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New Zealand’s prime minister has launched her election tour of the country from her parents’ home in rural Waikato, so her “people” can care for children.
The rescheduled general elections, which now take place on October 17, are different from what the country has seen before, with party leaders campaigning in masks and practicing social distancing.
But the prime minister has taken the air of novelty a step further by starting her tour with a sleepover at her parents’ home in Morrinsville, a small farm town in rural Waikato.
Speaking from the back of a truck, Ardern said she decided to stay in Morrinsville with “mom and dad” so they could help out with their little girl Neve as she toured the district, including visiting the site of last year’s devastating volcanic eruption.
The prime minister shared a selfie of herself working at a modest desk in her parents’ home, with a cassette player visible in the background.
“I was based in Morrinsville, which is where I grew up so that I could stay with Mom and Dad,” the prime minister said in an Instagram video. “Because they’ll help Clarke and me with Neve for the next few days, it’s just the realities of the road.”
The general election, already postponed a month after a coronavirus outbreak in Auckland, is shaping up to be defined by pandemic concerns regarding health care, border security and economic recovery.
Two questions from the referendum will be on the ballot papers, asking Kiwis to vote yes or no on legalizing cannabis and medical euthanasia.
The perennial issues of housing, the environment and child poverty will also be on the agenda, but to a lesser extent than in past decades.
Ardern’s Labor Party is widely touted by political analysts to win, perhaps with a majority, meaning they wouldn’t need to form awkward coalition alliances.
Ardern’s realistic approach to politics has won him many admirers, with recent polls showing that the Labor Party is ahead of the opposition to win the election.
On the eve of the country’s lockdown, Ardern recorded a live question-and-answer session in his tracksuit after putting Neve to bed, urging New Zealanders to stay strong, be kind and take care of each other during the ordeal.
In response to Ardern’s Instagram post, many New Zealanders addressed the prime minister as “aunt,” a term of affection and respect in the country.
It is not the first time that Ardern’s parents have appeared in the public eye.
Ardern’s father, Ross, is a New Zealand foreign service diplomat and previously said that he and his wife were eager to support their daughter and their young family in any way they could, while she juggled motherhood and management. from New Zealand.
Ardern’s mother, Laurell, has been publicly thanked before, after preparing breakfast for her daughter before dawn at the height of the pandemic. Ardern’s parents were in their “bubble” throughout the confinement.
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