Jacinda Ardern comforts a grieving nation with hugs and speedy reform

It was just 10 months that Jacinda Ardern was labelled a “stupid little girl” in parliament. 

The comment, made by an MP whose identity was never discovered, highlighted some of the doubts and sexism that overshadowed her rise in October 2017 to become the youngest female head of government in the world.

The fact the 38-year-old went on to become only the second world leader in history to give birth while in office only strengthened the misgivings of some that she was a lightweight.

Any such belief that Ms Ardern might not be up to job has been banished in the aftermath of Friday’s massacre in Christchurch.

Moments after the atrocity, the Prime Minister didn’t shirk from using politically charged language.

“It is clear that this can only be described as a terrorist attack,” she said. Commenting on the gunman, she said: “You may have chosen us – but we utterly reject and condemn you.”

Addressing a nation still coming to terms with the atrocity, she said: "We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are an enclave for extremism.

"We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of these things. Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it. And those values, I can assure you, will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.”

In the days after the worst peacetime mass killing in New Zealand, she has shown a compassion and empathy that has won plaudits around the world.  

Photos of her consoling victims’ relatives and reassuring the wider Muslim community have emerged on a daily basis.

One photo, in particular, went viral. Dressed in a hijab, she is captured listening during a meeting with Christchurch’s Muslim community a day after the terrorist attack, her face a picture of grief.

This image of the PM is iconic pic.twitter.com/s9mGVJj9O4

— James Macbeth Dann (@edmuzik) March 16, 2019

"The prime minister, when she came wearing her scarf, that was big for us," said Dalia Mohamed, who was mourning Hussein Mustafa, the father-in-law of her daughter.

Yet she has not only acted as comforter-in-chief. Politically, she has set about reforming the country’s gun laws, placing it at the top of the agenda in Monday’s Cabinet meeting. 

"Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer, she said afterwards.

Also noted was her exchange with US President Donald Trump, who rejected claims that white nationalism is on the rise and who has come under fire for anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Revealing that he had asked what support the United States could offer New Zealand, Ms Ardern said: "My message was: ‘Sympathy and love for all Muslim communities."

Domestically, she has won praise of pundits. "Can we just acknowledge with open hearts and clear heads that @jacindaardern has done an extraordinary job representing our nation, our pain and our resolve," prominent journalist and television news presenter Eric Young tweeted.

"I wish with everything in my heart she hadn’t had to, but I am proud that she did."

Across the water in Australia, meanwhile, her leadership has elicited envy. One headline in the Sydney Morning Herald read: “Jacinda Ardern is the type of leader Australia desperately needs.”