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.
This is the story of Jacinda Ardern.
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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.