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Jacinda Ardern has bid farewell to New Zealand's parliament with a tearful valedictory speech, a call for more diverse leadership, and a plea to keep climate change politics-free.

The departing 42-year-old said she would "happily be known as Neve's mum" as she enters a new phase of her life.

The former NZ prime minister addressed colleagues for the final time on Wednesday, with former prime ministers and luminaries watching from packed public galleries.

Ms Ardern entered parliament aged 28 and when Labour took power under her leadership in 2017, she became the world's youngest female head of government.

"My internal reluctance to lead was matched by a huge sense of responsibility," she said.

Climate change was a constant theme in her most important speeches: her maiden speech, her leadership campaign launch, and in her valedictory.

"Climate change is a crisis. It is upon us. And so one of the very few things I will ask in this house on my departure is that you please take the politics out of climate change," she said.

"There will always be policy differences but beneath that we have what we need to make the progress we must."

NZ's climate change-tackling infrastructure - including the Zero Carbon Act, an independent climate commission and carbon budgets - is among Ms Ardern's signature achievements.

She also gave special thanks to members of the country's Islamic community, who she said humbled her "beyond words" with their stoic response to the Christchurch Mosques terrorism attack.

A number of survivors and widows of the 51 killed in the 2019 attack were given seats for the address.

Ms Ardern spoke ruefully of the rise of misinformation in politics, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So much of the information swirling around was false," she said.

"Seeing the rage that often accompanies these conspiracies, I had to accept that I ... could not single-handedly pull someone out of a rabbit hole.

"But perhaps collectively, we all have a role to play in stopping people falling down in the first place.

"They are answers I will keep looking for."

She will do that with one of two roles she will take up when she resigns her seat on April 15.

Ms Ardern will continue her work countering online extremism as NZ's special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a multilateral partnership between tech companies and nations.

She will also take up a board seat on Prince William's conservation project, the Earthshot Prize.

As she concluded her speech, Ms Ardern described her battle to conceive her daughter Neve, now four, as she began her prime ministership.

"When I ran for parliament in my 20s I remember being afraid that I was choosing a path that meant I wouldn't get to have children," she said.

"I experienced a failed IVF round when I became leader of the Labour Party. I thought that I found myself on a path that I wouldn't be a mother.

"Rather than process that, I campaigned to become prime minister.

"Imagine my surprise when a couple of months later I discovered I was pregnant.

"I leave knowing I was the best mother I could be."

Ms Ardern said she wanted her prime ministership to inspire and be an example to others from non-traditional leadership backgrounds.

"You can be anxious, sensitive, kind and wear your heart on your sleeve. You can be a mother or not. You can be an ex-Mormon or not. You can be a nerd, a crier, or a hugger. You can be all of these things.

"And not only can you be here - you can lead, just like me."

Ms Ardern announced her retirement from politics in January, saying after a summer of soul-searching she "didn't have enough in the tank" to continue on to the election, due on October 14, and beyond.

© AAP 2023

Australia's rental crisis has become even harder for tenants, with new data showing prices rising and more difficulty in finding a place to live.

The latest CoreLogic rental review for the first quarter of the year reveals a 2.5 per cent rise in the cost of rent nationally.

The increases mean renters will on average have to fork out an extra $52 a week, or $2727 a year.

Vacancy rates have fallen to near-record lows, with 1.1 per cent of rental properties available.

The shortage has been driven by a return to pre-pandemic overseas migration levels, coupled with a shortage in rental listings across the country.

The report's author Kaytlin Ezzy said the findings showed renters were facing an even harder time.

"The re-acceleration of Australia's rental market won't be welcome news for those tenants already struggling to find affordable accommodation in our capital cities," she said.

"There's already a chronic undersupply of advertised rental stock in many parts of the country that's translated into record low vacancy rates across most capitals."

Figures have shown the number of national rental listings at under 95,000 properties - 17.3 per cent below levels at the same time last year.

Sydney has overtaken Canberra as the most expensive city to rent in Australia, with a median of $699 per week in the past quarter.

While it had the largest quarterly rise in rent, Melbourne is the country's most affordable city to rent with a median of $526 per week.

Ms Ezzy said it was unlikely there would be any relief for renters in the near future, with high weekly rental prices and low availability set to remain.

"Tenants coming up against affordability constraints have limited opportunities and unlike home owners can't borrow to pay rent," she said.

"It's likely some tenants are now sacrificing the spare room or home office and re-forming share houses that disbanded throughout COVID in order to share the rental burden.

"Those who have the financial means to pull together a deposit might be taking the plunge into home ownership sooner while others are locking in longer leases, rather than brave the hunt for a new rental."

Meanwhile, a new report by PropTrack found median rents had gone up nationally by more than 11 per cent in the past year.

It's been the fastest growth in rental prices since before the pandemic.

The report found every major market recorded rental price rises in the past quarter, except the ACT and regional SA.

© AAP 2023

The man who has admitted abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family's West Australian campsite is set to finally learn his fate.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, pleaded guilty last year to one count of forcibly taking a child under 16.

He will be sentenced in the WA District Court on Wednesday and could face up to 20 years' imprisonment.

Cleo was reported missing on October 16, 2021. She had been staying with her family at the remote Blowholes campsite, about 960km north of Perth.

Her mother Ellie Smith awoke in the early morning to find Cleo missing from the family tent, sparking a major police investigation.

The WA government announced a $1 million reward for information leading to Cleo's location or to the arrest and conviction of people involved in her disappearance.

Cleo was found by police on November 3 alone in a room at a property in nearby Carnarvon, 18 days after she was reported missing.

The dramatic rescue and Cleo's confirmation of her name was captured by an officer's body-worn camera and subsequently made news headlines around the world.

Kelly was taken into custody on the same day and later charged.

Earlier this year, he was fined after admitting to obstructing police officers at a regional station in the aftermath of his arrest.

© AAP 2023