Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland

E koro ma, e kui ma, nga mihi mahana ki a koutou.  Gentlemen and ladies, warm greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: President Greg Walker, Dr Adrianna Gunder and Mike Milne - tēnā koutou.

Thank you for inviting me to your breakfast meeting here at the Northern Club.  As a former member of the Rotary Club of Wellington, it’s great to be among Rotarians again.  Being the second consecutive member of that club to serve as Governor-General, following Sir Anand Satyanand who was a long-time member, there have been some murmurings as to whether membership is a prerequisite to represent the Queen in New Zealand!

Seriously, however, as I will mark the first anniversary of being appointed as Governor-General I thought I’d talk about “Life at Government House—one year (almost) inside”.  In discussing this topic, and I’ll be happy to take questions at the end, I want to tease out some of the meanings within that heading to show how I believe the role of Governor-General can make a difference in New Zealand.  

Life at Government House has certainly been a change from my previous roles with the Government Communications Security Bureau and the New Zealand Defence Force.  Both of those roles had quite a bit to do with the security of New Zealand, much of which I couldn’t talk about.  Both roles involved the employment of staff, output and outcomes to be met and considerable budgets and accountabilities.  As Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, I employ no staff, and what I do is subject to full public scrutiny.  So from positions where I had significant powers, but limited jurisdiction; I have moved to a role where I have measured powers and almost unlimited jurisdiction!

While Janine and I have kept our own home, and take the opportunity to stay there as often as we can, being Governor-General is one of the few jobs where you literally live where you work. 

And what a wonderful place it is to live and work!  The major strengthening and refurbishment work that was completed at the start of last year, has made it fit for purpose.  The stories previous Governors-General have told me of its quirks—tiles flying off in high winds, discoloured water coming out of the taps and the numerous buckets in the ceiling catching the leaks—reflected an Edwardian building straining to meet the demands of the 20th Century let alone the 21st Century.

And when I say that it’s “fit for purpose,” I’m referring to more than its new foundations and roof and the considerable seismic strengthening of its walls, important as they are.  Government House is more than a place where the Governor-General lives.  It is a place of work for the Governor-General, and the staff who support me.  It is a place where things happen, and it is a place with a purpose.

The “purpose” I see for the House is that it is a place that reflects New Zealand’s character and national dignity.  It is where some of our most significant state occasions occur.  It is where the Governor-General discharges the constitutional duty of appointing the Prime Minister following an election, and the rest of his or her Government.  It is where visiting Heads of State are welcomed to New Zealand and where new Ambassadors present their credentials.  And it is where New Zealanders who have been named in the New Year and Queen’s Birthday honours lists are invested with their awards and where their achievements and contributions are publicly recognised.

And, I believe it is also a place for all New Zealanders.  It is a national treasure, and it contains many taonga that reflect New Zealand’s history and heritage.  More than 10,000 people visit Government House every year, often attending one of numerous events we host to support charities and organisations that hold vice-regal patronage, for example.

In making Government House a place for all New Zealanders, I was very supportive of the Government’s intention to increase visitors to the House.  We now have an initiative to use existing out-buildings on the grounds to establish a visitor’s centre which will also mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  The centre, to be opened at the end of the year, will form a gateway that educates about the role of the Governor-General and the history of Government House.  Just as almost every visiting school group goes to Te Papa Tongarewa, the National War Memorial and Parliament, I believe they should also have the opportunity to visit Government House.  

Reference to the enhanced public accessibility to Government House is a good point to explore the other side of my topic—a year (almost) inside.  The word “inside” is, of course, colloquially used to refer to life in prison. 

Prisons are institutions.  Government House is an institution.  And both are surrounded by fences, but far more people go in and out of our gates than Her Majesty’s Prisons and, thankfully, that is where the similarities end. 
As an aside, Government House in Wellington was once the site of the Mt View Lunatic Asylum.  Indeed, remnants of the Asylum, including a massive brick wall that formed part of what was the “airing courtyard” and is now known as “Convict’s Wall” can still be found on the grounds.  

The word institution, and especially in the context of the asylums of old, carried strong connotations of being trapped and confined.  Cartoonist Tom Scott, for example, published a book a few years ago about his first decade writing about life in Parliament and dubbed it “Ten Years Inside.”  Because of the connotations that go with the word institution, there is often a misconception that Governors-General are equally confined, both within Government House and within the role.  Far from being an incarceration, I find the role to be an amazing and fascinating opportunity to explore.

Turning to the physical sense of “confinement,” while Government House is both a home for me, Janine and our family, and is an important venue for us to meet and recognise New Zealanders, it is not the only place where that occurs. 

The reality is that as Governor-General I spend a considerable amount of the time on the road, in the air and occasionally, on the sea.  So far I’ve completed regional visits to Northland and the Western Bay of Plenty as well undertaking State Visits to Timor-Leste to mark that nation’s 10th anniversary of independence, and to Samoa to participate in its 50th anniversary of independence.  I’ve also visited—courtesy of the Royal New Zealand Navy—the three atolls of Tokelau – at the extremity of our Realm!  And I’ve also travelled to Saudi Arabia to attend the funeral of that nation’s previous Crown Prince; and represented New Zealand at the funeral of King George V of Tonga.

We’re often in Auckland as well, staying at Government House in Mt Eden.  We’ve also spent a considerable amount of time in Christchurch and Canterbury, supporting the people of that city and region as they recover from the tragedies of the last two years.  I had the honour of speaking at both the memorial services to mark the first anniversaries of the Pike River mine disaster and of the February 22 earthquake in Christchurch.

This admittedly brief synopsis is just a fraction of our activities—both inside and out—that gives some sense of the breadth of the activities that we can and do get involved in.

Honing-in on that sense of “confinement” within the Governor-General’s role, the streams to my role—constitutional, ceremonial, international, and community leadership—all present opportunities.

My constitutional powers, while seemingly significant, are, by convention, limited.  It is convention that I act on the advice of democratically-elected Ministers, and with the exception of the power to appoint a Prime Minister, my reserve powers have thankfully never been used in New Zealand. 

And that is as it should be.  I don’t consider that it is my role, as an appointed representative of our Head of State, to be second-guessing the democratically-elected representatives of New Zealanders.  I do have certain “rights” – the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn.  Exercising these rights can result in some delay in the implementation of government decisions, but exercising my reserve powers would indicate the country being in the throes of a major constitutional crisis.

Because my constitutional powers are limited, some might question their relevance at all.  The reserve powers refer to a situation where a Governor-General exercises a power either contrary to, or in the absence of ministerial advice.  The reserve powers are usually considered to include: the power to appoint a PM, to dismiss a PM, to force a dissolution of Parliament and call a new election, to refuse a PM’s request for an election, and to refuse assent to legislation.  As you can imagine, Government House regularly receives letters and emails pleading with me to refuse to sign laws and regulations, launch inquiries and sack ministers or usually, the whole Government.

However, because the Governor-General’s reserve powers have not been used does not mean they do not exist. 
Although my constitutional powers are appropriately constrained, my community leadership role—which makes up 80% of the job—is as wide as I want to make it.  There is no handbook or manual and each holder of the Office has undertaken the community leadership role in their own way.

The Earl of Ranfurly, for example, is remembered for giving us the Ranfurly Shield for the interprovincial rugby championship.  A more significant legacy, however, is his work in reminding New Zealanders of the need to care and support their veterans.  In the aftermath of the Boer War, when some wanted to put up yet another statue of Queen Victoria to mark its conclusion, he lobbied and actively fundraised instead for the construction of what is now Auckland’s Ranfurly Veterans Home and Hospital, and remains a living war memorial and a testament to his foresight.

Likewise, most people know that Lord Bledisloe gave us the Bledisloe Cup, which symbolises rugby rivalry between New Zealand and Australia.  More importantly, his and Lady Elaine’s gift of the Waitangi Estate to all New Zealanders to mark the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi gave us a place to celebrate our national day. 

I’m conscious that I promised to speak for 15 minutes and take questions, so I’ll leave it at those two examples and not venture into a lengthy historical speech!  There are, however, many examples of the contributions New Zealand’s Governors and Governors-General have made to our nation’s sense of identity, its government, constitution and heritage.

I believe the Office of Governor-General can play a key role in promoting what is important to us as New Zealanders—our heritage, virtues and way of life—serving our people in both the good times and the sad times, bringing people together and celebrating excellence.  To that end, the staff at Government House has prepared a strategic framework to guide our decision-making around the invitations we receive, and to be more proactive in working with patronages. Underpinned by key values of being public-spirited, compassionate, accessible and courageous, it points to how the Office can be a valued institution and an efficient and relevant enterprise.

As you can imagine, given my background, I’m very results-focused and am keen to make an active contribution.  That can vary from joining the New Zealand AIDS Foundation for its Red Ribbon street collection in Auckland through to donning work clothes and a builder’s belt and spending an afternoon helping the people from Habitat for Humanity build homes in Christchurch.  Being able to cook them lunch on the BBQ before we started hammering and sawing was just another way of acknowledging their contribution.  Likewise, we had the opportunity to host the Rotary Youth Leadership Award recipients, a programme I understand your club has been a keen supporter of, to a reception at Government House where we had a discussion about leadership and leadership qualities.

That sort of activity contrasts with the sombre, but equally important task of speaking for all New Zealanders at the memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the February 22 earthquake.  It was an opportunity to recognise the on-going grief and pain in the aftermath of tragedy, and to also urge people to look forward to the future.

In conclusion, the many facets of the Governor-General’s role create a whole that is something more than the sum of its individual parts.  From the inside looking out, I’ve found that living—and working—both in and out of Government House offers both challenges and opportunities.  While there are protocols to observe and ceremonies to attend, that does not limit what I might seek to achieve.  As I approach my first anniversary in this role, I am looking forward to exploring those opportunities to make a difference for the better.  And to that end, I’m ever mindful of the Māori proverb: “Kaua e whakaarohia te mahinga engari te otinga”—Think not on the labour, rather reflect on the completion.

Thank you.  Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.