Jacinda Adern resigning really has me in mixed feelings.
I absolutely backed her in her first term and a half. I can't imagine, and don't want to imagine, any one else handling the Mosque shootings. That day is seriously one of our darkest days and she managed it with such compassion and empathy. Same with the volcanic eruption.
First response to covid in 2020 was perfect. If every other country had implemented the same plan that we did, we could've maybe ended the pandemic then and there.
However handling covid in 2021 and 2022 was...not great. The vaccine rollout was done so much later compared to other countries. We got pretty good vaccination rates, but it really should've been done sooner. We should've laxed our rules much sooner as well.
And it was all downhill from there really. I definitely lost faith in her after that. I don't like any of the other options we have for a PM going forward (read: labour party will not get re elected). It's like picking between the lesser of two (or more) evils.
If the next party in power can at least crack down on our horrific crime rate and invest more into our poor infrastructure, that's all I can hope for.
But I sure am going to miss having such a compassionate, emotionally sensitive leader. We're not going to get one of those for a long time
