Speech
Wellington Club farewell dinner
I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign)
I then specifically greet you: Ian Fraser, President of the Wellington Club and your wife Jocelyn; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting Susan and me to this Wellington Club Dinner marking the completion, in 55 days’ time, of our tenure in Government House. It is a pleasure to see so many friends and familiar faces.
We have, of course, attended numerous events here at the Wellington Club since taking on the Governor-General role in August 2006 - and we, in fact, stayed here for a time after our decantation from Government House for the conservation project and before Vogel House was ready. The Club connection in my case goes back well before that time, though, because of membership. This room, was very much a place of regular resort when I undertook office as an Ombudsman in the building next door for the 10 years beginning 1995. Days like today are a good reminder of two things – first, my colleague Sir Brian Elwood and I saying how good it was to be able to reach the Wellington Club without getting the head wet and secondly, a long standing friendship which I have that has caused lunches to be enjoyed on days when there are storms and rain because we call each other “foul weather friends”!
I now have the task of speaking and looking back at the time in the Governor-General role and being conscious of covering different ground to that in other farewell speeches, including one given in this room!
Given that the Wellington Club is one of New Zealand’s older institutions, I am much aware of the many leading business and professional people who have in its life made up its membership. I therefore thought it might be interesting to provide, what in management terms might be described as, a description of the “business approach” that was, at least by the present incumbent, employed during the term towards the duties.
It can be said firmly that the Governor-General role is like no other professional role. In most professional circumstances, when faced with a major decision, one usually gathers information and takes advice. However, because of confidentiality surrounding many matters, the taking of advice is of necessity limited. While much has been written about the role, every incumbent has, with encouragement, delivered its essential elements in their own way, building on the work of predecessors, while adapting it to changing circumstances.
After the announcement of Governor-Generalship was made public in April 2006, Susan and I were also able to receive invaluable advice from former Governors-General. Sir Michael Hardie Boys, for example, with whom I had worked in my judicial education programme days, advised against calling out to people in public, particularly if their name might be “Neil”, in case everyone else within earshot ended up unexpectedly genuflecting!
These preliminary discussions made it clear that with every new Governor-General, there comes a flurry of interest and that one could easily become overwhelmed by the number of invitations coming to Government House. While we have settled on undertaking some 400 engagements every year, for every request that is agreed to, there are a great many others that are declined and the initial briefings, to which I have referred, made a point about some management being very necessary.
The preliminary considerations also led to us making a number of strategic decisions, for example, the need for management and the need for a concerted approach.
An early decision was that, wherever possible, Susan and I would undertake the role together. In my previous careers, particularly as an Ombudsman, there had had to be a clear separation between working life and home life. It was therefore a great change (and a positive one) for Susan to be with me throughout what became a very public journey. Susan’s role, however, has been much more than being some form of congenial accompaniment. While the constitutional duties have had to be my responsibility alone, Susan has been invaluable in supporting the ceremonial and community leadership aspects. She has extended the reach of the role by taking on patronages in her own right, with an emphasis on matters related to children, volunteering and the environment and when I had to retire to the side-line with my foot in a cast with a broken ankle, she slipped into a complete replacement role, without difficulty.
I was also conscious that it would be difficult to maintain momentum with hundreds of events if one was merely arriving, voicing encouragement, enjoying a cup of tea and leaving. From the outset, I came to a view that I should promote three key themes –first, urging New Zealanders to address the challenges and embrace the opportunities in our country’s cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. The second was to urge everyone to be more engaged with their communities and the final to promote the benefits of acquiring civics knowledge.
Having these three “planks” of diversity, engagement and civics has ensured that whenever I have spoken in public, such as to a school, or sporting or community group, I have been able to attempt some contribution of substance. To reinforce this, whenever delivering something formal, it has been published on the Internet the next day on the Government House website. Maintaining this discipline has helped avoid any temptation either to “turn the handle” or to “wing it”.
This led to a final decision, which was to develop a Strategic Plan. The framework of this was designed to support the functions of the Office in a way relevant to contemporary New Zealand, and which enabled myself or Susan to express our values and priorities. It also set out major programme priorities, events, themes and initiatives and once in place was reviewed on an annual basis. In other words, if travelling to City A for a particular engagement involving, say, sport, inquiry would then be made to add a school, government or business activity to that.
The framework placed into stark contrast some of the constraints on the time available. While there might be 52 weeks in a year, once immovable items are taken into account, as well as factoring in some manner of regular rest and the Christmas-New Year closedown, the scope narrows more than somewhat.
Of the Governor-General’s three roles—constitutional, ceremonial and community leadership—the immovable items tend, by and large, to fall under the first two headings – ceremonial and constitutional.
The constitutional heading includes providing assent to legislation passed by Parliament and weekly attendance on Mondays at the Executive Council where I sign regulations, proclamations or orders presented by Ministers of the Crown. More than the formal transaction of regulations, Executive Council provides an opportunity to interact with Ministers. As I am no longer a smoker I am not at all sure whether Sir Denis Blundell’s “one cigarette rule” would apply. After formal business, Sir Denis, who was Governor-General from 1972 to 1977, said he would question ministers for as long as it took to smoke a cigarette!
I have lost count of the number of laws and regulations I have been asked to consider and sign since giving assent to the Coroner’s Act in August 2006. Even so, I have maintained a practice of briefly scanning and checking each in advance and, if necessary, asking questions and seeking clarification. My approach has been to understand the law or regulation sufficiently as to be able to explain to a 13-year-old what I may have assented to and signed.
Most of Governor-General time, however, is spent under the ceremonial and community headings. Among the most intensive and fulfilling ceremonial periods are the investiture ceremonies. In 29 days’ time, we will be holding our last investitures. These bring together people from all sections of society. This time, the name of people such as educator Sir John Graham, businessman Sir Graeme Harrison, judge Sir Grant Hammond and philanthropist Dame Rosie Horton may be well known to many here. Less well known, but equally deserving, are the nearly 200 people who have made major contributions to their communities through a lifetime of service.
One sees people in all sorts of emotions at investitures—happy and tense, sad and excited. An incident that sticks in my mind was the investiture of a 96-year-old Christchurch man named Percy Lee in 2008. The sprightly and remarkably short Mr Lee walked up to receive his QSM, but before I could put out my hand to greet him, he raised his arms in the air, exclaimed "Oh Governor-General!" and excitedly gave me a big hug, much to the amusement of everyone present.
The reintroduction of titular honours in 2009 required some training on the practice of “dubbing”. To date, I have avoided nicking anyone’s ear, although I vividly recall redesignating Colin Meads as a knight at Old St Paul’s. The shortly to be Sir “Pinetree” strode forward but instead of gently kneeling on the stool, he dropped his right knee with some force at the right-hand end. The stool rocked upwards and, just as I thought he was going to land on the floor, he pushed down on the handle on the left-side, causing it to hit the floor with a thud that could be heard throughout Old St Paul’s – again, more than somewhat to the amusement of all present!
Bringing back Knighthoods reminds me of one of the worst three memories of my time. I had been addressing the Royal College of General Practitioners Australasian Conference in the Sky City auditorium in Auckland, bathed in bright light in a dark room when I became conscious of someone in the audience thrusting up a piece of paper towards me. To my surprise, the person was a member of this Club and my GP. His note read, “You’ve started off well but it seems you may need frontal trouser adjustment! PS I expect the Order of the Garter for this!” Knighthoods have been returned and the Order of the Garter may take a little time yet!
Another key time in the Governor-General’s ceremonial activities is Waitangi Day. While it is a “day off” in the life of most people, for us it usually includes a number of community events in the two or three days before. These include going on the Te Tii Marae which I have been happy to do five times, going to local schools and seeing relevant activity in the community related to government organisations or just generally. The Bledisloe Reception, which we host at Waitangi on February 5, has, in the last two years, seen the Diplomatic Corps return to the Treaty grounds after many years absence. We have been interested to note how many more New Zealanders are celebrating it as our national day.
ANZAC Day, and other commemorative events to mark those who have served and died in the defence of our country, each have been special moments. Representing New Zealand at Gallipoli in 2009, and at the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele in 2007, were particularly moving.
Gallipoli was a time of contrasts. Against the solemnity of the service was meeting a great many young New Zealanders who had travelled around the world to be there to mark a special time in our nation’s history. Passchendaele was equally poignant. While Gallipoli was seen as a tragedy, many people do not necessarily realise that more New Zealanders died on the Western Front.
Travels form part of a relatively new aspect of the Governor-General role. In past decades, Governors-General were usually limited to travels to the New Zealand territories in the Pacific. In the last period, at the request of Government of the day, they have increasingly travelled more widely, representing New Zealand interests abroad. We have undertaken visits to Singapore, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia, while those to Mongolia, Canada and India marked the first time that a New Zealand Governor-General had ever visited. We also attended the openings of Olympic Games in Beijing and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
As you could imagine, visiting India was special for many reasons. To return to the land that my grandparents had left more than a century ago as representative of the Head of State was very special and a forceful reminder of how New Zealand is a nation where anyone, regardless of their background, can achieve if they are prepared to work and contribute.
Another particularly special moment was visiting the United Nations in 2008 to receive the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award for New Zealand’s initiatives in this area. The international audience was, in more than one sense, blown away by the sound and spectacle as we entered the ECOSCO Chamber led in by a Māori Kapa Haka group. By way of contrast, while visiting the Mongolian People’s Republic was fascinating, I think in future that I will find a way of avoiding drinking fermented mare’s milk if it is ever offered to me as a beverage again!
It is not just in other countries that one is occasionally called upon to eat unusual cuisine. In the community role in New Zealand there have also been some hair-raising moments. At the opening of the 2009 Wildfoods Festival, for example, particular stall holders seemed reluctant to tell me what the “prairie oysters” being offered might be. My choice was limited because the encounter was being filmed on television. Eventually someone said:- “They’re the lamb’s bits, Sir – but made according to the Catholic Women’s League recipe!”
One of the highlights of this term has been the opportunities to travel widely throughout New Zealand. The 30 month closure of Government House for a major conservation project gave Susan and I an unparalleled opportunity to take the role to New Zealand. We have undertaken investiture ceremonies in Christchurch and Dunedin and through the efforts of the Navy, and the Department of Conservation, we have seen some of the most remote parts of the country, such as the sub-Antarctic islands Campbell and Auckland. With the exception of the Kermadecs and the Ross Dependency, there seems to be no part of New Zealand that we have not visited.
As we all know, the last 18 months have seen many tragedies visited upon New Zealand, most notably the Christchurch and Canterbury earthquakes, the West Coast mine disaster and the loss of several members of the New Zealand Defence Force. However, our travels, which have included the Christchurch and West Coast memorial services and attendances at several military funerals, have not dented our belief in New Zealand’s future.
New Zealand has been tested before and has rebounded to be a stronger nation. These events, however, have reinforced just how much our country is one big extended family with a set of shared values. Qualities such as tolerance, good-hearted concern for others and a practical can-do attitude, provide optimism for our prospects. This kind of point was well made by New Zealand journalist and author, Helen Brown, who recently wrote:
“From an outsider’s perspective, New Zealand seems to be poised on a creative vortex, where ordinary people are quietly inspired to produce things of unique style and beauty. I’m not sure why it happens. Maybe it’s to do with the clarity of vision that springs from isolation; a small population and plenty of space enabling people to have a crack at anything; the proximity of the sea and exquisite landscapes; the influence of Polynesian culture. And I guess a teaspoon of self-criticism comes in handy.”
Thus, ladies and gentlemen, acknowledging your kind attention, on a note that celebrates much that makes our country special, I will close in New Zealand’s first language, offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.