Jacinda Ardern in valedictory statement: “Take the politics out of climate change”

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (as seen in the above screengrab from Parliament’s video recording), during her 36-minute valedictory statement on April 5, allocated a portion of her farewell message to the issue of climate change.

“When I came here 15 years ago, we talked about climate change as if it were almost a hypothetical,” recalled Ardern as part of her final speech at the House of Representatives. “Some didn’t even give it that credit. In 2008, I sat in that lobby as the emissions trading scheme was weakened, and the yo-yo of climate policy continued.

“But in the intervening years, we have seen first-hand the reality of our changing environment, from Northland to Coromandel, Tokomaru Bay to Buller, and I’ve seen the people it’s impacted, like the elderly couple on the West Coast who had lived in their home for their entire married lives. They had only recently returned to it after a year’s worth of post-flooding repairs when it was flooded again. ‘We’re too old to keep doing this’, they told me. They’ve not returned to their home.”

Ardern’s resignation as Prime Minister was announced on January 19, about a week before the Auckland Anniversary floods and less than a month prior to Cyclone Gabrielle’s arrival.

The ex-PM went on to say before Easter: “Now, I know there is politics in almost everything. This Chamber understands why more than anyone. But we also know when and how to remove it. When crisis has landed in front of us, I have seen the best of this place: an absolute focus on the care of others, on preserving life, and helping people when they need it most.