Prime Minister's farewell speeches are rare events. We have photos, video and the full transcript of Jacinda Ardern's valedictory address.
The farewell speech of a former Prime Minister is not a common occurrence at Parliament. The previous one was from Bill English almost exactly five years ago in 2018.
This week it was Jacinda Ardern's time. The Debating Chamber and its galleries were unusually packed with MPs, former MPs and former Prime Ministers, family and friends, members of the public and few invited guests who that the former Prime Minister had met when they were caught up in tragic events during her tenure.
The Sunday Feature for The House this week has moments from the valedictory speech of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The edited radio version (as broadcast on The House) is at the link immediately below. Video of the entire speech is at the bottom of this page.
And (with thanks to Parliament's extraordinary Hansard team), below is the Hansard transcript of the address with a few photos taken by The House at the valedictory.
After her speech Jacinda Ardern catches the attention of her daughter watching in the gallery.
Jacinda Ardern's valedictory address transcript
"Te Whare e tū nei,
Te marae e takoto ana,
Tēnā korua, E ngā mate maha,
Haere, haere, haere,
Ngā tangata whenua o tenei rohe, o Te Whanganui-a-tara, tēnā koutou,
Tātou ngā kanohi ora e hui mai ana,
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
When it came time to pen these words, my father suggested that I go back and look at the first ones I shared in this House. I remember writing my maiden speech so well. I was 28 years old. My family were living overseas, and I'd only moved back to New Zealand a few months prior.
If I'm honest, I was probably more than a little shocked to be here, a feeling that even after 15 years never quite left me. But the reasons I came here, they never left me either. They were all there in my maiden speech: climate change, child poverty, and inequality; I am, after all, a conviction-based politician, and I've always believed this to be a place where you can make a difference. I leave knowing that to be true.
But, despite that, I've become used to my time as Prime Minister being distilled down into a different list: a domestic terror attack, a volcanic eruption, a pandemic; a series of events where I found myself in people's lives during the most grief-stricken or traumatic moments. Their stories and faces remain etched in my mind and likely will for ever. That is the responsibility and privilege of the role of Prime Minister-a role I never thought I was meant to have…