Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO

Governor-General of New Zealand

2006-2011

The Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand was born in Auckland in 1944, attending Richmond Road School and Sacred Heart College.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Auckland in 1970.  Following admission to the Bar later that year, he worked at the Crown Solicitor's Office in Auckland (Meredith Connell) before becoming a partner in the Auckland law firm, Shieff Angland.

In 1982, he was appointed as a District Court Judge with a jury trial warrant, working in Palmerston North and then in a number of Auckland courts. During this time he was involved in the development of judicial orientation and professional education programmes, and served as a Prison Board chairman and on the National Parole Board.  In 1995 he was appointed as a Parliamentary Ombudsman, serving two five-year terms.

He also contributed to the community in a number of fields including as an elected member of the Auckland District Law Society Council and as a member of the Freeman's Bay Community Committee. He was also involved with the administration of rugby league as a member of the Council of New Zealand Rugby League and Secretary of its Rules and Interpretations Board.

He was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal and made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for public services in 2005.  He was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 and a Companion of the Queen's Service Order in 2007.  He was redesignated as a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009. In 2011, he received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the President of India and later that year, he was made a Member of the Royal Order of the Crown by the King of Tonga.

He and wife Susan were married in 1970 and they have three adult children and several grandchildren.