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Heather du Plessis-Allan: Outrage over Nanaia Mahuta’s speech is really about Jacinda Ardern

Author
Heather du Plessis-Allan,
Publish Date
Fri, 23 Apr 2021, 6:26PM

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Outrage over Nanaia Mahuta’s speech is really about Jacinda Ardern

Author
Heather du Plessis-Allan,
Publish Date
Fri, 23 Apr 2021, 6:26PM

Right, to this international outrage over Nanaia Mahuta’s speech. 

I honestly don’t think we need to worry a jot about the criticism we’re increasingly copping from international commentators.

Two reasons, number one, this outrage appears completely confined to the commentators.

None of the governments in the Five Eyes have indicated they’re angry, in fact both the UK and Australian governments have privately briefed the media insisting that they’re not concerned. 

Number two, this is not really about China and the Five Eyes.

This outrage is aimed at having a go at Jacinda Ardern and her perceived wokeness.

There is something in common with all the critics I’ve seen emerge on this subject and that is that they are to the right of politics : Nigel Farage, conservative, former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, liberal party, Andrew Bolt, a host of Sky News Australia which is increasingly conservative, a UK MP from the Isle of Wright, Conservative Party  and columnists for The Telegraph and The Times, both generally conservative newspapers.

And weirdly a number of them have made a point of name checking the PM and the fact that she is left wing.

The Telegraph labelled Jacinda Ardern our “ tiresomely woke Prime Minister“ and deemed her “the West’s woke weak link”.

Nigel Farage called her left leaning.

And Andrew Bolt called Mahuta “as woke as they come” warning that woke politics is making the west desperately weak', what has the Prime Minister or her government's wokeness got to do with this? 

In fact this is the most un-woke position to take on China. 

The Prime Minister is actually putting money – ie. our trade with China - ahead of values – ie.. criticising China’s human rights abuses. 

If anything, the woke crowd should be cross with her for selling out.

So for these guys to attack Ardern’s wokeness is a ridiculous stretch that doesn’t make any sense.

What I think is really going on is that they are using this issue to attack her because she is the fashionable global emblem of handwringing, nicey-nicey politics  

That’s what they’re really having a go at, badly.

And if you see that way, you realise we have nothing to worry about.

This isn’t really about our foreign policy at all.. this is just about attacking the Prime Minster.

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