The life of Jacinda Ardern

Brut America

She led her country with a unique political style: kindness. Now, she's stepping down as New Zealand's prime minister citing burnout.   This is the story of Jacinda Ardern.

Transcript

00:00As a girl, I never, ever grew up believing that my gender would stand in the way of me achieving whatever I wanted in life.

00:08I am leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility, the responsibility

00:31to know when you are the right person to lead, and also when you are not.

00:38We're just having a bit of an earthquake here, Ryan, quite a decent shake here, but if you

00:48see things moving behind me, we're fine, Ryan.

00:51I'm not under any hanging lights, I look like I'm in a structurally sound place.

00:56I'm not under any hanging lights, I look like I'm in a structurally sound place.

01:26I remember my mum making me put together my CV, which is, when you're 14, consists of

01:39best flan at the cooking competition, and basically certificates for showing up to school.

01:46But we walked up and down the main street, and I would go into shops asking them if they

01:50had any after-school jobs.

02:20Gender never came into it for me, and that was because of you, I have no doubt.

02:42There will be a new generation of girls and young women saying, hey, Jacinda did it.

03:01When I started campaigning for civil unions some time later, I decided that I couldn't

03:06sustain such competing value sets any longer, and I left the church.

03:19The true measure of leadership is the ability to confront the anxiety of the people of their time.

03:27That is the measure of a leader.

03:36I believe that this will be a government of change.

03:47It will be a government that we can be proud of.

04:06I am not the first woman to multitask.

04:29I'm not the first woman to work and have a baby.

04:33I know these are special circumstances, but there will be many women who will have done

04:38this well before I have.

05:03I hope for little girls and boys that actually there's a future where they can make choices

05:17about how they raise their family and what kind of career they have that adjusts based

05:22on what they want and what makes them happy.

05:33If I could distill it down into one concept that we are pursuing in New Zealand, it is

05:43simple and it is this, kindness.

06:04Today I'm announcing that New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons.

06:12We will also ban all assault rifles.

06:22He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety, and that is why you

06:29will never hear me mention his name.

06:32He is a terrorist.

06:33He is a criminal.

06:35He is an extremist.

06:37But he will, when I speak, be nameless.

06:53You'll be pleased to know that we do consider both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny

06:58to be essential workers.

07:02Today I'm announcing that I will not be seeking re-election.

07:21I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but

07:27also one of the more challenging.

07:30You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank, plus a bit in reserve for

07:36those unexpected challenges.

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