Michael Laws and Leah Panapa react to Jacinda Ardern's appointment as Professor of Practice at Sydney University
Michael Laws and Leah Panapa, hosts of The Platform NZ, discuss Jacinda Ardern's new academic role at Sydney University.
Summary
Michael Laws and Leah Panapa of The Platform NZ react to the announcement that former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been appointed as a Professor of Practice at Sydney University. Laws delivers an extended critique of Ardern's record as Prime Minister, arguing that her appointment to teach empathetic leadership, social cohesion, and civic trust is at odds with what he characterises as her authoritarian conduct in office. Leah Panapa responds with brief but pointed reactions throughout.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jacinda Ardern appointed Professor of Practice at Sydney University
Michael Laws: It is 12:30. I just wanted to share something with you this afternoon. It was to do with another piece of news that was made prominent this morning — it was put on this particular person's social media last night, and it's only been reported by the media this morning. It is that the former Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has scored herself a new job at Sydney University as a Professor of Practice. She has been hired to give masterclasses and mentor on empathetic leadership, social cohesion, and civic trust. She has a mission provided by the Vice Chancellor of Sydney University to develop new approaches to global and values-based leadership, as well as exploring new ways to address global health challenges centred on equity, inclusion, and well-being.
This is while she's continuing — according to the social media that went out in her name yesterday — to work on eliminating violent extremism and terrorism online. My gosh, this woman has got a lot to do. And the development of a safe, people-centred artificial intelligence. So that is Ardern's new job at Sydney University. New approaches to global and values-based leadership. And she is lecturing on empathetic leadership, social cohesion, and civic trust.
Laws delivers his assessment of the appointment
Can I just say, that would be very much like a mass murderer lecturing on how to love and embrace one another. Because this is an authoritarian hiding in plain sight — Jacinda Ardern. A hypocrite who preached kindness and practised exactly the opposite. A serial non-achiever in the fields of health, education, and child poverty in this country. A hugger and a crier — good on her — but better suited perhaps to grief counselling than to leading. And then, when confronted with any questions or opposition, reverted back to the original authoritarian mode.
This is the person who is now going to be at Sydney University as a professor lecturing on empathetic leadership — obviously only for a select group of people, not for all. Social cohesion, which she had such a marked inability to achieve during her time as Prime Minister. And civic trust, when she essentially eviscerated public trust in many of the organisations that we would like to trust, during her term as Prime Minister as well.
And if you ever wanted to know what equity, inclusion, and well-being really means, it means being an authoritarian, and when confronted with people who disagree with you, declaring them second-class citizens and stopping them from contributing not just to society but to their employment as well. And, oh, by the way, turning the rest of the country against those said individuals and treating them as the new witches.
Leah Panapa: Mm. Well, that's kindness for you, as preached by the new professor of Sydney University, Jacinda Ardern. Is there no end to the infamy of this woman?