New Zealand’s ex-PM Jacinda Ardern given top royal honour for service during shooting and pandemic
- Ardern was made a Dame Grand Companion, the second-highest honour in New Zealand, as part of King Charles’ Birthday Honours
- Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who succeeded Ardern, said she was being recognised for her service during ‘some of the greatest challenges our country has faced’
Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday received one of New Zealand’s highest honours for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and coronavirus pandemic.
Ardern was just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, and was seen as a global icon of the left.
She shocked New Zealanders in January when she said she was stepping down as leader after more than five years because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do it justice.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who succeeded Ardern, said she was being recognised for her service during “some of the greatest challenges our country has faced in modern times.”
“Leading New Zealand’s response to the 2019 terrorist attacks and to the Covid-19 pandemic represented periods of intense challenge for our 40th prime minister, during which time I saw first-hand that her commitment to New Zealand remained absolute,” Hipkins said in a statement.
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Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern delivers emotional final address to parliament
Ardern said she was in two minds about whether to accept the award because much of what she was being recognised for were experiences that were collective to all New Zealanders.
“So for me this is about my family, my colleagues and all those who supported me to do that incredibly rewarding job,” she told 1 News.
Also recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list was rugby coach Wayne Smith, who helped lead both men’s and women’s rugby teams representing New Zealand to World Cup victories.
In keeping with tradition, Britain’s Queen Camilla was given the top award by being appointed to the Order of New Zealand.
