North Canterbury News: September 17, 2020
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ELECTION <strong>2020</strong><br />
The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>17</strong>, <strong>2020</strong><br />
9<br />
‘Iamanything but complacent’<br />
PrimeMinisterJacindaArdern talks to Mike Houlahan<br />
about her threeyears in office, and stressesthather<br />
party willbefighting for every single vote.<br />
On average, most governments<br />
canexpecttodeal with one major<br />
crisis aterm.<br />
WhenJacinda Ardern became<br />
primeminister three years ago,<br />
one of her first challenges was<br />
dealingwith the discoveryofthe<br />
cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.<br />
Arollingmaul of disasters has<br />
followed,from the March 15<br />
terror attacktothe eruption of<br />
Whakaari/White Island, and now<br />
the ongoing battleagainstCovid<br />
19.<br />
‘‘You can’t reallyprepare for<br />
thatrange of challenges, but in<br />
someways you can,’’ she says.<br />
‘‘One of the thingsthat we were<br />
challenged on, priortohaving<br />
these laterevents,was ourquite<br />
aggressive focus on adheringto<br />
the Budgetresponsibility rules<br />
and getting our debtdown, and I<br />
stand by that.<br />
‘‘That has meantthat we have<br />
beeninabetter position than<br />
mosteconomies we compare<br />
ourselves to goinginto the<br />
pandemic, and it has given us the<br />
abilitytomake sure we are<br />
investing in people, looking after<br />
their welfare and needs, and that<br />
has put us in astrong position to<br />
comeout the other sideafter the<br />
rebuild.’’<br />
As with everyelection,<br />
economic management willbea<br />
major point of debate,and in the<br />
space of afew months Ms<br />
Ardern’sGovernmenthas surged<br />
LEADER INTERVIEW<br />
from sound debtmanagement<br />
principles to racking up<br />
enormousloans to cover the cost<br />
of the pandemic response.<br />
Labour, likeall parties, will<br />
likelyfind therepayment<br />
requirements on thatdebt a<br />
handbrakeonits spending<br />
ambitions should it be in<br />
government after the election.<br />
Ms Ardernsaid Labour<br />
believed in incrementalchange<br />
and carriedthat slow but steady<br />
philosophy overtodebt<br />
repayment, so the deficit should<br />
not be abarrier to secondterm<br />
initiatives.<br />
‘‘There is adifference between<br />
us and the Opposition, whichis<br />
that we are willing to bring debt<br />
down overalongerperiod of<br />
time, but through investmentin<br />
training and education and job<br />
creation, as opposedtosetting<br />
debt targets that will mean<br />
austerity measures.<br />
‘‘Our debt repayment planwas<br />
set out in the Budgetand<br />
demonstrates thattakingitover a<br />
longerperiodoftime,with<br />
careful management,meansthat<br />
you wouldn’t have that level of<br />
cuts at all.’’<br />
Ms Ardern and Finance<br />
Minister Grant Robertson have<br />
been at the forefront of the<br />
Government’s response to the<br />
Covid19 outbreak.<br />
With soaring poll ratings,Ms<br />
Ardern is able to run for reelection<br />
as the frontrunner, but<br />
she laughedwhen it was<br />
suggested this was her election to<br />
lose.<br />
‘‘Iamanythingbut complacent.<br />
‘‘Maybe Ihave been around<br />
politics too long;maybeitisjust<br />
in my nature, but Iamalways<br />
inclined to anticipate what could<br />
go wrong.<br />
‘‘Noone predicted 20<strong>17</strong> and I<br />
have been around politics along<br />
time: We should neverbe<br />
complacentand we shouldwin<br />
every single vote, not justright up<br />
to the pollingdate but beyond.’’<br />
From the moment apartyis<br />
elected, the process of having to<br />
maintain people’s support starts,<br />
she says. ‘‘I think there is nothing<br />
worse than politicians taking for<br />
grantedthe support thatthey<br />
have.’’<br />
Jacinda Ardern ... ‘‘I think there<br />
is nothing worse than politicians<br />
taking for granted the support that<br />
they have.’’<br />
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES<br />
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