Media Insider: Australian public agencies face media heat over A$80,000 taxpayer spending on Jacinda Ardern-headlined women’s leadership summit
Several top Australian public agencies are in the media spotlight for spending about $A80,000 ($96,000) on an upcoming women’s leadership summit headlined by Dame Jacinda Ardern.
On its front page today and under the headline ‘Ardern unlimited: taxpayers’ $80k hit’, The Australian reported that five public agencies had paid between A$10,000 and A$28,000 each for tickets for the series of leadership summits in August.
Ardern, who now lives in Sydney, is the headline act for the Women Unlimited Leadership Summit: she will be appearing in person at summits in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and via video livestream in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.
Her speaking fee was not reported, but The Australian compared ticket prices with Taylor Swift concert prices.
“Passes retail for up to $A4499, almost triple the price of Taylor Swift’s VIP Australian tickets, and the spend comes just months after [Treasurer] Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher asked departments to cut down on costs as spending hit a 40-year high," reported The Australian.
Organisers say the “landmark summit convenes leaders navigating ambiguity and transformation at scale”.
Marketing material states: “Headlined by global leader The Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern, it brings together voices who have led with clarity, empathy and courage under pressure – making decisive calls when certainty is limited. The focus is how direction, trust and momentum are established when the path ahead is unclear."
A short biography states that Ardern became the Prime Minister of New Zealand at just 37.
“During her time in office, she faced the challenges of a live-streamed domestic terror attack against New Zealand’s Muslim community, a volcanic eruption, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Ms Ardern’s focus on people, kindness, and what she has called ‘pragmatic idealism’ saw New Zealand achieve some of the lowest losses of life experienced by any developed nation through the pandemic, the ban of military-style semi-automatic weapons in her country, and the creation of the Christchurch Call to eliminate violent extremism online, which Ms Ardern continues to hold the role of Special Envoy.”
The Australian said government agencies, including intelligence, defence and the tax office, had purchased tickets to send staff to the event.
Ardern will appear in a fireside chat with moderator and public speaker Holly Ransom. While Ardern headlines the summit, there are a range of other business leaders also speaking.
“The summit will be staged in six capital cities and fellow speakers at the Canberra event, alongside Ms Ardern, include former Labor leader Bill Shorten, ABC journalist Annabel Crabb and a bevy of top bureaucrats and defence heads,” reported The Australian.
It further noted: “Ms Ardern enjoyed record rates of popularity in New Zealand at the height of her leadership, but her management of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic reforms – decisions widely viewed as having fuelled the country’s recession – contributed to her decline in the polls and eventual resignation in 2023."
The summit schedule says: “Aligned with our theme ‘The Courage to Lead Differently’, Ardern draws from her best-selling memoir, A Different Kind of Power, to challenge the outdated notion that leadership requires a ‘thick skin’ or an iron fist."
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Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.