Editorial: After all that, it ends with a laugh

David Seymour and Jacinda Ardern have autographed a printout of Parliament's Hansard recording her calling him an "arrogant prick". Photo / Supplied

Editorial

All’s well that ends well.

After a bruising year that stretched political nerves to the limit, 2022 is rolling to an end with a bit of a laugh over an insult and plenty of money raised for charity.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s microphone-trapped mutter about Act leader David Seymour being an “arrogant prick” has ended up raising $100,100 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation through an online auction.

That’s after news of it, of course, went viral around the world.

(As a side note, it’s interesting in these inter-connected times just what captures the attention of people around the planet, regardless of their political or social views.)

None of it did the country any harm — people like leaders to be relatable and human rather than overly professional and invulnerable.

And hopefully this sequel where a signed transcript of the exchange has been preserved for posterity will go viral as well.

The two politicians, from different sides of the fence, have been good sports about it.

The incident shows there’s still a generosity of spirit in New Zealand’s politics despite much debate over divisions in society.

What unites us is ultimately a lot more important.

We don’t ever want to become so polarised that two people who can argue can’t also have a laugh together.