New Zealand’s Ardern thanks her country wearing traditional Māori cloak in last official speech
- ‘I want you to know that my overwhelming experience in this job of New Zealand and New Zealanders has been one of love, empathy and kindness’
- In cloak of feathers she expressed thanks ‘from the bottom of her heart’; she took nation by surprise last week when she announced her resignation
Outgoing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thanked her country for its love and empathy in her last official speech held at a traditional Māori event on Tuesday.
“For my part, I want you to know that my overwhelming experience in this job of New Zealand and New Zealanders has been one of love, empathy and kindness,” Ardern said, dressed in a traditional Māori cloak of feathers.
“That is what the majority of New Zealand has shown to me and I want you to know that I leave with a greater affection for Aotearoa New Zealand and its people than when I started, and I didn’t think that was possible,” Ardern added, speaking in Māori to express thanks “from the bottom of [her] heart”.
Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.
The celebrations marked the 150th birthday of the founder of Ratana Church, the prophet Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana. Ardern had previously worn the Korowai traditional cloak at a reception at Buckingham Palace in London in 2018.
She took New Zealand by surprise in announcing her resignation as leader of the Labour Party and as prime minister last week, saying she knew she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job of prime minister justice.
