Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has shared her final speech to parliament.
In January of this year, Jacinda announced she would be stepping down as Prime Minister as she “no longer has enough in the tank”, and wanted to spend more time with her fiancé Clarke Gayford and daughter Neve.
During the 35-minute farewell speech, Ardern spoke about many of her life experiences since being New Zealand’s Prime Minister for five years. These topics included being Prime Minister during a terror attack, a volcanic eruption and a pandemic.
She also opened up about being a mum and her IVF journey while being a politician. The former Prime Minister was the second-ever global leader to give birth while in office.
Sharing an honest insight into her journey to becoming a mum, Jacinda said, “When I was 37 years old, I was told there are a range of factors that meant I hadn’t been able to get pregnant, and stress was probably one of them”.
“We decided to use the help of science but as so many couples experience, that wasn’t straightforward. I’d not long experienced a failed IVF round when I became leader of the labour party”.
“I thought that I found myself on a path that meant I wouldn’t be a mother. Rather than process that, I campaigned to become Prime Minister, a rather good distraction as far as they go”.
She continued, “Imagine my surprise when a couple of months later, I discovered I was pregnant. There is no question I have had incredible support to be the mother I wanted to be”.
“I leave knowing I was the best mother I could be. You can be that person and you can be here”.
“You can be anxious, sensitive, kind and wear your heart on your sleeve.. You can be a mother, or not, you can be an ex-Mormon, or not, you can be a nerd, a crier, a hugger, you can be all of these things, and not only can you be here, you can lead, just like me”.
Jacinda got emotional throughout many parts of the speech, in particular when speaking about the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, which she described as a ‘horrific moment of grief’.
The emotional speech ended with a standing ovation from members of the New Zealand parliament as Ardern signed off in Maori.
