New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern appoints country's first Indigenous female foreign minister

[danieldemol]

'New Zealand appointed its first Indigenous female foreign minister Monday to represent what's shaping up to be one of the most diverse parliaments in the world.

Nanaia Mahuta, who is Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, four years ago also became the country's first female member of parliament to wear a moko kauae, a traditional tattoo on her chin. The country's previous foreign minister, Winston Peters, is also Māori...

...Ardern's incoming parliament looks set to be one of the most diverse in the world. Almost half of the country's lawmakers will be women -- significantly higher than the global average of 25%.
Around 10% of the incoming parliament are openly LGBTQ -- higher than the previous title holder, the United Kingdom...'

Read more here: New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern appoints country's first Indigenous female foreign minister - CNN

 

[Altfish]

Jacinda, will you please come to the UK and rule over us.


Pretty please

 

[Estro Felino]

Well done, PM.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Don't want to rain on this parade, as I think NZ have done a great job on both ensuring women and indigenous people have representation.

It's worth remembering that the indigenous population of NZ is much higher than in most countries. About 17% of the population, so roughly the same as the percentage of Hispanics in the US. And that's not counting Pacific Islanders, etc, which takes the percentage to roughly 25%. That doesn't make the achievement less laudible. It does make indigenous people in NZ harder to ignore.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Don't want to rain on this parade, as I think NZ have done a great job on both ensuring women and indigenous people have representation.

It's worth remembering that the indigenous population of NZ is much higher than in most countries. About 17% of the population, so roughly the same as the percentage of Hispanics in the US. And that's not counting Pacific Islanders, etc, which takes the percentage to roughly 25%. That doesn't make the achievement less laudible. It does make indigenous people in NZ harder to ignore.

It is not that they might be ignored. it is simply that many of them are popular and respected enough to get elected.
And once elected they stand out enough, and achieve enough to get chosen for high office. Her predecessor in that post was also a Māori but male.
New Zealand Politicians, at the top level, also are much younger than the equivalent in say the USA. who seem to reserve high office for geriatrics.

 

[Dawnofhope]

Having followed both the New Zealand and USA elections closely, the two countries are polls apart in the way politicians conduct themselves. Having two women leading the main political parties would account for some of the differences.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Excellent. I highly appreciate.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

It is not that they might be ignored. it is simply that many of them are popular and respected enough to get elected.
And once elected they stand out enough, and achieve enough to get chosen for high office. Her predecessor in that post was also a Māori but male.
New Zealand Politicians, at the top level, also are much younger than the equivalent in say the USA. who seem to reserve high office for geriatrics.

I'm not sure if you quite understood what I meant, so I'll try and clarify my meaning.
In Australia, the indigenous population accounts for about 3.3% of the population. That drops much further if you look at the major population centres. Where I live (Melbourne), only about 0.6% of the population are indigenous.
In the United States, the indigenous population accounts for about 1.0% of the population. Again, look at the more populous regions, and it drops. New York State has about 0.6%, and New Jersey about 0.3%.

Speaking for Australia, this has unfortunately meant it is possible to put indigenous issues 'out of sight, out of mind'. We do have indigenous politicians, and of course they can run on the same platforms as any other politician. However, when I lived in New Zealand, it was possible for a politician to focus on indigenous issues and actually galvanize a substantial base of voters because of it.

Think of it this way...
If a politician in the US has a choice between addressing an issue that will be popular with the Hispanic population, or one that will be popular with the Native American population, there is overwhelmingly more votes in addressing the Hispanic population.

That has nothing to do with how worthy the politicans are, or how important the issues themselves are, but is just 'one of those things' when it comes to democratic voting systems.
It was meant more as a mild slap on Australian politics (and an assumption on my part that the situation in the USA is somewhat analogous) than a knock on NZ.
They have one of the healthier democracies on the planet, in my opinion, though a mix of good luck/circumstance and good management.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Having followed both the New Zealand and USA elections closely, the two countries are polls apart in the way politicians conduct themselves. Having two women leading the main political parties would account for some of the differences.

Maybe, but I think there is something broader at play. Your country has been quite proactive in promoting women. The face that you have two female leaders is a somewhat predictable outcome of actually achieving more parity and equality than most places (including Australia). Female leaders is more the outcome than the driver, I guess I'm saying. Although I would assume there is some level of feedback loop at play (ie. more female leaders can normalise a different leadership style, in a very broad-brush sense)

Scandanavia is the most similar in this sense that I am aware of (disclaimer : I've lived and worked in NZ for a decent amount of time, and had extended business trips to work in Sweden, so might be a proximity bias at play).