Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has relocated to Australia, with a spokesperson confirming the move on behalf of the 45-year-old and her husband, television presenter Clarke Gayford.
"The family has been travelling for a few years now," the spokesperson said. "For the moment they're basing themselves out of Australia. They have work there and it brings the added bonus of more time back home in New Zealand."
The spokesperson declined to detail the nature of the work or confirm how long the family intends to remain in the country.
Media reports indicate that Ardern, Gayford, and their daughter Neve have been seen inspecting properties on Sydney's Northern Beaches, specifically in the beachside suburbs of Curl Curl and Freshwater.
Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand in 2017, leading the New Zealand Parliament through a period that included the Christchurch mosque attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Whakaari White Island eruption. She resigned in January 2023, telling reporters she no longer had "enough in the tank" to continue in the role.
Since leaving office, Ardern has maintained a prominent international profile. She held dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School in the United States and was appointed a trustee of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, an environmental award programme, in the same year.
In June last year she published her memoir, A Different Kind of Power, which drew on her experiences as one of the world's youngest female heads of government.
The move to Australia places Ardern within the broader trans-Tasman community, where New Zealand citizens hold the right to live and work under longstanding reciprocal arrangements. The Department of Home Affairs administers the Special Category Visa that allows New Zealand citizens to reside in Australia indefinitely, a right that has occasionally generated political debate on questions of reciprocity and welfare access.
Ardern's decision to settle, at least temporarily, in Sydney reflects a pattern common among high-profile figures from both sides of the Tasman: the two countries share deep cultural and professional ties, and movement between them for work is routine. Whether her presence here signals any formal role in Australian public life remains to be seen. For now, her spokesperson says simply that the work is there, and so is the family.