["Love & Hate" by Michael Kiwanuka playing]
The legacy that New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is building
stems from a belief in never losing her capacity for empathy.
Actually, the world doesn't need a whole lot of, you know,
massively thick-skinned politicians. They do need people who care.
You know, the odd sensitive flower is okay.
This was inspired by Nelson Mandela,
who once said, "What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived...
[Meghan] ...it is what difference we have made to the lives of others
that will determine the significance of the life we lead."
[Harry] His life left a lasting mark on the world.
A legacy that has helped inspire so many others to stand up...
...to fight for change and to become leaders.
So this is in memory of Madiba.
[Meghan] It was made to remind us of the difference one person can make.
[Harry] It's about people who have made brave choices.
Leaders who have walked alongside him and followed in his footsteps.
[Meghan] Caring for others, working for a better and more equal world.
[Harry] And giving inspiration to the rest of us,
to live to lead.
♪ You can't break me down You can't take me down ♪
♪ You can't take me down You can't break me down ♪
♪ You can't take me down ♪
[Ardern] Mr. Speaker, there is one person at the center
of this terror attack against our Muslim community in New Zealand.
A 28-year-old man, an Australian citizen,
has been charged with one count of murder. Other charges will follow.
He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand.
The families of the fallen will have justice.
He sought many things from his act of terror
but one was notoriety.
And that is why you will never hear me mention his name.
He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist.
But he will, when I speak, be nameless.
What if we change what "us" means?
Instead of fierce nationalism or self-interest,
we seek to form our tribes based on concepts
that can and should be universal.
What if we no longer see ourselves based on what we look like,
what religion we practice, or where we live
but by what we value.
Humanity, kindness,
an innate sense of connection to each other,
and a belief that we are guardians
not just of our home and our planet but of each other.
["Work" by Charlotte Day Wilson playing]
- Thanks for being here. - Thank you for having me.
Just to get out your CV here, as quickly as possible.
Currently, the youngest female world leader.
- You are the third... - [applause erupts]
- ...female prime minister... - [applause continues]
...the third female prime minister of New Zealand,
leader of the Labour Party, and the second elected leader in history
- to have a baby while in office. - That's right.
One of the roles I never anticipated having
and hoped never to have
is to voice the grief of a nation.
Today, I'm announcing that New Zealand will ban
all military-style semi-automatic weapons.
If I could distill it down into one concept
that we are pursuing in New Zealand,
it is simple and it is this...
kindness.
We may feel afraid,
but as leaders we have the keys to create a sense of security and a sense of hope.
We just need to choose.
I joined a political party when I was a teenager.
And for me, it wasn't because I thought, "A life in politics is for me."
Absolutely not. In fact, if anything, I thought it looked like a very hard life.
It was because I was one of those young people that thought
that I'd like to change the world, even if in the smallest of ways.
Just felt like I was doing something that would make a difference.
So in amongst my job of working at a supermarket as a checkout girl,
I wanted something that felt a bit more meaningful.
[interviewer] At 17, did you imagine ever that you would become prime minister?
Oh. 'Til the day before I became prime minister,
I couldn't have imagined becoming prime minister.
And look, in part, that's because I'm a New Zealander,
and we're naturally quite a self-deprecating people.
And part, you know, if I'm honest, probably because I'm also a woman
who looks more quickly at my deficits,
you know, the things that I'm not good at, rather than what I am.
Uh, but either way, it was... You know, I never would have imagined as a child
that I would end up doing a role like this.
[crowd chanting] Jacinda!
[Ardern] It was my birthday where the leader of the political party
that I was then deputy leader of, said to me,
"I don't think I can get the numbers up in order for us to win the election."
It was seven weeks away.
And I remember being absolutely adamant, "You have to stay."
But he made his mind up.
At that point, I thought,
"Well, he's decided. Now I just need to get on with it."
That gives effect to your appointment as prime minister.
Congratulations, Ms. Ardern.
[Ardern] And so, I feel lucky
that because I only had seven weeks, all I could be was myself.
That's all I've ever tried to be.
Now, my first memory of Otago
was attending science summer school as a teenager.
My second, was for the university's Easter tournament,
where I came as a debating adjudicator.
Neither of these things makes me sound like I had any friends as a young person.
[audience laughs]
We're just having a bit of an earthquake here, Ryan.
Quite a... quite a decent shake here, if you see things moving behind me.
- [Ryan] Has it stopped, Prime M... - The Beehive moves a bit more than most.
Has it stopped, Prime Minister, or is it still going?
Uh, yep, no... It's just stopped.
[Ryan] Okay, and you're feeling safe and well to continue the interview?
Now, not everyone voted for us.
This is a democracy. Of course not everybody voted for us.
But we vow that regardless of who you voted for,
regardless of where in Aotearoa, New Zealand, you live,
this will be a government for all New Zealanders.
[crowd cheers]
[interviewer] If you were to summarize the qualities that have underpinned
your path to this leadership role,
what qualities come to mind?
Kindness.
And not being afraid to be kind
or to focus or be really driven by empathy.
I think one of the sad things that I've seen in political leadership
is that, because we've placed, over time, so much emphasis on, um...
on notions of... of assertiveness and strength and...
um, uh...
assertiveness
that we probably have assumed that
that means that you can't have those other qualities of kindness and empathy.
And yet, when you think about all the big challenges that we face in the world,
that's probably the quality we need the most.
We need our leaders to be able to
empathize with the circumstances of others,
to empathize with the next generation that we're making decisions on behalf of.
And if we focus only on being seen to be
the strongest, most powerful person in the room,
then I think we lose what we're meant to be here for.
So I'm proudly focused on empathy
because you can be both empathetic and strong.
[interviewer] What are political leaders meant to be here for?
Other people.
Um, other people, yep.
[giving speech] In New Zealand, there is a Maori proverb.
He aha te mea tino nui o te ao?
"What is the most important thing in the world?"
Te tangata, te tangata, te tangata.
"It is the people, the people, the people."
[interviewer] Could you describe a moment that has really tested you as a leader?
The 15th of March.
Yeah.
That was when New Zealand, for the first time in its modern history,
experienced, um...
experienced a horrific terrorist attack against our Muslim community.
Fifty-one people lost their lives. Yeah.
[news anchor] Dozens of worshipers have been gunned down
during Friday prayers in New Zealand.
Scores were shot dead in the city of Christchurch,
as at least one gunman stormed into two mosques and fired at random.
[interviewer] Talk us a little through your feelings around that period
in terms of working out how you were, as a leader, supposed to react.
What you could do.
Yeah, I mean...
You know, I don't ever remember thinking about how I was meant to react
or what it was I was...
How I was meant to be, I...
The only thing I do remember thinking was that I knew I couldn't
show every emotion that I was feeling. That wasn't what everyone needed.
Whilst I cannot give any confirmation at this stage
around fatalities and casualties,
what I can say is that it is clear
that this is one of New Zealand's darkest days.
[present day] I really just wanted to reflect back what I was seeing.
[press conference] Many of those who will have been directly affected
by the shooting may be migrants to New Zealand.
They may even be refugees here.
They have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home.
They are us.
I can tell you one thing right now.
Our gun laws will change.
Amongst this horrific human tragedy,
I just saw this outpouring of grief and love
for a community who gave that all back in return.
[woman cries despairingly]
That was one of the things that, I think,
to this day, remains the most staggering for me in all of this.
That not even 24 hours after the shooting, I went to Christchurch
and sat face to face with some of the people, who the day before,
they were in the media covered in blood,
having been right there where this massacre occurred.
And as they stood up, I thought...
I just couldn't imagine what they were going to say.
Um, I thought it might be anger,
but they stood and said, "Thank you."
They thanked New Zealanders.
Twenty-four hours later, they were thanking us
for our response to the community.
And that was both, uh, devastating and also had me in awe
that a community could be so forgiving.
And so, really, from there that just said to me,
"Well, who are we to display anything other than love and kindness
uh, under those circumstances?"
In the days that have followed the terrorist attack on the 15th of March,
we have often found ourselves
without words.
What words adequately express the pain and suffering
of 50 men, women, and children lost and so many injured?
What words capture the anguish of our Muslim community
being the target of hatred and violence?
What words express the grief of a city that has already known so much pain?
I thought there were none.
And then I came here and was met with the simple greeting,
"Assalamu alaikum."
"Peace be upon you."
They were simple words, repeated by community leaders
who witnessed the loss of their friends and loved ones.
Simple words whispered by the injured from their hospital beds.
Simple words spoken by the bereaved
and everyone I met who has been affected by this attack.
"Assalamu alaikum."
"Peace be upon you."
That's one of my reflections around leadership, just generally.
If we give ourselves a moment just to be who we are, then much...
Many of these things just become intuitive.
And I'd say to anyone, you know, if you were in that circumstance
of being face to face with people who had lost loved ones
and members of their community and you're face to face with their grief,
you'd reach out and embrace them too. It's just who we are as humans.
I just think we need to stop second-guessing ourselves sometimes.
[poignant music playing]
You know, of course, we're a world full of diversity,
and we're full of difference, be it ethnic or cultural or religious.
But, actually, in those moments of
deep pain, um,
in those moments of tragedy, when you strip it all back,
we all have a shared humanity.
We just need to remember that more often, uh,
I think it changes our view of the world and the way that we try and do things
if we just remember that in amongst all the difference that exists.
[muted singing]
On behalf of New Zealand, I want to apologize to Grace's family.
Your daughter should have been safe here...
[voice cracks] ...and she wasn't, and I'm sorry for that.
- [cameras clicking] - We know that reunification
won't ease that sense of loss or grief,
um, because I don't think anything can.
We may not have experienced anything like this in our lifetimes,
but we know how to rally, and we know how to look after one another.
And right now, what could be more important than that?
So thank you for all that you're about to do.
Please be strong, be kind,
and unite against COVID-19.
Well, you know, I've changed my view of it over...
When I was probably younger,
I would've given you a description of leadership
that's completely different to one I'd give you now.
Now, I think, actually,
leaders don't necessarily have to be at the front of the pack.
They can be, you know, they can be in the middle,
rallying people, motivating them,
finding new leaders. Um...
I think leaders come in many different forms now,
and they're in our communities, and they're in our homes,
and sometimes they're quiet and unassuming,
but they leave a legacy, and they leave a mark on our lives.
There's a real intensity to leadership now
that I just don't think existed even ten years ago.
The judgment is swift, and it's constant, and it can come from all angles,
particularly in the social media age.
And we have to carry on regardless. And we just have to keep going.
So my advice is, know when you don't feel tough enough to take it from every angle,
from all the sides,
and just check out of some of those spaces if you need to.
Give yourself breathing room because there will always be those
who will be detractors of what you do.
Know when you're tough enough to face that.
In June, we're looking forward to welcoming our first child.
If you're an employer, you need to know that type of thing
- from women you're employing because... - No! No, no, no.
...legally, you have to give them maternity leave.
So, the question is,
is it okay for a PM to take maternity leave while in office?
[interviewer] What coping mechanisms did you have, as you encountered that sexism?
Um...
There's a little quiet voice inside your head sometimes,
when the odd thing happens that you just think,
"I think I might show you up on that a little later."
[interviewer] Are there moments, though, when you just get hurt?
Oh yeah! Every day.
But I don't hold on to grievance.
I think if you went around in politics collecting grievance and grudges,
um, the only person that's gonna end up hurting is yourself.
You need to just get on with it. So, you know, I'm no saint.
I get irritated, I get annoyed, and then I move on.
I am not the first woman to multitask.
I'm not the first woman to work and have a baby.
I know these are special circumstances.
But, you, for other women,
it is totally unacceptable in 2017
to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace.
["Bloodless" by Andrew Bird playing]
[unheard dialogue]
I think it's really important to acknowledge
that sometimes there aren't great days.
I think, you know, we, uh,
we want our leaders to be humans.
Evening, everyone.
Happy Sunday evening, everyone.
Kia ora, everyone. Um...
Good morning, everyone.
- Kia ora, everyone. - I look tired? Thanks, Joseph.
It's just 'cause I don't have much makeup on.
So... thanks though.
This is entirely dedicated to the 1.2 million New Zealanders who volunteer.
We want more and more people who are reflective of
our societies and communities to decide to run in politics.
And I think the worst thing we can do for them
is pretend that it's easy or that, you know, that actually we're superheroes,
and we can do everything. You know, be in politics and be parents
and be daughters and sisters and be fabulous at all of those things.
I think that just will alienate people.
Excuse the casual, um, attire.
It can be a messy business putting toddlers to bed,
so I'm not in my work clothes, so forgive me for that.
Because how can they see themselves in those roles unless we actually say,
you know, actually some days it's tough. I need a lot of help.
I have a great mother and father and in-laws who do lots for me.
And then people can go, "Okay, so I can do that."
"I just need a community around me." That's the reality.
I had a significant craving for a potato-top pie today.
This is the kind of chat in my household after work. [laughs]
Sometimes you need to talk about something a little less serious.
Evening, everyone.
I don't know how long I'm going to get away with,
um, walking and talking to you as we go through security.
Do check in on your neighbors.
Do especially check in on those who may be elderly.
Give them a call, see what their needs are.
And if you can help them, go out and grab their essentials,
and pop them on the front door for them,
just remembering the way we can keep them safe
is by keeping our distance.
So I'm very quick not to say
that there's a perfect way to do things or there's,
you know, a magic bit of mindfulness or meditation will get you through.
Some of the days are hard
but some of them are just fabulous as well.
See you all soon. Have a great day.
[interviewer] So is there something you could say to help young women
around the world who aspire to leadership?
I don't wanna make assumptions or, you know, grand assertions but,
uh, at least in my experience,
um,
there are two issues that women almost universally face.
One is that there are very literal barriers to leadership.
Some of them will be, you know, just blatant sexism.
Some of it will be barriers because of the multiple roles that women have.
But then, there's another barrier.
And that is that I do see a confidence gap
with our women.
And it can be... Really start really young. You know, I...
I go into schools a lot, and I'll often ask young women, you know,
"Write down the thing that, if you could do anything in the world,
you would like to do."
And I give them a little bit of time to do that.
Then I'll say, "Write down what you think you're gonna do."
Without hesitation, you see them go straight back,
you know, writing that next thing.
The fact that we have young people
um, who are so quick to immediately assume
that they won't do the thing they aspire to do,
makes me deeply sad.
But I also totally understand
because I wouldn't have even written "prime minister" as my first thing.
I wouldn't have even fathomed it.
So, um, I reflect on why that is for myself
in order to try and convince others,
um, that we can't let ourselves become a barrier.
There are enough barriers in this world
without ourselves being one of them as well.
[unheard dialogue]
I don't think that there was some big moment
where I suddenly found confidence.
I found responsibility instead.
And that, actually, has always been a bigger motivation for me,
more than anything else, that sense of duty.
And so, when I had opportunities, where people would come to me and say,
"We think you should do this."
I'd think, "I don't know that I'm up for that."
But then I'd feel like
I had to.
That, in the end,
was what overcame my confidence gap,
feeling like I needed to for other people.
And look, whatever it takes.
Um, it was the right thing for me.
"It'll be okay."
Yep, "it'll be okay."
Yeah, I think I'd probably describe myself
as having been a bit of an angsty, anxious young person.
There was a lot to do and...
um, constantly worrying about whether or not you were doing enough,
doing it well enough. Um...
All anyone asks is you just do your best.
So it'll be okay. Mm.
[cameras clicking]
["Morning Sun" by Melody Gardot playing]
It's a real pleasure to introduce our little one to you all
and to New Zealand.
You can draw a line and say that that does not mean that you need access
to military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. You do not.
♪ Hey, little babe ♪
♪ Don't you cry ♪
♪ We got that sunny morning... ♪
We have tested almost 40,000 people for COVID-19 in the past 17 days,
and none have tested positive.
♪ ...end of the tunnel ♪
♪ We can be worry free ♪
We have had no one in hospital for COVID-19 for 12 days.
It's been 40 days since the last case of community transmission.
♪ Let me tell you now, child ♪
[reporter] ...your immediate reaction when you heard there were no
active cases of COVID-19 remaining in New Zealand?
Um, I...
I did a little dance.
We're not placing any great expectations on this little baby
except happiness and love.
[cameras clicking]
All right, I think that's everything.
I'm gonna finish with one just final remark,
and it's just a word of thanks to the public again. Uh...
There's some stories along the way that we'll just keep for ourselves,
from the messages that we received, from some of the gifts.
Some have come from such sadness, when they've lost little ones themselves,
and some have come from such love. But, um...
for everyone who sent anything, even a comment on Facebook,
we're so grateful.
So thank you very much. We'll see you all soon.
And thank you again to the staff. You're wonderful. [laughs]
[crowd applauds]
♪ 'Cause this world Wasn't made for dreaming ♪
♪ This world wasn't made for you ♪
♪ This world made for believing ♪
♪ In all the things you're gonna do Now honey child ♪
♪ Let me tell you now, child ♪