Speech
Northern Club farewell
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: Simon Moore QC, Immediate Past President of the Northern Club; My predecessor as Governor-General, Hon Dame Catherine Tizard; Judge of the Court of Appeal, Hon Justice Lyn Stevens; Distinguished Guests otherwise, particularly Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting Susan and me to this dinner here at the Northern Club to mark the completion of our tenure in Government House. It is a pleasure to see so many friends and familiar faces.
There are first some personal as well as corporate associations to be registered with this fine Club and this fine room.
As a young lawyer junioring for the late Lloyd Brown QC it is wonderful to recall him saying when warranted, “We have done well Satyanand. Well enough to have lunch at the Northern Club!” That is a practice of which I have not tired in the subsequent years.
For corporate association between the office of Governor-General and the Northern Club, there is a lovely phrase in Dr Gavin McLean’s book, The Governors, that goes on page 153, referring to the Royal tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in 1901 as follows:
“The Royal Party was too big for either Government House so required alternative accommodation. Unfortunately, Auckland’s Grand Hotel burned down just days before the Royals’ arrival obliging Ranfurly to move them and their immediate party to the Northern Club.”
We have, of course, attended a number of events since taking on the Governor-General role in August 2006.
A unique association with here for Susan and I commenced in 1995 when I was appointed as an Ombudsman based in Wellington and the need for somewhere to stay when visiting Auckland, regularly arose. We did this many times on Fridays and Saturdays and the special attention of staff members Nigel, Laki and John, and Jerry and Anita has made us feel very warmly towards the Club which, between us, we call “The Nub”. We have enjoyed a great many special breakfasts in the Blue Room upstairs, especially with people from overseas, and have enjoyed many interesting conversations as well as providing instruction to many visitors as to how to use the idiosyncratic toaster.
We are now 25 days away from the end of time in the Governor-General role and, thereafter, our successors Sir Jerry and Lady Janine Mateparae will take up the reins. I am confident they will fulfil the role well, bringing their own particular interests and background to the constantly evolving nature of the Office of Governor-General.
Given that the Northern Club is one of New Zealand’s older institutions with a history that stretches back to 1869, 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, in my farewell address, 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. We had a very pleasant dinner in that corner with Dame Cath. Sir Michael Hardie Boys advised against ever calling out to people in public, particularly if their name might be “Neil”, in case everyone else within earshot began 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.
The preliminary considerations also led to us making a number of core 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, or into hospital briefly with a chest infection, 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, it was reviewed on an annual basis. In a practical sense it led to things like travelling to a city, town or region for a particular engagement involving, say, sport inquiries would also be made to add a school, government or business activity to that wherever possible.
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 regulations, proclamations or orders presented by Ministers of the Crown are signed after discussion. More than the formal transaction of regulations, Executive Council provides an opportunity to interact with Ministers. Those opportunities have always been cordial and good humoured, unlike the experiences of predecessor Sir Arthur Gordon, who was Governor in the early 1880s. He once wrote, reflecting a time when Council meetings were held at Government House:
“Proceedings do not occupy more than ten minutes [and] after the Council, the Premier frequently (but not always), comes to my room, for five minutes, and asks me, (in a way which always irresistibly reminds me of the Lieutenant of the Tower asking a state prisoner whether he can in any way oblige him), whether there is anything I want done in the house, or garden.”
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. 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 Governor-General time, however, is spent under the ceremonial and community headings. Among the most intensive and fulfilling ceremonial periods are the investiture ceremonies. This week and next, we will be holding our last investitures in Auckland followed by those in Wellington. 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, 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 my GP. His note read, “You’ve started off well but it seems you may need some 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 seen, in the last two years, 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, have each 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.
When we in Belgium for the Passchendaele commemorations, I distinctly recall during a moment of official silence, hearing an owl hoot. It is often at times like that when we have turned to each other and pinched the top of our hands. To serve in the Governor-General role is not only an honour and a privilege, but also very special.
Travel forms 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, Finland, Brunei Darussalam, 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. But it is also 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. Sometimes, however, it takes an outsider to remind us of those qualities. The point was well made by Time magazine in 2003. The magazine noted:
“New Zealand is in the vanguard of a dynamic world—its human diversity, open spaces, wit, flexibility and sheer tenacity take a rugged isolated country and position it on the cutting edge of adventure, knowledge and creativity.”
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.