New Zealand Centre for Public Law Te Wananga o Nga Kaupapa Ture a Iwi o Aotearoa The Role of the Governor-General by Dame Silvia Cartwright October 2001 Occasional Paper No 6 FACULTY OF LAW Te Kauhanganui Tatai Ture Staff of the Centre Director Professor Matthew Palmer Deputy Director Andrew Erueti Administrator Claire Blanchfield How to find out more To find out more about the Centre please contact the Administrator, The NZ Centre for Public Law, Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington. Contact details are: Phone +64-4-463 6327, fax +64-4-463 6365, email
[email protected]. Web site: www.vuw.ac.nz/ nzcpl/ Funded through the VUW Foundation. ISBN 0 - 475 - 50067 - 9 THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNOR- GENERAL DAME SILVIA CARTWRIGHT* Professor Palmer, thank you for your welcome and for your invitation to talk today about the role of the Governor-General. As many of you know, my predecessor Sir Michael Hardie Boys gave a number of significant speeches on the role of the Governor-General in the MMP context, particularly in relation to government formation.1 So, rather than return to this focus, I propose to take a different approach to the subject. Today I will traverse some of the historical developments relating to the office of Governor-General, for it is an office in which there have been many significant changes since 1840. Reflecting on these changes will help inform our view of the role of the Governor-General at the beginning of the 21st century. Such reflection must take account of the patchwork of cultures that now constitutes New Zealand society – and the need for the role of Governor-General to be relevant to all New Zealanders.