Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Matariki, child poverty and being called ‘Cindy’

It is a tiny little room, at the back and above the main meeting room in Tamaki Māori Village.

“Hello, Prime Minister.”

It’s a bit strange not to shake the prime minister’s hand when you meet her, but this is 2020.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in town on Monday to announce that if re-elected to government, Labor would make Matariki a public holiday.

So why this, why now and why in Rotorua?

Ardern says it’s a holiday that the time has come.

“It’s unique to New Zealand, it’s representative of the Maori New Year, and of course in recent years there have been more and more calls for us to integrate that into our calendar.”

She says starting it in 2022 balances the cost to businesses and the boost it can give the tourism sector.

Ardern acknowledges that there have also been calls to make Parihaka, on November 5, a commemorative holiday.

She says teaching New Zealand history in schools has been one way to answer those calls.

“For Parihaka, we have made investments through the Provincial Growth Fund to ensure that we are showing and recognizing regionally the history of that part of the region and also its role in New Zealand history.”

She says that in each area, Labor has been working to raise the profile of “those different parts of our history and our culture, and hopefully strike the right balance between all of them.”

“Matariki is something that unites different regions, different areas throughout the country.

“It is an opportunity for us, in the middle of winter, to have a moment of celebration.”

She says that Matariki has the power to unite the country and recognize “who we are.”

“When you think about our holiday landscape right now, there aren’t many, if any, who actually do that, other than the recognition of Waitangi Day.”

We move on to child poverty, an issue Ardern has said before is one of his biggest problems, and a problem in Rotorua.

He lists what was achieved in the first 100 days of government: “that family package that introduced a new universal payment for children in the first year of life … we also expanded paid parental leave … we increased paid parental leave as payment “… We also increased the family tax credit, indexed benefits to wages, increased general benefit rates by $ 25 per week, and introduced the winter energy payment.”

“Taken together, those are the most important reforms for low- and middle-income people that New Zealand has had for decades and will do, and it’s taking a toll on child poverty.

“We are off to a good start, although we have to do more.”

There was also the school lunch program, which had been expanded, he says.

Last week, New Zealand came near the bottom of a UNICEF leaderboard that ranks OECD countries on child welfare.

Yesterday, Judge Andrew Becroft, Commissioner for Children, told me that the government had put “more in motion than it has done in 30 years” to rectify child poverty issues related to the 1991 benefit cut. “Mother of all budgets “.

However, he said there was still a call for a profit increase in the area, broadly speaking, from $ 75 to $ 100 per week, echoing a recommendation from the Wellness Expert Advisory Group.

In response, Ardern says people are often looking “just looking for profit increases.”

“What is often not seen is the cumulative effect for children of targeted support.”

Ardern laughs when she brings up a recent opinion piece calling for people to stop calling her “Cindy” because she’s sexist and demeaning.

I feel like you don’t like the name. He told The New York Times in 2018 that he hated it.

But she is diplomatic.

“I have had a variety of nicknames during my time in politics and none of them particularly bother me.

“When people put ‘auntie’ up front, I always find it to be an endearing term.”

So it’s not sexist?

“I’ve never given it much thought. I’ve had nicknames all my life. Jacinda is just one of those names that is easy to turn into a nickname.

“There is something [nicknames] However, I prefer the others. “