Judiciary dinner

Welcome

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: Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice and members of the Supreme Court; Justice Mark O’Regan, President and members of the Court of Appeal; Justice Helen Winkelmann, Chief Judge of the High Court and members of the High Court; Judge Graeme Colgan, Chief Judge of the Employment Court; Judges of the District Court, particularly Judge Russell Johnson, Chief District Court Judge; Judge Peter Boshier, Principal Family Court Judge; Judge Andrew Becroft, Principal Youth Court Judge most of you with partners and spouses; Judges otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen. 

It is with great pleasure that my wife Susan and I welcome all 86 of you to Government House in Wellington for this dinner in honour of New Zealand’s judiciary.  In a moment I will take my place and our meal will begin.  At the conclusion of the main course I will offer a toast to the judiciary.  The Chief Justice has graciously agreed to respond to this.  At the conclusion of dessert, I will offer the loyal toast.  We will then retire to the Blundell Room for tea and coffee and at that point, before you retire, things will be opened for you to enjoy the ambience of the newly restored Government House, now on day five of its new official life.  I hope you enjoy your company and, not least, the quirky element of your table naming.  There was the suitable coincidence of 11 tables and there having been 11 former Chief Justices of New Zealand of which to take advantage!

After dinner:

Since this House opened 101 years ago when Lord John and Lady Anne Islington became its first official residents, Government House has often hosted members of the judiciary to dinner.

In the time Susan and I have been here and as erstwhile and some might say recidivist members of the legal community, we have hosted a number of events for members of various courts or members of the legal fraternity.  Those events have included a dinner for members of the Court of Appeal on the 50th anniversary of that court in February 2008, a dinner for Crown Solicitors here in May 2008 and another for Heads of Bench at Government House Vogel in August last year.  Susan has also hosted luncheons for the spouses of Judges both in Auckland and Wellington.

As you will be aware, last week we had the pleasure of officially opening the House at the completion of a Conservation Project that lasted more than two years. As a result we were decanted for a period to Government House Auckland, Government House Vogel or other locations around New Zealand.

Having lived and worked here for two years before its closure, it was both comfortable and elegant.  Beneath the surface, however, the House creaked with age, both literally and figuratively!  Stories of flying tiles, a leaking roof and groaning pipes are legion.

On the surface you will notice much that has changed.  In the Liverpool Sitting Room and the Norrie State Dining Room, for example, years of paint have been carefully and methodically stripped from the rimu panelling to reveal its former and original glory.

While removing the bulk of paint was quickly achieved, as you can imagine it took many weeks of fine detailing to remove the paint that had worked its way into the grain and the various nooks and crannies.  The result, however, is stunning and a tribute to all involved in the workmanship.

In the Dining Room, the carpet is a replica of the original 1910 flooring.  When the Norrie Collection of art returns from an exhibition tour in less than two weeks’ time, it and this room, which is missing its portraits of Their Majesties Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria, will be complete.

In essence, Government House beats with a new and stronger heart.  We can all see the new paint and fabrics, but the steel frames that run through the walls are hidden, as is the massive service trench running the length of the House, providing a conduit for the new electrical, gas, plumbing, ventilation and communication systems.  Additionally, there is much needed seismic strength.

We can all see that there is a new roof.  What is mind boggling are the numbers involved.  Who would have thought the roof has about 200,000 new tiles affixed with some 400,000 nails and 40,000 metres of battens and counter battens?

But these are but numbers and details.  This House is about people and a place where important State business is conducted.  Most importantly it is where New Zealand is presented at its best to visiting Heads of State and other dignitaries; and where New Zealanders come for investitures and awards.  The best is provided, be that in the elegant surroundings, the high standards of service or the quality of the New Zealand food and beverages on offer.

Government House is also about history and heritage.  The House has evolved and changed in tandem with the role of Governor-General.  In 1911, when Lord John Islington, lived here, he was a quintessential Edwardian Governor, who represented the interests of the Sovereign and the British Government. 

With New Zealand’s adoption of the Statute of Westminster, the vice-regal role formally changed to being solely the Sovereign’s representative.  From the agent of a once global empire, the Governor-General of the 21st Century is a New Zealander who represents the Head of State in New Zealand, and New Zealand to the rest of the world.

As an aside, in 2008, Susan and I had the pleasure of meeting Lord Islington’s elderly grandson, Lord Altrincham, when he was visiting New Zealand.  He recalled how his mother, who was a teenager when her father was Governor, told him how much she enjoyed running the length of the hallways in Government House.  In that, it seems that Government House has not changed, in that our grandchildren have now adopted a fond regard for a similar practice!

In 1911, when Lord Islington was in the middle of his short-term as Governor, the world was quite different.  Looking back to that time, one sees much that was different, and many issues now resolved which were at a nascent stage.

1911 was the time when the first International Women’s Day was marked, when Sun Yat-Sen became the first President of China, when Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole and New Zealander Ernest Rutherford first deduced the existence of a compact atomic nucleus.  While these events and discoveries seem distant, their ramifications continue to resonate through our world, in geopolitics, science and nuclear physics, and social change. 

Even skipping forward 50 years to 1951 one touches on events that seemed distant, and others that have remained with us.  Fifty years ago New Zealand was gripped by great social and political upheaval with the prolonged waterfront dispute and the proclamation of a state of emergency.  The formal establishment of New Zealand’s Court of Appeal with its own President and permanent membership, was still seven years away.

It was also the time of the Korean War and the year that the United Nations headquarters in New York opened.  The Korean War, of course, as events last year amply displayed has never formally ended. Indeed, one of our former Aides-de-Camp, Captain Ian Auld RNZIR, has recently served with the UN Command Military Armistice Commission in Korea.

As an aside, 1951 was also when the first commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, which weighed 13 tonnes, was sold to the United States Census Bureau.  Given we now carry computers in our pocket that weigh a few grams, we can all be pleased that the 1949 prediction by Popular Mechanics that the computers of the future would weigh no more than 1.5 tons has not come to pass!

Seriously, however, Susan and I have repeatedly been asked by the media if we felt we had in some way been “cheated” by not being resident here in Government House for the past 30 months.  While we are naturally pleased to be back for the last few months of our term, we never took on the role to live in this House, elegant and smart though it now is. 

We agreed to undertake this role because we considered that we could be of service to New Zealand.  The closure of this House has not only seen Government House Auckland deservedly pressed into greater service, but it has also given us an unrivalled opportunity to take the Governor-General role out to the community, for example, by undertaking investitures throughout the country.

As one who served as a Judge for 12 years and an Ombudsman for ten years, I believe the concept of service to the community and to the values and principles of the law is what drives those who serve in New Zealand’s courts. 

Those principles, and particularly the rule of law and the protection of the rights and liberties of citizens, have a long ancestry that predates New Zealand’s establishment as a modern nation with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

The primacy of the rule of law, and the pivotal role of an impartial and independent judiciary in defending the rights of the individual against the views of the majority, was well made by Lord John Steyn in the 2002 Robin Cooke Lecture when he said:

“Only such a judiciary acting in accordance with principles of institutional integrity, and aided by a free and courageous legal profession, practising and academic, can carry out this task, notably in the field of fundamental rights and freedoms. Only such a judiciary has democratic legitimacy. The judiciary owes allegiance to nothing except the constitutional duty of reaching through reasoned debate the best attainable judgments in accordance with justice and law. This is their role in the democratic governance of our countries. At the root of it is the struggle by fallible judges with imperfect insights for government under law and not under men and women.”

This then is the toast and challenge to New Zealand’s judiciary, to continue, without fear or favour, affection or ill will, to dispense justice according to law for all.   Will you join me please I a toast to “The advancement of the Judiciary”.

And on that note, I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.