On March 10, three days after she had been made deputy leader of the Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern joined Andrew Little for a rally in the Hawke’s Bay town of Clive.
Her speech was something of a personal manifesto in which she set out why she believed Labour needed to win the election and what a Labour Government would mean.
“We want to win,” she said.
“But sometimes when I say that, when I use that simple phrase, somehow it’s almost like a sporting term.
“An athlete when they want to win, the winning is the end.
“The victory is the conclusion of what hey have aspired to.
“In that sense, it seems like we are in an ultra marathon that has been going for nine years.
“But unlike an athlete, for us, winning is only the beginning.
“Winning is when change begins to happen.
“Winning for Labour isn’t just about elections.”
She then set out what that would mean — dealing with student debt; warm, dry homes; renting a house is a choice and owning is an option within everybody’s reach; being world leading on child well being and ion to education and building an international reputation we could be proud of.
“I’m absolutely committed to the idea of bringing collectivity and kindness back to our Government,” she said.
It was only a short speech, it was intended to introduce Andrew Little, but in retrospect, it might be seen as Ardern’s Manifesto.
