Popular US comedian Stephen Colbert has appeared at a conference of world leaders in the Asia-Pacific region to lighten the mood at the request of good friend Jacinda Ardern.
The 41-year old New Zealand Prime minister appeared on Colbert’s The Late Show back 2018 and the host mentioned often his love for the ‘land the long white cloud’.
Colbert joined Ms Ardern’s online 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit via video hook-up. He was also joined by Scott Morrison from Australia and Xi Jinping, the Chinese President.
Colbert declared in his speech that he was a huge fan of the beautiful country located at the bottom Pacific.
Then he continued to add New Zealand slang to his monologue, which was then accompanied with subtitles.
Jacinda Adern from New Zealand addresses the APEC Summit in this week’s photograph (pictured)
He said, “I was thrilled (thrilled), when Jacinda the head sheila [prime minister] called me on my blower (phone),”
“I thought that it was sweet (great). It would be a good choice. Next, nek mintit. Here I am.
Colbert was a fan of Lord of the Rings and went to New Zealand in 2019 to film several adventures. These included an interview with Lorde, as well as a BBQ with him. Ms Ardern also joined the carpool Karaoke.
Ms Ardern made a speech to talk about climate change, hailing New Zealand’s new Free Trade Agreement with Britain.
Colbert helped her to gain respect from her peers in the world, but her popularity at home is waning.
Stephen Colbert, a comedian from the United States and talk show host on Talk Shows, also lifted the mood after Ms Ardern invited him to speak.
Two new polls show that the prime minister of Britain and the Labour Party, her ruling party, are experiencing a significant drop in popularity.
On Thursday, the NZ Herald reported the results of the polls, which were privately done by Talbot Mills (Labour’s pollster) and Curia (an opposition pollster), respectively.
Both had a slide to Ms Ardern’s popularity, with a 13% plunge in Curia numbers and a loss for Labour of 5%.
Labour is still in the winning position in elections – it polls at 41% according to Talbot Mills and 39% in Curia’s figures. However, this drop in popularity is not surprising.
It won the majority in parliament after it received 50% of the party vote at the 2020 election.
Based on this week’s numbers, Labour would require the support of the Greens as government partners in order to win a majority in parliament. They are currently at 9 percent.
Opposition and government both feel that the ongoing struggle with COVID-19 has eroded Labour’s popularity. Auckland was kept locked down indefinitely for three months.
Chris Hipkins, Minister of COVID-19 said: “At this moment it’s difficult going out there.
“We are dealing with an epidemic of COVID-19, and there is certainly a level of COVID fatigue within the community.”
Chris Bishop, a COVID-19 spokesperson for Opposition, stated that Kiwis believe Ms Ardern has lost the ball.
He stated that there is an increase in recognition of the fact that, when it comes COVID, while they did a great job in 2020, they are not doing a great job in 2021.
“We came into 2021 having one of the best COVID responses in the world. Our freedoms were unmatched by many others around the globe.
“The government has spent the majority of the year rolling out one of the slowest vaccination rollouts in developed countries. Auckland is now at week 13, and the frustration of the community over the wasted opportunity this year is palpable.
Colbert host The Late Show 2018 featured Ms. Ardern as a guest and has often stated his keen interest in New Zealand culture.
National has much to gain despite Labour’s fall, and National is still in the race for government.
The polls showed it at 26% and 24% respectively, which are historically low results for centre-right parties like John Key or Bill English.
Leader Judith Collins continues to be a highly unlikely candidate, polling between six and ten percent in preferred PM stakes.
National has a ways to go, according to Mr Bishop. However, the numbers seem to be moving in the right directions.
With 34 percent and 47%, Ms Ardern is clearly the top choice of PM in this country, while David Seymour, ACT leader, prefers Ms Collins.