Jack Vowles, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Jacinda Ardern is at stratospheric support levels due to her government’s management of the COVID-19 crisis. That lead will inevitably narrow by the election – but by how much?
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and German chancellor Angela Merkel have shown good leadership in the fight against COVID-19.
GCIS
It is no accident that those leaders who have responded worst to this crisis have also been the main sources of countless conspiracy theories and misinformation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a window is opening for good ideas to move from the fringes to the mainstream — and that includes a four-day work week.
(Simon Abrams/Unsplash)
Michael Fletcher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
With unemployment soaring due to COVID-19, why is Jacinda Ardern’s centre-left government significantly less generous towards beneficiaries than Scott Morrison’s centre-right government in Australia?
Authentic leadership doesn’t just mean ‘being true to yourself’. It requires self-awareness, a moral compass, understanding your own internal biases and vulnerability.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the German Federal Parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin. Germany has managed the coronavirus crisis more successfully than its neighbours.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
With his defence of those on “struggle street” mixed with a hectoring and bullying style, Jones exerted enormous influence on Australian public life. But utlimately, progress ran over the top.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will warn against the danger of a protectionist push in Australia as a result of the virus crisis, in a Tuesday speech that also stresses it is vital to get the country moving…
In this January 2019 photo, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser kisses her daughter after being sworn in. Will the coronavirus stop women’s careers from advancing or lead to societal changes that will make advancement easier?
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Whatever the eventual impact on women’s candidacies post-pandemic, COVID-19 has the potential to shock the system, upending or reinforcing existing gender imbalances in political power.
A billboard created by Auckland University of Technology students. thanking New Zealand’s essential workers.
HuttValleyDHB/Twitter
New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy has been a collective success, involving ‘ordinary’ Kiwis and unity across political divides. Ending lockdown and a looming election will test that unity.
Ardern’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis has inspired high trust in the state but by the time the country goes to the polls later this year, the outbreak’s social and economic damage may change that.
As someone who researches and teaches leadership, I’d argue New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is giving most Western politicians a masterclass in crisis leadership.
Overjoyed. That’s not a word epidemiologists normally use, but that’s how I felt after hearing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement of New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown from Wednesday night.
Disaster of any kind throws qualities of leadership – or the perceived lack thereof – under the spotlight. People respond most to leaders who show empathy and authenticity.
Morrison has been too timorous to take the tough decisions needed to prepare for the bushfire season, including confronting rancorous dissenters in his own ranks.
James Ross/AAP
A crisis of this scale requires a willingness to listen to the best sources of advice and generate bipartisan consensus. But Morrison has struggled to put the national interest above party politics.
Jacinda Ardern created an indefinable aura of promise – but just as people fall in love, some have fallen out of love, too.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Yes, Jacinda Ardern is an intelligent, compassionate prime minister, but governing is difficult – and problems have inevitably arisen, or never gone away.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
arrive at the Commonwealth Heads of Government 2018 meeting in Windsor, England, in April 2018. New Zealand moved from the first-past-the-post electoral system in 1993 to a system that helped put Ardern in power.
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Unlike Canada’s newly elected House of Commons, New Zealand’s parliament reflects the will of voters. So do other proportional representation systems. Canada has plenty of choice.