Prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation took the country by surprise.
“It was a bit of a shock, one out of the blue,” said Federated Farmers’ president Andrew Hoggard.
Ardern announced she will resign as prime minister no later than Feb 7 and step down as leader of the Labour party.
“Like John Key, she decided to go out on top and if the gas tank is empty, the gas tank is empty”.
In December 2016, then National party prime minister, John Key, announced he was quitting well ahead of the 2017 election.
Auckland chamber of commerce chief executive Simon Bridges, who formerly squared up against Ardern as National’s leader, said he admired her and described her as someone who took “being prime minister at a relatively young age in her stride”.
“She’s a very decent person and she has a great personal style, and we saw that in a succession of pretty awful crises. And the world saw it as well, and in that regard, she did us proud.”
Chamber members would likely have a mixed view of Ardern’s time in office, Bridges said, citing discontent about the extended 2021 lockdown.
“As is true for all governments, economically something of a mixed bag – good in a crisis, but as in successive governments, hasn’t got on top of New Zealand’s big economic disease, which is a productivity one.”
Bridges was disappointed that finance minister Grant Robertson had ruled himself out for the top job, adding that the business community would be looking for a new prime minister that would help inject confidence into the sector.
Regarding whether Ardern’s resignation might mean changes for the farming sector, Hoggard noted that while the prime minister is the head of government, there’s a collective cabinet responsibility.
Farmers have been hard hit by a raft of policies that have been put in place under Ardern, including increased regulation of farming practices and environmental legislation.
“They all signed off on regulations and bits of law and stuff that have upset farmers,” he said. “I don’t know if it will change anything dramatically”.
However, Hoggard was fairly positive about Ardern’s relationship with the sector, saying “we had the opportunity as a sector to sit down with her and cabinet ministers on a fairly regular basis, so it will be interesting to see whether that continues under the new leader”.
Political parties were quick to react.
Act party leader David Seymour issued a statement sending his best wishes to Ardern and noting, while they hadn’t seen eye-to-eye on political issues, he had known the prime minister for a decade and their relationship had remained collegial.
After Ardern recently referred to Seymour as an “arrogant prick” in parliament, she and Seymour made up and used the comment to raise more than $100,000 for the Prostate Cancer foundation.
“Jacinda is a well-meaning person, but her idealism collided hard with reality. Unfortunately, this has left the country with big problems: the economy, the lawlessness, the Treaty,” Seymour said.
National leader Christopher Luxon, who privately may well be welcoming the news of Ardern’s resignation, wished her well.
In a short statement posted on social media, he thanked her on behalf of the National party for her service to NZ.
“She has given her all to this incredibly demanding job and I wish her and her family all the very best for the future. Thank you, Jacinda,” he wrote.
Green party co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson also acknowledged Ardern’s service, noting her compassion and the unprecedented challenges she faced as leader.
“Jacinda Ardern’s compassion in times of crisis, her determination to make progress towards a fairer and safer Aotearoa, and her leadership of two multi-party governments is a cause for huge admiration,” Davidson said.
“Politics takes its toll, and I know the prime minister won’t have made her decision lightly.”
Te Pāti Māori, meanwhile, said “we acknowledge the outstanding contribution Jacinda Ardern has made to our country”.
“She has led our country through its darkest times with absolute dignity while managing to keep our country’s economic status in line with the most successful OECD countries in the world.”
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff also lauded Ardern.
“Achieving so much for working New Zealanders in just five-and-a-half years, especially in the context of a global pandemic, is a record that Ardern can be proud of. It is a legacy that her successor must build upon and protect,” he said.
Markets, meanwhile, took the news in their stride, but Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales at Commonwealth Bank NZ, said it would put a cap on any gains.
“Uncertainty is never a good thing and the peak overnight of 65.30 US cents is probably it,” he said.
The kiwi had already sold off prior to Ardern’s announcement and last traded at 64.31.
Kelleher also noted that there had been many rumours that she would step down in February or March.
