Jacinda Ardern has revisited one of the "cringe" moments in her early political career when she was mistaken as the secretary of an MP and asked to prepare tea.
The Prime Minister said it happened during her first year as a Member of Parliament, in 2008, when she became a list MP for Labour, a decade before she gained the Mt Albert seat in 2017.
"I remember once going to an event alongside a group of colleagues who, it would be fair to say, had been in the profession a lot longer than I had," Ardern told the Power of Inclusion Summit in Auckland.
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"I'd not long walked into this large meeting room and stood amongst the other MPs, when the meeting organiser came over and asked me how my male colleagues had their tea, and whether or not I could help prepare it."
Ardern said despite being a "hands-on type of person", she said she "didn't really bat an eyelid" at the time, and just "went into the kitchen" and started helping to prepare the tea.
"I'd not long been in there when they asked me how long I'd been the secretary for MP Phil Goff... I realised that I was there for another reason," the Prime Minister said.
Goff, the current Mayor of Auckland, was once an MP for Labour from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016, and also served as the party's leader for a time.
Ardern described the memory as "cringe", revisiting it at the event which centred on fair representation in the screen, film and technology industries.
"It's fair to say that is one of my tamer anecdotes and the one that actually makes me cringe the least of all the ones that I have," Ardern said. "I'll save the rest for another time."
Ardern, the minister responsible for the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage, also said in her speech that women still face discrimination in the film industry.
"[We share] a passion for trying to create change through storytelling, particularly in male-dominated professions, and breaking stereotypes," said told the crowd.
"Our world is diverse and it needs to be represented in television. This includes ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and sexual orientation."
The Prime Minister joined other high-profile speakers including Kath & Kim actress and activist Magda Szubanski, who spoke about marriage equality, a topic she has strongly advocated for.
Szubanski also paid tribute to Ardern's response to the Christchurch terror attack. The pair met at the event, with Szubanski describing the Prime Minister as "lovely" and "down to earth".
Academy Award-winning actress and activist Geena Davis also spoke at the event, calling out Hollywood over what she described as its continued lack of inclusivity and diversity.
"I'm waiting for this great change to happen, and well... it hasn't happened yet."
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