NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Helen Clark asked anything and everything

Herald online
25 Feb, 2013 08:50 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Helen Clark has participated in an Ask Me Anything online chat on community website Reddit. Photo / Facebook/Supplied
Helen Clark has participated in an Ask Me Anything online chat on community website Reddit. Photo / Facebook/Supplied

Helen Clark has participated in an Ask Me Anything online chat on community website Reddit. Photo / Facebook/Supplied

Helen Clark has no desire to return to New Zealand politics or voice an opinion on the Kim Dotcom saga currently hogging headlines at home.

Instead, the former New Zealand Prime Minister is keen to meet the Flight of the Conchords duo, while her favourite inspirational quote is "Never look back. Move on. Aim high. Etc."

Clark, the first elected female Prime Minister of New Zealand, participated in an Ask Me Anything online chat on community website Reddit this morning.

While many of the questions related to Clark's role as director of the UN's Development Programme, many Reddit users (known as "Redditors") wanted to know about Clark's time as Prime Minister, or about New Zealand in general.

Clark said her greatest achievement as Prime Minister was making New Zealand a "fairer, better place to live in", while the single biggest challenge was "getting unemployment down and keeping it down - which I'm happy to say was achieved".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The biggest difference between being the leader of New Zealand and her role in the United Nations was the commute - "400 miles to work from Auckland to Wellington - and being able to walk from home to work in NY".

"What do I miss most? Family - but everyone is only a phone call, text, or email away," she wrote.

Clark would not respond to questions about the Kim Dotcom saga, as it is before the courts, or about current New Zealand politics.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"While you can ask anything - don't expect me to dive back into Kiwi political debates! Been there, done that!" she said.

She named Nelson Mandela as the living politician she looks up to most, describing him as "an inspiration to all".

Clark was asked about why she pushed to have Sir Paul Holmes knighted when her Labour Government had abolished knighthoods while in power.

"In NZ everyone knows I don't agree with knighthoods - my government abolished them. But I do think the late Paul Holmes was worthy of a top honour."

Discover more

New Zealand

Helen Clark: Ask me anything

24 Feb 03:59 AM
New Zealand

Clark to continue UNDP role

12 Apr 10:56 PM

Asked if Flight of the Conchords stars Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement were as "cool in person as they seem", Clark replied: "I guess so! Haven't met them - would be excited to!"

While not revealing whether she hoped to become UN Secretary General in the future, Clark said she hoped that particular "glass ceiling can be broken one day".

She didn't experience sexism and misogyny while she was Prime Minister, but "there was a bit on the way up," she said.

Clark said New Zealand's position atop international transparency and anti-corruption indexes was due to "strong institutions and values, a free media, active civil society, and parliamentary scrutiny".

One Redditor asked Clark what activities New Zealand locals do that foreigners may not know about.

"New Zealanders are very creative people - across the visual, literary, and performing arts. So look out for the theatres, galleries, concert halls," she responded.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"As well, the range of the NZ landscape is extraordinary - from a near sub-tropical north to a near sub-Antarctic south. Mountains, coastlines, glaciers, forests - getting out there and enjoying all that is something many Kiwis love to do."

Many of the questions from Redditors focused on the UN's Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets which range from halving extreme poverty to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. Clark will this week attend a conference called "Making the MDGs Work: From Advocacy through Implementation to Acceleration and beyond" in Bogota, Colombia, where she will talk about the development agenda post-2015.

Clark argued the MDGs have been a success, despite slow progress in countries suffering from conflict. She said the greatest success of the targets was getting international buy-in.

"Overall the MDGs have been a success - at the global level. But there are huge differences within countries and between countries on the rate of progress. The post-2015 agenda development should not lose sight of the unfinished MDG business, while also taking up issues which weren't fully incorporated in the MDGs we currently have," she said.

Clark had advice for students keen to work in the development field or at the United Nations.

"Apply widely; be prepared to work in places off the beaten track ..." she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

* Read the full question and answer session here.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Sport|rugby

Classics return: Former All Blacks to feature in Eden Park curtain-raiser against Pasifika legends

27 May 05:02 PM
New Zealand

Morning quiz: Who is the Black Ferns' all-time leading try-scorer?

27 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

‘Please don’t do it’: Devastated family slam viral tackle trend after teen's death

27 May 05:00 PM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Classics return: Former All Blacks to feature in Eden Park curtain-raiser against Pasifika legends
Sport

Classics return: Former All Blacks to feature in Eden Park curtain-raiser against Pasifika legends

27 May 05:02 PM
Singer shines with forgotten song from Kiwi music royalty
Whanganui Chronicle

Singer shines with forgotten song from Kiwi music royalty

27 May 05:00 PM
‘Please don’t do it’: Devastated family slam viral tackle trend after teen's death
New Zealand

‘Please don’t do it’: Devastated family slam viral tackle trend after teen's death

27 May 05:00 PM
Regional ratepayers to fund $3.58m loan for Tarawera Sewerage Scheme
Rotorua Daily Post

Regional ratepayers to fund $3.58m loan for Tarawera Sewerage Scheme

27 May 05:00 PM
Confidential Auckland blueprint tackles housing intensification, flood risks
New Zealand

Confidential Auckland blueprint tackles housing intensification, flood risks

27 May 05:00 PM

Latest from New Zealand

Classics return: Former All Blacks to feature in Eden Park curtain-raiser against Pasifika legends

Classics return: Former All Blacks to feature in Eden Park curtain-raiser against Pasifika legends

27 May 05:02 PM

Legendary former All Blacks and Pasifika players will line up in Eden Park curtain-raiser.

Morning quiz: Who is the Black Ferns' all-time leading try-scorer?

Morning quiz: Who is the Black Ferns' all-time leading try-scorer?

27 May 05:00 PM
‘Please don’t do it’: Devastated family slam viral tackle trend after teen's death

‘Please don’t do it’: Devastated family slam viral tackle trend after teen's death

27 May 05:00 PM
Premium
Do your due diligence: New homes plagued by defects as 86% call back tradies

Do your due diligence: New homes plagued by defects as 86% call back tradies

27 May 05:00 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search