Free Republic

We will continue to be your single source of truth. . . . Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth. —Jacinda Ardern On February 19, 2023, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation, saying she “no longer has enough in the tank” to stay in the role until the coming October election.1 Many New Zealanders, who lived through some of the harshest lockdowns in the world under Ardern’s leadership, are rejoicing. But media and politicians alike have piled praise on Ardern’s premiership while dismissing her critics as an extreme fringe. Guardian journalist Jess Philips...

Jacinda Ardern has announced she will quit as New Zealand prime minister next month, saying she no longer has "enough in the tank" to lead. Ms Ardern choked up as she detailed how six "challenging" years in the job had taken a toll. She will step down as Labour Party leader no later than 7 February. There will be a vote in the coming days to determine her replacement. New Zealand will hold a general election on 14 October. Ms Ardern, 42, said she had taken time to consider her future over the summer break. "I had hoped that I...

New Zealand’s prime minister apologized to the opposition party leader after a microphone caught her insulting him during a parliamentary session. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called opposition leader David Seymour an “arrogant p----” during an exchange in which Seymour asked if Ardern could “give an example of her making a mistake, apologizing for it properly and fixing it,” The Guardian reported. Ardern replied by acknowledging the difficulties of her government’s “managed isolation” plan for COVID-19, but she told her deputy, Grant Robertson, that Seymour was “such an arrogant p----” as she sat down — the microphones caught the comment. Seymour...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after Jan. 1, 2009. It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old. But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. They...

Wellington (AFP) – New Zealand on Tuesday unveiled plans to tax the greenhouse gas emissions from farm animals, in a controversial proposal designed to tackle climate change. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the levy would be the first of its kind in the world. The scheme would see farmers pay for gas emissions from their animals, such as methane gas in the farts and burps from cows, and nitrous oxide in the urine of livestock. Ardern told farmers they should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products. She said the "pragmatic proposal" would reduce agricultural...

In an apparent backdoor effort to tax meat, the burps and farts of cattle and sheep are set to be taxed by the leftist government of New Zealand in a bid to, they claim, save the world. The left-wing Labour government of Jacinda Ardern has drafted proposals to levy taxes against farmers for the methane emissions produced by cows and sheep in what would be the world’s first green tax on livestock. “There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will...

Authorities in New Zealand have been playing Barry Manilow's greatest hits in an attempt to dislodge protesters outside the parliament building. Songs by the US singer are being played on a 15-minute loop, along with the Spanish dance tune, Macarena. The demonstrators, who are angry at Covid-19 vaccine mandates, responded by playing songs such as Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It. The protests began Tuesday when a convoy of vehicles drove to parliament...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said late Saturday she is self-isolating after coming into close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus. The exposure came on a flight from the town of Kerikeri to the largest city of Auckland. New Zealand’s Governor-General Cindy Kiro was also on the Jan. 22 flight and has also gone into isolation.

New Zealand's borders will remain closed to most international travelers over the next five months as the country takes precautions to fight the coronavirus. Government officials reportedly made the announcement on Wednesday during a news conference "A phased approach to reconnecting with the world is the safest approach to ensure risk is carefully managed," New Zealand's COVID-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, said, according to Reuters. "This reduces any potential impacts on vulnerable communities and the New Zealand health system."

New Zealand’s Covid policy has once again hit the headlines. Last week, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, admitted that its new plans on loosening restrictions risked turning the country into a “two-tier” society. Under the "traffic light" policy, those who are vaccinated will be able to move around and use services relatively freely, while the unjabbed will not. But this policy is not confined to the Pacific island nation: vaccine passes are gaining traction around the world as countries introduce greater freedoms for those who are immunised, risking the creation of an unvaccinated underclass. Perhaps one of the most eye-opening...

Two men found with a car full of Kentucky Fried Chicken and around $70,000 in cash were arrested as they tried entering New Zealand's largest city, in violation of its tough COVID-19 lockdown measures. The pair, who were described by the New Zealand Police as gang associates, were traveling near Auckland, where restaurants remain closed and are not allowed to take takeout orders. "Officers noticed a suspicious looking vehicle travelling [sic] on a gravel road and upon seeing the Police car, the vehicle did a u-turn and sped off trying to evade Police," a police news release said.(snip) Photos released...

Two men have been arrested after police said they found them with a car boot-full of Kentucky fried chicken and over $100,000 in cash as they tried to cross the border into Auckland despite New Zealand’s strict Covid-19 lockdown. The men were arrested after allegedly trying to flee from police near the Auckland border. When their car was searched, police said they found a large quantity of KFC, as well as the cash and a number of empty ounce bags. The arrest struck a chord with New Zealanders – especially Aucklanders, who have spent a month in a strict level...

A New Zealand supermarket chain announced that it was temporarily removing all scissors and knives from its shelves following an attack that left several people injured at one of its stores on Friday. A general manager of supermarket chain Countdown said it was also considering if they would sell such items in the future. "Last night, we made the decision to temporarily remove all knives and scissors from our shelves while we consider whether we should continue to sell them," Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s general manager for safety, said in a statement on Saturday. "This is in no way a reflection...

In late June, two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New Zealand. When many countries are registering thousands of cases a day, two seems little to worry about. But until that point, New Zealand had gone 24 days without a single case, so these - linked to quarantine breaches - were enough to lead to the resignation of the health minister. So what was the strategy behind New Zealand's Covid-19 success? When did New Zealand bring in border closures? On 2 February, a man in the Philippines became the first person outside China to die of Covid-19. At this point,...

New Zealand's economy plunged into recession for the first time in a decade on Thursday, posting a record contraction in the June quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern heads into next month's general election. "The 12.2-percent fall in quarterly GDP is by far the largest on record in New Zealand," the national statistics agency said. The reporting period covers April to June, coinciding with a strict lockdown that began in late March and began easing in late May. Stats NZ spokesman Paul Pascoe said the closure of New Zealand's borders since March 19 had also...