A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir

The following morning, the US president, Donald Trump, offered his support via a phone call, and Ardern implored him to show love for all Muslim communities. She traveled to Christchurch, where the streets were lined with flowers and messages of support. At a local community center, Imam Lateef of the targeted Linwood Islamic Center shocked and humbled Ardern by expressing his thanks for the love and support shown to his community in the wake of the attack. At the local college, which was transformed into a crisis center, Ardern informed the families of those killed that the bodies of their loved ones would be released as soon as possible in accordance with the requirements of the Muslim faith, after a significant delay because of the crisis protocols necessary for identification. She visited injured survivors at the local hospital and was shaken by the brutality of the attack and the number of bullet wounds inflicted.

By that evening, a provisional list of the dead was released, showing approximately 50 people dead and 40 wounded. She broke down once in a moment of semi-privacy, but quickly pulled herself together to resume her duties. Five days after the shooting, she visited a local high school, consoling students and receiving comfort in turn. There were many ceremonies to mark the event; two of the most memorable were a community gathering of 15,000 people in an outdoor prayer space in the local park one week after the attack, and the National Day of Remembrance one week after that.

Ardern used Australia’s 1996 gun reform policies as a model for New Zealand’s reform process. Throughout New Zealand, farmers and hunters commonly use guns, so the government banned only military-style semi-automatic weapons designed to maximize casualties and initiated a buyback policy for banned guns. Ardern met with first responders from the Christchurch attack and took their input on where to draw the line between supporting farmers and public safety. Within a month of the Christchurch attack, New Zealand’s gun laws had been completely reformed.

When Ardern talks of this legislative feat abroad, she always receives applause, showing that attacks are calls to action that people still want to meet. The terrorist attack was livestreamed and spread widely on social media, so Ardern also spearheaded the creation of the “Christchurch Call to Action,” a pledge that international tech companies and world leaders made to eliminate extremist content online. Since then, global crisis protocols have emerged to deal with videos depicting terrorist attacks, as well as content guidelines and policies to hinder terrorist activity online.

Many world leaders and dignitaries visited New Zealand to offer their support and condolences following the Christchurch attack, including Russell Nelson, the Mormon Prophet and president of the LDS Church. Despite having left the church, Ardern admires Nelson’s compassionate leadership style and desire to improve the world. Another leader she hosted was Prince William of the British Royal Family, whom she had previously met several times in passing. She admired his kindness and patience as he met survivors of the attack, and she respected his dedication to a public service role from which he will never have the luxury of retiring.

Ardern found respite from her grief and stress by spending time with Clarke and Neve. Her family was diligent in ensuring that she was involved in all of Neve’s developmental milestones, but she still felt guilt and sorrow for spending so much time apart from her daughter. To compensate, she tasked herself with making Neve’s first birthday cake from scratch. Neve received gifts from many global leaders and dignitaries to mark the occasion. During the Easter break, the family vacationed on the East Coast of the US, and Clarke proposed to Ardern. She has always appreciated his frequent romantic gestures and acts of care and was happy to accept.

Grant spearheaded an initiative to measure national prosperity by quality of life metrics rather than just by the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the government initiated a program that dedicated funds and support to projects and policies promoting well-being. It invested heavily in children’s mental health, and Ardern approved a target of reducing youth deaths by suicide to zero, finding more realistic targets intolerable. She launched her Child and Youth Well-being Strategy as well as a new program for food in schools in a school near her old hometown of Murupara.

While Ardern was traveling to Murupara for the food program launch, her mother had a seizure and was taken to the hospital. Ardern felt guilty about sending Neve to her sister’s house under the care of a Dignitary Protection Service (DPS) security officer while she continued with the day’s agenda, but ultimately did not regret the decision. On a later date, comedian and US talk show host Stephen Colbert coaxed her into doing a widely shared sing-along after she picked him up from the airport on a trip to promote the New Zealand tourist industry. In December 2019, a volcanic eruption on White Island/Whakaari (which is uninhabited) killed and seriously injured many visitors to the island. Although the media accused Ardern of using her visit as a photo op, she refused to stop hugging people who sought comfort from her.