Anand Satyanand

The Right Honourable
Sir Anand Satyanand
GNZM QSO KStJ
19th Governor-General of New Zealand
In office
23 August 2006 – 23 August 2011
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Helen Clark
John Key
Preceded by Silvia Cartwright
Succeeded by Jerry Mateparae
Personal details
Born (1944-07-22) 22 July 1944
Auckland, New Zealand
Spouse(s) Susan Sharpe, QSO
Alma mater University of Auckland
Profession Lawyer
Judge
Ombudsman
Religion Roman Catholicism[1]

Sir Anand Satyanand GNZM QSO KStJ (born 22 July 1944) is a former lawyer, judge and ombudsman. He was the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand. He is now Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation.[2]

Early life and family

Satyanand putting flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown warrior, April 2011

Satyanand was born and raised in Auckland to an Indo-Fijian family in 1944. His grandparents arrived in Fiji from India in 1911, and were married on Nukulau Island. His father, Mutyala Satyanand OBE, a medical doctor, was born in Sigatoka in 1913 and arrived in New Zealand in 1927 to attend high school.[3] His mother Tara Tillak was a nurse from Suva. She married his father after moving to New Zealand.

Satyanand attended Sacred Heart College in Auckland, and then moved to Dunedin to take a medical intermediate course at the University of Otago.[4] He was not successful in gaining entry to the medical school and later said "...in reality I did not do well enough ... (but)... Looking back over that year, I remembered that one of the things I had really enjoyed was the debating and forum meetings involving students."[5] So instead he took up law, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Auckland in 1970. He worked as a lawyer for the next 12 years, initially for Greig, Bourke and Kettelwell. Later he worked as a barrister for the Crown Law Office. He served on the Council of the Auckland District Law Society from 1979 until his appointment as a judge of the District Court of New Zealand in 1982.

During the 1975 general election Satyanand and his wife helped David Lange in his first, unsuccessful attempt at election. Later, when Satyanand was a law student, he helped Clive Edwards (later Tongan deputy prime minister) when he stood in Auckland Central for National.[6]

In 1995 he was appointed an ombudsman and he served two five-year terms. Between 2005 and his appointment as Governor-General he chaired the Confidential Forum for Former In-Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals.

Satyanand married Susan Sharpe in Auckland in 1970. She was born in Sydney, Australia in 1947 and moved to New Zealand with her family in 1955. He and his wife have three adult children.[7] Satyanand's daughter Anya is an advocate of gay marriage, being in a civil union with her partner Ange.[8] In 2002, Satyanand and his wife were involved in a serious car accident in Dome Valley north of Warkworth, Northland. An oncoming car crossed the centre line and crashed head-on into their car. The accident resulted in serious spinal injury to Satyanand, he broke his C2 and C3 vertebrae. He had to wear a halo traction to keep his head straight.[9]

As well as English, Satyanand also speaks Fijian, Hindi and Māori.

Governor-General of New Zealand

In 2006, Satyanand was appointed Governor-General of New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Helen Clark.[10] He replaced Dame Silvia Cartwright as Governor-General on 23 August 2006.[11] His appointment was welcomed by every Parliamentary party leader.[12] He was the first Governor-General of Indian descent and the first Roman Catholic Governor-General.[1]

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior of the Order of St John, received Satyanand as Governor-General designate on 7 July 2006 and invested him as a Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ).[13]

In May 2007 changes were made to the Queen's Service Order. Under the previous Royal Warrant, the Governor-General was ex-officio Principal Companion of the Order but was not a member of the Order. The Royal Warrant now provides for the appointment of the Governor-General as a Companion of the Order in his or her own right.[14][15][16]

The first bill to which he granted Royal Assent was the Coroners Bill.

Starting on New Year's Day 2009, Satyanand issued a "New Year's Message" intended "to bring to attention a number of issues New Zealanders might consider as they looked to the future".[17]

Satyanand was the first Governor-General not to hold a knighthood before entering office (Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Governor of New Zealand 1855–1861, was knighted in office). However, following the changes to the New Zealand honours system announced by Prime Minister John Key on 8 March 2009,[18] the Queen approved Satyanand's redesignation from a Principal Companion in the New Zealand Order of Merit (PCNZM) to a Knight Grand Companion of that Order (GNZM) on 27 March 2009.[19][19][20][21][22]

On assuming the role of Governor-General he received the style The Honourable for life; in 2010, he was advanced to the style of The Right Honourable. This style was accorded for life to all future Governors-General, Prime Ministers, Chief Justices, and Speakers of Parliament.[23]

Satyanand completed his term of office as Governor-General on 23 August 2011[24]

Finances

The New Zealand Government pays for the costs associated with the Queen's representative, the Governor-General, in their exercising of the powers of the Crown on behalf of the Queen, including travel, security, residences, offices, ceremonial occasions. In the 2010 Budget, the total cost of supporting the Governor-General was $3,591,000 for Support Services and Maintenance of the residences, $1,710,000 for Depreciation Expenses on Government Houses, $1,279,000 Remuneration and Travel and an estimated $1,680,000 for Policy Advice and Co-ordination; a total of $7,610,000. And $11 million on capital investment in Government House, Wellington, principally used for its conservation, a total of over $18 million.[25]

Fijian coup talks

On 30 November 2006 Satyanand hosted a meeting between the Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase and Fiji's military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama at Government House in Wellington in an attempt to resolve the escalating crisis in Fiji. Although he hosted the meeting, he did not take part in the discussions, which were chaired by New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters.[26] This was the last serious effort by the international community to avert a military coup, which followed on 5 December.

Public transport in Auckland

At the opening of the new New Lynn Train Station on 25 September 2010, Satyanand stated heavy investment in motorways and the decline of public transport after trams were taken off the roads in the 1950s had led to severe congestion to the detriment of both individuals and the economy.[27]

Paul Henry controversy

On 5 October 2010 TVNZ Breakfast show host Paul Henry questioned whether Sir Anand was "even a New Zealander". He then repeated the question, saying of Sir Anand's replacement "Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time ... are we going to go for someone who is more like a New Zealander this time?"[28][29] Henry attracted criticism from both sides of politics and New Zealand's race relations commissioner Joris de Bres. Henry later apologised,[28][30] was suspended, and then resigned from TVNZ.[31]

Styles and honours

References

  1. 1 2 "Queen approves Catholic for new Kiwi GG". Catholic News. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
  2. ↑ "Sir Anand Satyanand appointed Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation". Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Satyanand, Anand (14 January 2003). "Mutyala Satyanand". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 116 (1168). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  4. ↑ Gibb, John (15 December 2008). "Governor-General notes proud history of Otago university". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  5. ↑ Graham Weir. "New Governor General, Anand Satyanand, is a former ADLS council member". Law News. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
  6. ↑ The New Zealand Herald, A natural in the Big House. Saturday 23 September 2006 Source
  7. ↑ NZ Governor General's website Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "Union and marriage it's not quite even". The Dominion Post. 19 May 2012.
  9. ↑ Audrey Young (4 April 2006). "'Satch' the survivor wins top job". New Zealand Herald.
  10. ↑ "Buckingham Palace press release". Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Commission Appointing Anand Satyanand, P.C.N.Z.M., to be Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Realm of New Zealand" (24 August 2006) 101 The New Zealand Gazette 2995
  12. ↑ PM welcomes Anand Satyanand as next Governor-General Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine., New Zealand Government press release
  13. ↑ "Welcome to the official web site of the British Monarchy". Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Statutes of the Queen's Service Order (SR 1975/200) Reg 4.
  15. ↑ "Special Honours List – The Queen's Service Order" (24 May 2007) 56 The New Zealand Gazette 1423 at 1451.
  16. ↑ Beehive – Changes to QSO and QSM Honours affect Gov Gen Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ "Governor-General issues New Year message for 2009". Government House. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  18. ↑ "beehive.govt.nz – Titular Honours to be reinstated". The Beehive. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Special Honours List" (12 August 2009) 118 The New Zealand Gazette 2691.
  20. ↑ "Arise, Sir Anand". The New Zealand Herald. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  21. ↑ Additional Statutes of The New Zealand Order of Merit (SR 2009/90) reg 3(2)(a)&(c)
  22. ↑ "Queen approves title changes; Gov-General knighted". Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Use of the title 'The Right Honourable' in New Zealand".
  24. ↑ "Revocation of the Commission Appointing The Right Honourable Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, to be Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Realm of New Zealand" (22 August 2011) 129 The New Zealand Gazette 3617.
  25. ↑ "Vote Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet" (PDF). New Zealand Treasury. 20 May 2010.
  26. ↑ "Talks on Fiji situation constructive, says Peters". Auckland Fiji Community. 30 November 2006.
  27. ↑ Mathew Dearnaley (25 September 2010). "Governor General slams Auckland's traffic congestion". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  28. 1 2 "TVNZ's Paul Henry slammed over Governor-General remarks". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  29. ↑ "Henry causes a stir – again". Stuff. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  30. ↑ "TV race row over Queen's N.Zealand representative". AFP. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  31. ↑ "TVNZ reverses course, suspending Paul Henry". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.

External links

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Government offices
Preceded by
Silvia Cartwright		 Governor-General of New Zealand
2006–2011 		Succeeded by
Jerry Mateparae
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