The other Jacinda Book
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9:14 am, June 12th, 2025 - 79 comments
Categories: david cunliffe, david shearer, jacinda ardern, Media, politicans -
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Jacinda’s book has now been released. It has attracted many accolades but also a disturbing amount of hate. I am still amazed that someone as gentle as Jacinda should attract such opprobrium. It is almost as if some people are terrified at the prospect of there being more kindness in the world. And fear is often masked by anger.
I have read some of it and it certainly captures her core values well.
It is frustrating in some respects. Some major political events are glossed over. David Shearer’s resignation is put down to him holding two fish in Parliament. The months of anguish before then is not referred to.
Her treatment of David Cunliffe is less than kind. She deliberately or inadvertently does not cover the events of 2014, the media sabotage of the Best Start policy release, which she had a hand in designing, the Donghua Liu fiasco or the internal battles that raged during that year. Dirty Politics does not get a mention.
And her concern about the treatment of staff is somewhat disconcerting given that something similar happened in 2017.
But the book does give a fascinating view of her life and the complexity of running a country and trying to have a family life.
The book release has been overshadowed somewhat recently by news of a new book in the pipeline. From the Herald:
About 120 people – including politicians, public servants and prominent broadcasters such as Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allan – have been interviewed for a new, unauthorised Dame Jacinda Ardern biography, marketed as the “real story” behind the former Prime Minister’s political tenure.
Author David Cohen has confirmed he recently entered a “commercial arrangement” with the Centrist website, which is also supporting a marketing campaign and website for the book.
There is some detail about Cohen from his website. He has been a reporter for 25 years. He wrote a book for the Taxpayers Union for their 10th birthday and, presuming this is him, has written this weird article which shows blind support for Israel and a weird dismissal of Maori Party calling for peace in Palestine.
The book is being co-authored by Rebecca Kellior who is a Canadian journalist who by the looks of it specialises in architectural stories. She is an interesting choice.
The book is being funded by the Centrist website, which was formed by Canadian Jim Grenon. He is also famous for mounting an unsuccessful campaign to replace NZME’s board in a move which caused the board to express concerns that he wanted to affect editorial decisions.
The Centrist is this weird website that feels like it is run by not very intelligent bots.
It claims that it wants to run centrist views “examining the merits of both sides”. This is normally code for watered down bullshit between the left proposal of what needs to be done and right opposition to it because wealthy interests will be affected. A slightly watered down right wing crap idea is still a crap idea.
It looks like some of its posts are AI generated and pulled from other sites. This regurgitation of a Standard post is an example.
Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allan have been interviewed for the book. I suspect their comments would not be progressive and finding balance between their rants and reality will result in something moderately unhinged.
Cohen claims that there is “no editorial intercession”.
He may wish to talk to whoever set the book’s website up. Because it is full of cooker type dark language hinting that apart from the star power there was little else, despite the magnificent Covid response that saved 20,000 kiwi lives.
This incident highlights the problem with media right now. The right have the resources to throw money at creating a narrative damaging to the left. And I don’t think the left has yet worked out what to do in response.
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An obviously rabid Right of Centre attack on Ardern could well backfire.
Having seen the COC in action, especially the Luxonbot, I am sure many people are looking back on the Jacinda days and thinking those times were pretty good.
Never underestimate the power of greed motivating right wing grifting. Most likely this is a far right hatchet job dreamed up in a hurry in the hope a small percentage of people will buy this clap trap instead of Ardern's book by mistake.
Question to m.s..
Does she at all cover just what it was that made her choke..and bail out..?
You mean all the threats to her life and to her family? The knowledge that her Electorate office staff had to deal with a torrent of obscenity and misogynistic threats every workday morning to clear the answerphone? Maybe she just wanted a life away from all the crap, and the crappy people who were responsible for it.
Every PM has had that
Only the RW follow through.
women get different and more kinds of abuse than men do though, and social media has changed things since the last time we had a female PM.
Yes Phillip, a breast cancer scare and she alluded to the safety of her family.
I find the use of the word "choke" sad.
After three huge events, and after huge bile from the entitled, and the anti mandated vaccines groups, she was on "empty ". She had the grace to know she had become the symbol of hard times.
This book, if it contains contributors like Hoskins and Duplicity Allen, is a vehicle of right wing spin .imo
The fact the right have collected to do this, shows they consider her a threat to be dealt to. The contrast with Luxon too great.
Every prime minister has had haters slinging abuse..
Given what Helen Clark faced…she cannot not have known what would come with the job..eh ..?
..so I don't view that as a valid reason…just something to be brushed off ..
..and as for the pandemic..many prime ministers have faced the likes of the g.f.c..
These reasons cited as justification for her departure..just don't wash…save for falling under the definition of choking under the pressures of the job ..
Choking is used as a descriptor…not an insult..
What word would you use to describe the reasons for her exit..?
Exhaustion. Truly Phillip Helen said it was worse for Jacinda because of the internet. Could you do that job? Who do you think would have been better?
Yes Patricia. I recall Helen Clark in an interview describing the hatred and vitriol towards Jacinda being "on another level to what she experienced". I'm sure Helen would know much more than we will ever know.
Would it concern me that politically motivated arse holes were hurling abuse at me..?
..um..!..no..not a jot..
..and heh..!..having been pushing the animals/environments case for some time ..I am somewhat innured to the slings and arrows of the ignorant/flesh-addicted…
Not to mention my blooding by the sewer rats lurking @ kiwiblog..heh..!
Who could have done it better..?..well.. hipkins clearly wasn't the answer to that question..was he..
And you are still arguing that the online sledging somehow made it impossible for her to do her job…?
Sorry..like I said..saying that was the reason just confirms she wasn't up to the job..so I am surprised that is being pointed at…
Agree and disagree. For five years she was up to the job, and then she wasn't.
“It’s that simple.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinda_Ardern#Prime_Minister_(2017%E2%80%932023)
We haven't even gone near her failures to deliver..
..I wonder if she covers that..in her self-censoring/self-serving hagiography..?
..why not..?.is the other unanswered question..hanging in the air…
Was she a victim there also..?
Was it someone else's fault..?
Ardern both failed to deliver and delivered much. I was sad (for NZ) to see her go, and wouldn’t characterise her service as a failure – we can agree to disagree.
You don't see her squandering that majority…?
..her failures to deliver on the issues she had promised on…?
..she had the power to effect real change…
All she had to do was introduce legislation to make that change happen..
..and she didn't do it..
And as ad said ..that majority situation is unlikely to happen again anytime soon..
See .all of the above really pisses me off..
How can you defend that..?
..and how is it you don't see that sorry saga as 'failures'..?
I get you're pissed off, and I'm not defending Ardern's failures as PM.
But I (still) miss her in that role, and that’s unlikely to change.
Let’s agree to disagree.
Jacinda's second term, after winning a majority, was taken up with the global pandemic, and plans were pushed aside as a consequence. The Ardern government still did a lot of work regardless. She used up her entire political capital trying to save as many lives as possible. I hate to think what NZ's death toll would have been if it had been National in power during that time.
"Government’s strategy, which included closing the border, meant death rate was 80% lower than in the US"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/06/new-zealand-covid-strategy-saves-lives
Our Achievements
https://www.labour.org.nz/our-record
I have long praised her effectiveness in caring for the nation/us all…during the pandemic…
And those who moan about that are just full of fecal matter…
..I can think of no person who could have done that crucial task better…
Phillip, you and Ad are sad just sad. Not big enough to admire any success, just personal and actually becoming rude in name calling.
Your "choked" fails to recognise the huge amount of cortisol caused by stress she lived with over the years.
Ad's "fan girl" to someone 83, is as silly as he is being about Jacinda,
A shame you don't both put more energy into breaking down the corrupt links in this Government, but "oh Luxon is a guy or one of the boys"imo.
You've jumped the shark..!
It’s ‘cos I’m a man…?…and a luxon-lover to boot..?
And my critiques of the fails of j.ardern are because she is a woman..?
Heh..!.. that’s both funny..!..and silly..
What a good idea..!
Still rocking the legal 27% THC around here..
The challenges faced by Jacinda as PM were extraordinary, the Christchurch killings and then the Covid lockdowns would have been extremely difficult for any prime minister. Who knows how Helen Clark or John Key would have handled the pressure. At least Jacinda realised that she had nothing more to give, rather than just hanging on.
The one thing that Jacinda may have had against her, is too much empathy. I’ve seen it in my job working with people who are facing very difficult situations and issues. It is very easy to become too drawn in and emotionally involved. Being the PM during the best of times would be hard enough
It should never be forgotten that when Nz had NO covid people weren't allowed to travel or meet.
My cousins son was desperate, living alone , asked multiple times to be able to come home, was turned down flat.
He took his own life. Took 5 days before he was found after family begged Police to do welfare check on him after scheduled calls were missed.
The same time government family and friends were allowed to move around.
She deserves all she got.
A sad…..story. But "She deserves all she got" kinda gives a clue…..
When was that? I call BS on your claim.
It should never be forgotten that when Nz had NO covid people weren't allowed to travel or meet."
That is about as illogical and irrational as it could get, so will take the rest of this comment with a healthy grain of salt.
In my view she became fully aware of the following;
through no fault of her own, but rather the arrival of a global existential crisis which demanded wholesale sacrifices in order to save lives plus a few other extraordinary events requiring more sacrifice for some, she became a lightening rod for discontent, hatred and a desire by some to blame the PM of the day for what had befallen them. That the PM was also a young, attractive woman – and misogyny being as alive as it ever was – she was the ideal scapegoat.
Jacinda recognised this and after consideration concluded that the best solution would be for her to resign and hand the baton of responsibility to someone else.
You may not understand this Phillip ure but it takes courage to follow this course of action. She knew that her hate-filled detractors would use the occasion to denigrate her personally and spread all manner of disinformation about her.
Hence the reason for, what I suspect, was a hasty decision to write this book supposedly containing "the real story" of Jacinda Ardern's premiership. It would seem a group of miserable, entitled self-serving arseholes never give up.
No anne…you are right..
I don't understand how some online abuse from anonymous haters could force a p.m. to resign..
And you flip that on its head by saying she showed courage..by leaving to subsequent abuse. .(!)..(but she didn't have the courage to face that bullshit..while p m..?)
..I don't see that as courage…just the opposite..
..
Jacinda resigned because she had become a "lightening rod" for all the haters, wreckers. confused and naysayers to the point where she was… damned if she did and damned if she didn't. She knew therefore she could do longer meaningfully contribute, so she resigned. That takes courage knowing how it would be misconstrued just as you are misconstruing.
The horrific abuse would have had an effect on her to be sure. I can say that from personal experience. But it was not the cause of her resignation.
Ardern says she resigned because she realised she didn't have the ability to continue to do the job to the standard she aspired do. If you've never been burned out, count yourself lucky, it can be a terrible thing. If you look at the photos of world leaders from before they take office and when they leave, the physical change is obvious. Obama is another obvious example. You can see it with Ardern, and then compare to how she looks now. Massive difference. I'm glad she got out before the job destroyed her, and that she has recovered.
Even John Key aged a lot in the role, and he was a PM who gave the impression of never giving a shit about anyone who wasn't him. It's a tough gig alright.
You omit that until about 2015 rampant social media spread of information wasn't widespread in politics. So Clark and even John Key mostly escaped the vitriol that has become the norm among cooked brains more recently.
Additionally, the hate of Ardern among older, conservative males was absolutely widespread well before the pandemic came along. National or ACT aligned Facebook groups were showing horrible misogyny on a daily basis from almost the moment she became leader of the party.
For you to offer the "every prime minister has had haters slinging abuse.." explanation says a whole lot about you and nothing about the reality of politics as a young female in the social media era.
What does it say about me..?
(Aside from the fact I am a disillusioned j.a. fanboy..?…trying to find out why she choked..?
And yr claims of no online abuse until 2015 I am calling bullshit on…
Kiwiblog..and the others…were pumping it out in the 1990's..
Dunno why you make that 2015 claim…
It says you don't understand the situation.
What exactly is it about this situation that I am failing to understand…?
you think she choked, when she was burned out and unable to do the job to standard any more and despite that being explained to you appear to not understand what burnout is and why it matters.
You also don't understand how abuse against women has changed in the last decade.
You say burnt out..
I say choked…
Both are the outcome..
..and both leave the why?/failure to deliver on promises made .. unanswered..
..that much I understand…
people don't have that much control over burnout in that situation. The why is pretty obvious.
Failure to deliver in promises made is a different conversation from why she left. All governments fail to deliver on some things.
Well said Matt K.
Bail out? What s stupid expression. Grow up!
'bail out' is a valid use of the English language..to describe this situation…look it up..)
And thanks for the 'grow up!' chuckles .
It's been awhile…
Na good people, honest people and honorable people make the dishonest, the people who are nasty ,dishonest or just plane nasty feel guilty but it's easier to hate than to change.
Yes I agree bwaghorn. I am grateful she gave up 16 years of her life to politics, and was our PM during covid, a terror attack Micoplasma bovis and an eruption.
There is probably another book that may never be written. It would be about the funding, management, growth and the nature of the campaign to vilify Ardern and NZ's Covid response in particular. Who contributed, what were the networks of disinformation, who generated the lies and who amplified them? To what extent were local and international players from the far-right in cooperation? How did mainstream politicians piggy back on this shadow world while maintaining a veneer of intellectual respectability? In short – whose fingers are all over it?
Wot a.b. said..
Yes agreed AB. I would like Nicky Hager to do that.
Seeing "friends' of Luxon given Tele Health after 97% of shareholders lost money on their My Foodbag business. The Robinsons standing next to Judith Collins. There are two parties of interest imo.
Thanks to Jacinda and the guidance given, we have not had Covid.
1st of May, the help with our heating costs till 1t Oct. is a huge.
The idea a society could operate on Wellbeing settings back to "Cradle to Grave care".
Now it is 'Top Dog is well fed.'
It doesn't take too much thought for those of us who are political tragics from way back to figure out who some of the leading players were. A wee clue. It is a perfect topic for Nicky Hager to investigate should he be so inclined.
Oops… Patricia has already mentioned Hager.
Exactly. The only thing more absurd about the absolutely false claims of criminal drugs offending by the Prime Minister's partner and that the media was covering it up (false claims on all fronts) was the people and number of them who continued to circulate the message. All it proved in the end was that there is a particularly dark side to the libertarian-right, and an unbelievable number of people who simply have no thinking capacity of their own. A search of the companies register doesn't take long at all to narrow the field of likely suspects.
Briefly a hero but is otherwise best forgotten. And she'll forget us of course, as she continues to seek a good second career doing something useful in the US.
Of a list that went along the lines of …
Top 5: Michael Joseph Savage, PM Fraser, PM Richard Seddon, David Lange, Helen Clark
Next 6-10: Julius Vogel, PM Norman Kirk, Sir Jim Bolger, Robert Muldoon, Sydney Holland
Next 11-20: Sir Keith Holyoake, John Key, Gordon Coates, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Jacinda Ardern, Walter Nash, William Massey, Bill English, Edward Stafford, Harry Atkinson
… Ardern could easily have falled off that top 20. Same with Luxon so far. All the rest including Hipkins just aren't worth worrying about.
The left will likely never again have Ardern's massive majority in Parliament. The waste of the opportunity to me barely gets her into the top 20.
Wot ad said..
have you said why you have such a strong dislike of Ardern? I know you think she didn't achieve anything, but I wonder if it's more that you don't value her achievements whereas others do.
I wish we could get an independent book (wishful thinking). This latest one will in all likelihood be a critique of Ardern without balance, much like her own autobiography is all the glossy parts.
Or forget all this wet leftie fangirl nonsense and move on.
More on the sponsor of this book;
The Centrist promised to back Baker's legal proceedings and it looks like the first instalment is due.
Baker says the quiet bit out loud, "Centrist…are bringing…this lawsuit through". Perhaps they (Grenon) were the ones to suggest it in the first place?
I get the feeling board meetings the Herald will not go as smoothly as Grenon imagines.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360721031/chantelle-baker-ordered-pay-100k-bond-ahead-defamation-case-against-stuff
I read that article today. I thoroughly applaud Judge Skelton
and
To bring a defamation case against anyone is a special type of law. Unlike almost any other legislation there is little to no control on bringing the case.
The causes for action in the Defamation Act 1992 s4-5 are tiny and only require allegation of special damage.
The cases rest almost entirely on defendants being able to prove a defence. Which as basically truth, honest opinion, and some instances of absolute or qualified privilege.
Often losing and even winning plaintiffs will escape into bankruptcy.
So do defendants – like Cameron Slater in the Blomfield case which took 11 years to resolve through all of the endless appeals. But at least the defendant didn't make a unfounded accusation like a losing defamation plaintiff and drag others into court.
Requiring defamation plaintiffs to put up judicial bonds for defamation cases against potential court costs being ordered against them is definitely the way to go. The only other alternative would be to change the burden of proof so that defamation plaintiffs have to prove a case in advance of trial.
Putting up a bonds should also be a requirement for private prosecutions as well. These go to court on a prima facie basis, made by a private citizen who is not and officer of the court, and frequently result in the private prosecutor being unable to pay the defendants court-ordered costs.
It also smacks of a roundabout way to carve out a NZH media monopoly.
And or to use court costs to silence media critics.
Can't think what could go wrong if taxpayers had to cover costs for anyone and everyone who felt themselves slighted in the media.
My take is that Jim Grenon essentially won the NZME takeover – it was a compromise but still a resounding win.
The book is disturbing but not unsurprising.
They should call it "The Jacinda Ardern Cooker-y Book." Just don't go looking for recipes in there.
The Dirty Politics crowd-the underwear sniffers and trash bin riflers-never sleep, they are spring loaded and constantly trawling all sources.
The aim of right wing media misinformation is to discourage others from participation with their torrent of filth.
One has to wonder why these right wing critics are working so hard to discredit Jacinda Ardern 2.5 years after she left office? What is their game?
It'll improve once she does something useful like most of our ex-PMs.
Ardern finished at 42.
Muldoon finished at 63 then did Rocky Horror. Lange finished at 47 then died. Bolger finished at 62 then 'had a wonderful life'. Clark finished at 58 and continued to contribute to the public sphere. Key finished at 55 and went back to banking.
Apart from Clark, what have any of these people done which was remotely useful?
That's a whole post all of itself.
Bolger did massive things across NZPost and Kiwibank, was Ambassador to the United States, Chancellor of the University of Waikato, and Chair of several companies..
Key Chaired the largest bank in the southern hemisphere and ran it well, and is on the board of Air New Zealand and Palo Alto.
Bill English is on the board of Wesfarmers and several large New Zealand exporting companies, and Chairs a couple as well.
So more corporate bro stuff from Ardern would help settle your anxiety?
Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves
Pretty sure the trend for labour post the initial covid bump was steady decline despite the election win. The pending election result fairly strongly suggested not-glorious.
Once it comes out we can do a side-by-side review.
Why? One was written as a personal perspective. We can guess why the other is to be written.
I have read her book, and feel she has avoided many aspects. I accept she was almost at PSD after 4 difficult additional events. Is it a good book? Too careful imo.
I remember the Police stating "They had no interest in Clarke Gayford. He had no case to answer in any way" That was in answer to right wing smears the moment she was elected. Like much of her time, that and three efforts to have a wedding were not mentioned.
After Mycoplasma bovis, the 51 shot while at prayer in mosques, The lock downs ,the eruption, cortisol was high.
I related to her inability to switch off to play freely with her daughter, while dead beats were making death threats against her child.
None of that is political. It is a human level. She had enough after a breast cancer scare. She felt Nieve had missed enough.
Now Ad, who are these self appointed authors? Why are they worried about her now?
Is it because Luxon does not compare favourably?
There's those few who still want to believe in her, excusing, defending, loving, exhalting, eternally charmed.
And those who are right the other way.
They can't both be right.
Of course, they can both be ‘right’. In this post-truth era different groups/camps craft different narratives to install (or impose) and affirm different realities that are vying for public attention & acceptance. This is both cause & consequence of polarisation & division in/of society.
The alternative version of reality, aka the other book, is a deliberate ploy in this game of thrones – politics is indeed a contest of ideas and not a public deliberation for a shared communal truth and understanding of reality which ought to be the fundamental principle of democracy, IMO.
You really can get closer to the truth by actually doing the work.
Not doing the work is just lazy.
What ‘work’ are you talking about??
Bravo, Patricia.
It's obscene to want to pit an autobiography against an unauthorised anonymous RW funded attack piece.
Doesn't stop some pundits trying for the sake of clicks.
I have been asking these questions since she first left.
And no answers then too..
And a conclusion I came to was that the only valid reason I could see for her going..was that the demands of the job..the long hours…
…meant that she was essentially missing out on her daughter growing up ..
And at the time I said that as far as I was concerned…I could totally understand that…
I still think that must have been a major driver of her decision to go..
There was persistant wispering in the Security sector that DPS could not longer assure the safety of neither her nor her family. It seems that there was certainly a few 'cookers' who would have harmed her if given the opourtunity.