“Probably going to get criticised”: Lisa Wilkinson doesn’t hold back in interview with NZ PM Jacinda Ardern
Despite the recent popularity of NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, veteran news reporter Lisa Wilkinson wasn’t flustered and didn’t hold back in asking the difficult questions in a new interview on The Sunday Project.
The question was about Ardern’s thoughts on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s stance on deportations.
Jacinda Ardern was propelled into the world stage because of an unspeakable atrocity, and the way she reacted to it.
A lot’s happened since then, and@Lisa_Wilkinson sat down with the NZ PM to talk life, love, and of course, politics. pic.twitter.com/3zkgDVV0jm— The Project (@theprojecttv) 21 July 2019
“You’ve described Scott Morrison’s stance on deportations as ‘corrosive’,” Wilkinson started.
The question immediately flustered Ardern as she went into damage control mode.
“Oh look I think we should be fair the, the deportation policy has existed for a while and…” Ardern stated.
Wilkinson helped out Ardern and branded Morrison “the architect” of the policy that Ardern has described as “wrong” and “unjust”.
“That is, that is correct,” Ms Ardern said. “When you are friends as we are, you can speak frankly with each other you know.”
Ms Ardern added, “I think it speaks to the strength of it that we do speak so openly."
The Sunday Project interview was filmed shortly after a meeting between Ardern and Morrison, where the two leaders discussed the implications NZ citizens living in Australia have faced since the laws have tightened back in 2014.
Ardern spoke candidly to NZ media, according to the ABC.
“If something’s wrong and if something is not fair and is unjust, you don’t let it go,” the NZ Prime Minister said.
“I totally accept that it is within Australia’s rights to deport those who engage in criminal activity in Australia. But there are some examples that will not make any sense to any fair-minded person.”
Luckily, Wilkinson switched to a lighter note and asked Ardern about how she’s going with motherhood.
Ardern revealed that she’s not “this Wonder Woman” and gets a lot of help from her fiancé Clarke Gayford.
“No one needs to see anyone pretending it’s easy because it’s not and so I’m not going to go around pretending I do everything,” she said.
“I’m not, it’s hard and women who are both working and raising children deserve to have help and support and so we shouldn’t pretend it can be done alone.”