Inner Wheel Club of Howick

To Bev Handisides, President of the Inner Wheel Club of Howick; to Lorna Boyd, wife of Past Rotary International President Bill Boyd and member of the Inner Wheel Club of Howick; to Annabelle Valentine, Immediate Past President Inner Wheel NZ; to Hazel Hunter, District Chairperson; to Presidents of visiting Inner Wheel Clubs; Members of Inner Wheel Clubs and their guests; and to Distinguished Guests; tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa a warm Auckland good evening to you all.

Thank you for inviting me here today to speak to you all about my role in relation to the role of the Governor-General.

To begin, I would like to bring to mind the memory of those who tragically died in Christchurch and to remember those in Canterbury, New Zealand and throughout the world who are grieving and whose lives have been changed forever.

We visited the City five days after the devastating February 22 earthquake and on Monday we visited again, to offer our support to those living in the aftermath of this tragedy.  What we have seen and the plight of some of the people there was shocking.

The work underway in the Emergency Operations Centre in the Christchurch Art Gallery was heartening, though, and we were impressed by the competent and careful work of the USAR teams from New Zealand and around the world.

Our visit yesterday was first to the Disaster Victim Identification team and then to the eastern suburbs.  Important information already known about victims, like dental records, has and is being gathered and matched to the people found.  Care, efficiency and respect are all evident.

In New Brighton and in Aranui we found people working assiduously for the common good distributing food and care sometimes disregarding their own needs.  There is concern for homes but we saw a lot of support in the community between neighbours.  In Bexley the streets are bumpy with areas of silt everywhere, especially where people had shovelled it out from their home onto the grass verge.

There is a feeling that the normal infrastructure of the city has broken down and people have to often fend for themselves and their family and neighbours.

I have included these accounts of our trips there because we all will need to help Christchurch in the months and years ahead.  Organisations like Rotary and Inner Wheel are perfectly set up to help in practical ways.  Our country will need to hold the focus if Christchurch is to recover day by day.

When we were asked to take on this five year term there was much to consider.  There were significant changes to make personally, like the change from living a private life to living a very public life and the loss of spontaneity.

We decided that we should do things together as much as possible.  This approach has worked well for us because we support each other and share in meeting many wonderful New Zealanders.  In reality there are some limitations on the role of the spouse.

The position of the Governor-General is often broken down into three main areas known as the three ‘C s’; constitutional, ceremonial, and community.

Constitutional requirements of the Governor-General are attendance at meetings of the Executive Council every week on a Monday afternoon and working meetings with individual Ministers.  This role, which Anand does, is broadly called constitutional and his legal and ombudsman background has equipped him well for it.

Dame Catherine Tizard described it as the ‘crown and anchor’ and certainly the Governor-General is the Queen’s Representative in New Zealand.  Constitutional things the Queen would otherwise do are open Parliament following a general election, dissolve Parliament at the end of its term, start the electoral process by issuing writs for its conduct, appoint ministers, judges, military officers and diplomats and attend meetings of the Executive Council and assent to legislation.

The second ‘C’ is the ceremonial aspect of the role of Governor-General who is the main player.  Ceremonial occasions can be either here or overseas.  We are almost always somewhere in New Zealand each year for Anzac Day, Armistice Day, Commonwealth Day and Waitangi Day.  Many of the people involved we have now met several times.

Ceremonial events can occur overseas and in 2009, with New Zealand being the host nation for the ANZAC commemorations at Gallipoli, we had the privilege of leading the New Zealand delegation to Turkey.  At the events at each of the battle sites Anand laid wreaths and he gave speeches at Anzac Cove and at Chunuk Bair.  After Gallipoli there was a State Welcome and meetings with the President and Prime Minister.

Pacific visits have included those to the New Zealand territory of Tokelau and the self-governing States of Niue and the Cook Islands.  There have been state visits to the independent countries of Samoa, Tonga, Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea which are all significant to New Zealand.  India, Canada, Australia, Mongolia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam are other countries to which we have made formal visits. 

Foreign heads of state and royalty come to our country regularly as well and the Government Houses in Wellington and Auckland perform an important focus for these visits.  When Government House Wellington formally reopens, these visits will be enhanced by the possibility of accommodating high level visitors as well as spectacular state welcomes.

The reopening will happen in two weeks and many New Zealanders want to see how it has changed.  Both of us are keen to encourage people to see it once it re-opens and the Government House Wellington Open Days will be announced very soon.

The community aspect of the Governor-General role is the one that takes up most of what I do.  It is also the aspect of the role to which I contribute.  We make ourselves available as freely as we can to support significant events in the community and these can occur all over the country - on weekends as well as weekdays and at any time of day.  Each week we are part of a team meeting that decides which events can be fitted in and we connect with many New Zealanders at these events.

Recently we undertook a detailed visit to the Wairarapa region, which spanned four days and included being welcomed to the region by the local Iwi, visits to schools, businesses and community groups.  We think of these visits as ‘taking the pulse’ of a region.  Over the last four and a half years Anand and I have undertaken these detailed visits to almost every region in the country, with the last to cover being the Bay of Plenty region, in the next few months.

The joint approach Anand and I strive for helps to promote the role.  By visiting almost every corner of the country, we have got to know many involved with local bodies, the rural sector, business and groups representing children, sport, and volunteers.

The Government House staff who facilitate everything we do in the name of the Governor-General are our secret weapon.  Planning and reviewing are important.  Household staff support us in personal ways and we have no parking worries or airport hassles.  These things increase the capacity of what we can do.  My efforts are towards extending the role and including areas of the community that cater for children, protection of the environment, women’s interests and volunteers.

Each Governor-General takes on patronages.  I have become patron of some organisations as the Governor-General’s wife, and Anand and I share joint patronage for some organisations.  With advice, a review of patronages was undertaken at the beginning of the term and the number reduced to enable participation.  We make it a priority to support these organisations, sometimes attending or hosting events at Government House.

Through my role I have seen a great deal that is very positive.  We all watch the news and see the down side of things, it has been our privilege to see that our country’s good side overtakes the negatives.  If we could hold up a mirror, the reflection would show a country full of talented and remarkable people, who value community, family, and individuals.

What a privilege it is to be in a role to support the Governor-General who represents you and New Zealand both within our country and overseas.  As it comes to the last busy five months, Anand and I plan to focus on each day and finish well.  On the final night, we’ll pick up our bag and go across the Tasman for a holiday.  It will allow the fine couple, Lieutenant General Mateparae and his wife, Janine, to take up this special role.

Thank you for your interest in what we do.  As Governor-General, Anand plays a part in ensuring a safe, stable government at all times and, as a person of Indian and Pacific background, represents a new aspect of who we are, while being a true New Zealander.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa