh and mourn with those who mourn’.
Gritting her teeth and getting past the obligatory sexism (she was winner and runner-up variously of condom manufacturer Durex’s ‘hottest celebrities and politicians’ list), Ardern became a candidate for political leadership as others fell around her.
That’s not to suggest Chapman presents Ardern as a political Steven Bradbury, winning as others fell over their own skates. But ‘Jacindamania’ did not grow in a vacuum — the gaffes and miscalculations of friends and foes alike did pave the way for Ardern’s ascension.
But first and foremost, Ardern gained power, the author attests, by ‘being a mirror’ and ‘embodying empathy’ in a new, progressive model of leadership.
Without the usual voyeuristic intent, Chapman covers Ardern’s love of her partner, Kiwi TV host Clarke Gayford and the birth of their daughter, all the while negotiating the occasional political attacks from Australian politicians, the complexities of racial politics in En Zed and the rigours of sailing a coalition government.
It is in her response to the wanton murder of 41 Muslim Kiwis and the wounding of dozens of other worshippers — her comforting of survivors, the steely resolve to not give the murderer the fame he sought and the successful introduction of gun control measures — that Arden stood head and shoulders as a protector of all New Zealanders.
This is a comparatively slim volume (296 pages), stylishly, vocative and sometimes amusingly written. For some readers, if not many, Chapman’s biography of the NZ PM will raise more questions than it answers. But as a primer on a young woman who seemingly came from nowhere to give people hope, it is both informative and inspiring.
Barry Gittins is a Melbourne writer.
Main image: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a mosque-goer at the Kilbirnie Mosque on March 17, 2019 (Getty images/Hagen Hopkins )