Watch: New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern gets standing ovation by lawmakers after her farewell speech
In her final speech to New Zealand's Parliament on Wednesday, Jacinda Ardern described in emotional terms how she'd navigated a pandemic and a mass-shooting during her tumultuous five-year tenure as prime minister. She also told humorous anecdotes like how a European leader so admired the striking hair of Ardern's chief-of-staff that he fluffed it like a hairdresser — which she joked had helped secure a free-trade deal — and how her mother once sent her an uplifting, if somewhat grandiose, message: “Remember, even Jesus had people who didn’t like him.” When Ardern finished speaking after about 35 minutes, she was greeted with a standing ovation by lawmakers from across the political spectrum and rousing renditions of several Indigenous Māori songs.