Meghan’s work on women’s rights ‘really powerful’, says NZ prime minister

New Zealand’s prime minister has praised the Duchess of Sussex for her work promoting women’s rights.

Jacinda Ardern, who had a baby in June and returned to work after six weeks of maternity leave, has spent most of the day with Prince Harry and Meghan, including a visit to a charity that helps children who have a parent in prison and going on a walkabout with them in the centre of Auckland.

Speaking at an event at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Ms Ardern said: “I think it’s wonderful to have a woman in her position to talk so strongly about issues of women’s representation and empowerment.

“Particularly in New Zealand, for 125 years women have had the vote but there are still things we need to do around domestic violence and pay equity.

“So having role models from around the world like herself, standing up and making statements around just fairness and equality I think is really powerful.”

Harry and Meghan started the day off with a game of welly wanging as they visited the North Shore to dedicate a 20-hectare area of native bushland to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy project.

In the pouring rain, which seems to have followed them around on this 16-day trip, Meghan beat her husband in the boot-throwing competition.

The duchess has made a big impression with the crowds during this tour. After meeting her during walkabouts, people have often talked about the importance of her mixed-race heritage and her commitment to gender equality.

Governor General Patsy Reddy, the Queens representative in New Zealand, who has been hosting the couple, told Sky News she was struck by Meghan’s ability to connect.

She told us: “It’s so much easier to talk about diversity when you are the embodiment of diversity and so she is showing that a person of colour, from mixed-race background, heritage can achieve whatever she wants and that’s a great model for New Zealand.”

Speaking about whether Kiwi’s are keen to end their links with the monarchy she said: “There are republicans here too but once you say, ‘Well what next, which is the model you’d rather have, look around the world and see who’s got a better constitutional framework’, I think I haven’t found a satisfactory answer myself.”

Asked if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a role to play in maintaining the relevance of the monarchy, she added: “Whatever they’re doing, it’s working. So I think it’s wonderful to have them visiting and perhaps next time we’ll see them with their young family.”

During their engagement interview and through the flowers stitched into her wedding veil, Meghan has been very vocal about her desire to connect with the Commonwealth.

Critics see the body of 53 nations as an outdated talking shop and a modern-day manifestation of the British Empire.

In the crowd in Wellington on Sunday, a protest banner could be seen in the crowds saying: “Vigil for victims of the British Empire”.

But for most Maori in New Zealand it’s less about the role of the crown, and their fight is against politicians over freshwater and land rights. Maori television’s political correspondent Tulisa Kupenga told us many are divided over whether Meghan can help highlight their cause.

She said: “If Meghan is actually engaging with groups, people listening to those stories and actually hearing and seeing the effects of that and projecting it out and sharing with other people through her role then I think that can bring about change.”

Speaking at the evening event at the Auckland war memorial, Prince Harry said hello or greetings in six different languages before adding: “This is definitely the first time I have spoken most of those languages, so I apologise if my accent wasn’t any good, but I had to give it a go!

“It’s wonderful to be at an event celebrating diversity in one of the world’s most diverse cities.”

Addressing the crowd of mainly 17-25-year-olds, he issued a rallying call to young people saying: “Despite the world you’ve inherited, your approach is ground-breaking and forward-thinking, with an optimistic outlook that is inclusive of community, both people and nature, and conscious of the value of our mental fitness and how this is the key to the cure.

“You are arbiters of real change, and I must commend the prime minister in her approach and focus, in championing all of you.”

Earlier this year he was made a youth ambassador to the Commonwealth by the Queen.

It is obvious Meghan is happy to share that work. And for those who want to revamp the image of the Commonwealth, it would be difficult to find a better team.

(c) Sky News 2018: Meghan’s work on women’s rights ‘really powerful’, says NZ prime minister