Wellington: Jacinda Ardern will continue work on her flagship foreign policy beyond her prime ministership of New Zealand, accepting two appointments, on the even of leaving parliament, as special envoy for the Christchurch Call and as a trustee for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

The Christchurch Call is an international organisation which brings together countries and tech companies to eliminate online extremism.

It was founded by New Zealand and France as Ardern worked with French President Emmanuel Macron after the 2019 Christchurch Mosques massacre. The killer – Australian convicted terrorist Brenton Tarrant – was radicalised online and livestreamed his crimes on Facebook.

Announcing her appointment on Tuesday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said, “We owe it to those who lost their lives on 15 March 2019 to continue our work to ensure there is no place for terrorist and violent extremist content online”.

“Jacinda Ardern’s leadership on the Christchurch Call has already made New Zealand, and the world, a safer place,” he said.

“The Christchurch Call is a foreign policy priority for the government and Jacinda Ardern is uniquely placed to keep pushing forward with the goal of eliminating violent extremist content online.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a mosque-goer at the Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington in 2019 following the Christchurch massacre. Her response to the attack was lauded around the world.Credit:Getty

The newly created role will be unpaid, though Ardern will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred.

Hipkins said with Ardern in the role, he would be free to focus on domestic priorities.

“This allows me to remain focused on the cyclone recovery and addressing the cost of living pressures affecting New Zealanders,” he said.

Hipkins became prime minister at the end of January when Ardern stood down, citing burnout.

She will cease to be the Mt Albert MP ending her 15-year domestic political career. She’ll deliver a valedictory speech on Wednesday .

Hipkins, a close friend of Ardern’s, has reorientated the government towards “bread and butter” issues, slashing several of her policies to focus on economic concerns.

Last month, he teased that Ms Ardern might accept a role with the organisation, as the fourth anniversary of the attacks neared.

“There’s potential for Jacinda Ardern to continue to be involved in that work, and in due course we’ll explore what that might look like,” Hipkins said.

Ardern will report directly to Hipkins in the role, which will be reviewed at year’s end after the election on October 14.

The opposition has indicated they would consider appointing or retaining Ardern in a role serving NZ abroad, given her global standing.

“If there’s work that would allow New Zealand’s interests to be furthered on the world stage … and we were presented with a case that a former prime minister could do that, then we would look favourably on it,” Nicola Willis, deputy leader of the National party, said.

Ardern has also been appointed by Prince William as a trustee of the Earthshot Prize, which aims to find solutions to the world’s biggest environmental challenges.

Prince William was greeted with a hongi, a traditional Maori greeting, by then prime minister Jacinda Ardern in Auckland in 2019.Credit:NZG

She said she felt “very lucky” to work with William, a personal friend, to whom she spoke about Earthshot before it was named.

“I think we can demonstrate to the next generation that there is cause to feel hopeful for our future if we accelerate and support those innovators. That’s what Earthshot does. So I’m really proud to be a part of the board,” she told Newshub.

AAP

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