ID card and lanyard

item details

NameID card and lanyard

ProductionPermanent Mission to the United Nations; manufacturer; 28 Sept 2018; United States

Classificationlanyards

Materialsplastic, ink, metal, synthetic fibre

DimensionsPart: 68mm (width), 104mm (height)

Registration NumberGH026649

Credit lineGift of the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern, 2023

Overview

When New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the United Nations on 28 September 2018, her young baby daughter Neve Te Aroha Gayford and partner Clarke Gayford were there to support her. She was the first world leader to attend the UN general assembly meeting with a baby. Neve’s attendance caused huge excitement amongst attendees and world press.

UN security didn’t require Neve to have her own ID card, so staff at New Zealand's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, thought it would be fun to make her a fake ID as ‘New Zealand First Baby’.

In Neve’s ID photo, she is wearing a tiny green beanie which she wore when she was first introduced to the world (the beanie is also in Te Papa’s collection).

Ardern’s pregnancy and Neve’s birth were ground-breaking moments in New Zealand and international politics: Ardern was only the second Prime Minister internationally to give birth while in office.