POLITICIANS everywhere, take note! Pay heed to a beautiful lesson in sportsmanship. I am not talking about the World Cup. (I was on a plane over Greenland when the final game was played between Argentina and France. Every few minutes, half the passengers erupted in cheer as the other half cried in despair.) I am talking about a lesson in proper political behavior witnessed this week in New Zealand.
I know that many people do not breathlessly follow the news coming out of the Kiwi nation like I do. While Europeans fight over Ukraine and Asians are putting out fires of social unrest in China, North Korea, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka to name a few, the political leadership in New Zealand has shown us all how people can stand in opposition to each other but not lose their civility.
Last week, during a heated exchange in Parliament, MP David Seymour asked the Prime Minister to provide an example of “making a mistake, apologizing for it properly, and fixing it.” The Prime Minister, Ms. Jacinda Adern, was offended by the question. Clearly, the questioner was implying that the ruling party was too arrogant to admit mistakes. The truth is, we live in a political climate where any mistake is pounced on by the opposition for political gain.
Ms. Adern gave a heated reply in which she pointed out that, indeed, she and her party had made mistakes and she offered as an example the handling of the Covid crisis. But she insisted that she had always made decisions based on what was in the best interests of the most people, even if they did not always get it right.
I watched video of both the question and the reply. I thought Mr. Seymour was being a bit impish in both the question and his tone. I would have been irritated just as Ms. Adern was. And I thought Adern’s reply sufficiently answered the question in a mostly dignified, head-of-state, kind of way. Had it ended there, we would not be talking about this. But it did not end there.
After Ms. Adern sat down, she muttered, “Such an arrogant prick.” Her microphone was still on, and her comment was caught and thus became part of the official history of New Zealand Parliamentary record. This was not the first time a head of state was caught saying something, well, unstatesmanlike by a hot microphone, it was not the worst and will not be the last. But it clearly was an embarrassing moment for both Adern and Seymour.
One can speculate what would come of this in the United States if a prominent Democrat said something similar about a prominent Republican. To the barricades! Impeachment! Revolution! Not New Zealand.
After a public apology, Adern and Seymour came up with a way of making lemonade out of lemons. They had a copy of the official transcript printed, both signed it, and auctioned it with the proceeds going to the New Zealand Prostate Cancer Foundation. Fitting, given the nature of the remark. Seymour was shocked that the document sold for over 100,000 New Zealand dollars. “The interest was greater than anyone dreamed,” he said. “When I suggested this to [Adern], she immediately agreed,” he added. “I have been blown away by the kindness of bidders who are helping pricks everywhere with their generosity.”
Political rivals but still good sports working for the greater good. Washington, Moscow, Beijing, I hope you are listening.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
