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The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative in the Realm of New Zealand of the Queen of New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II. The position of the Governor-General is as in other Commonwealth realms of which the Queen is also Head of State. The office's full title is The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over New Zealand.

The Governor-General's main residence is Government House, Wellington, and there is a small secondary northern residence, Government House, Auckland.

The incumbent Governor-General of New Zealand is Dame Silvia Cartwright. The Acting Official Secretary is Don Smith *.

Role and powers

The Office is largely ceremonial, although the Governor-General exercises a number of the renaming Royal Perogatives, and the so-called 'reserve powers'. The Governor-General is bound by constitutional convention to follow the advice of the Prime Minister in their excercise of their powers, so long as the Prime Minister enjoys the support of the House of Representatives.

The Office is constituted by Letters Patent entitled "Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand" *.

Recent changes have mean that Governors-General will now receive the title The Honourable upon assuming the office. This is gained for life and is retroactive which means that former living Governors-General will be allowed this honour if they are not already a holder or a Privy Councillor which holds the higher title of The Right Honourable *.

Reserve powers

In certain circumstances (such as where a Prime Minister has lost a vote of confidence) the Governor-General may act without the advice of the Prime Minister. These are the so-called "reserve powers". These powers include the ability to:
  • Dissolve or prorogue Parliament;
  • Appoint a Government;
  • Dismiss a Government;
  • Appoint the Prime Minister;
  • Dismiss the Prime Minister;
  • Refuse a Prime Minister’s request for an election;
  • Refuse assent to legislation.
The excercise of the above powers is a matter of continuing debate. Many constitutional commentators believe that the Governor-General (or the Sovereign) does not have the power to refuse legislation, for example.

Critics also point to the ability of the Prime Minister to advise the Queen (who is bound to accept that advice, so long as the Prime Minister has the confidence of the House of Representatives) directly to recall the Governor-General, thus enabling the Prime Minister to dismiss the Governor-General at will.

Royal Prerogative of Mercy

The Governor-General also excercises the Royal Prerogative of mercy, an ancient right to for convicted persons to seek a review of their case where they allege an injustice may have occurred. The prerogative of mercy can be exercised where a person claims to have been wrongly convicted or wrongly sentenced.

The Governor-General acts on the advice of the Minister of Justice. The Governor-General has power to grant a pardon, to refer a person’s case back to the court under section 406 of the Crimes Act 1961, and to reduce a person’s sentence. If a person’s case is referred back to the court, the court will consider the case in a similar way to hearing an appeal. Recently, convicted murderer David Bain was granted such an appeal to the Privy Council.

Ceremonial role

Representing New Zealand
Increasingly, the Governor-General is representing New Zealand abroad and is accorded the same respect and privileges of a Head of state. It can be argued that the de facto head of state is the Governor-General while the de jure head of state remains the Queen.

The Governor-General also represented the British Government until 1939, when the diplomatic functions were transferred to a High Commissioner. This was 13 years after the Balfour Declaration and after the functions were separated in the other Dominions. This was due to the New Zealand belief that such a thing would promote separatism within the British Empire.

Community role

The Governor-General provides leadership in the community. Governors-General are always the patrons of many charitable, service, sporting and cultural organisations. The present Governor-General is patron to nearly 200 organisations. The sponsorship or patronage of the Governor-General signals that an organisation is worthy of wide support. Many of the Governor-General’s community functions also have a ceremonial dimension, such as attendance at the official openings of buildings, addresses to open conferences, or launching special events and appeals.

Appointments

Appointment to the Office is made by the Queen (in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand) on the advice of the Prime Minister to the Queen. The Prime Minister's advice is usually the result of a decision by Cabinet; hence the appointment of the Governor-General is made by the executive of the Government of the day. By convention the Leader of the Opposition is also consulted on the appointment.

Term and dismissal

The Governor-General holds office at the "pleasure" (per clause II of the Letters Patent) of the Queen, although Governors-General usually serve a term of five to six years. The Prime Minister may advise the Queen to "recall" the Governor-General, and (so long as the Prime Minister has the confidence of the House of Representatives) the Queen is bound by convention to implement the advice of her Prime Minister. Some constitutional lawyers dispute whether the Queen would implement such advice, while others argue that the Queen would delay its implementation.

Three New Zealand Governors have been recalled from office - William Hobson (who died before he was officially recalled), Captain Robert FitzRoy and Sir George Grey.

Controversy

While the Office is nominally non-partisan, there have been a number of appointments to the office that have attracted considerable controversy. In 1977 Sir Keith Holyoake, a former National Party Prime Minister and then sitting Minister of State was controversially appointed as Governor-General. The Lange Labour government appointed Sir Paul Reeves, a former campaigner for the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign, Governor-General in 1985, and in 1990 Dame Catherine Tizard, a former Labour Mayor of Auckland and former wife of Labour Deputy Prime Minister Bob Tizard, was appointed to the role.

Despite their political backgrounds, none of these appointments could be said to have discharged their duties in a partisan way.

In 2004 National MP Richard Worth, an avowed Royalist, suggested the next Governor-General should be Prince Edward.

Election proposal

From time to time, there have been proposals to elect the Governor-General. When first drafted, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 contained provision for the Governor to be elected by New Zealand's Parliament. This provision was removed from the final enactment however, probably because the Colonial Office wanted to keep a check on New Zealand's Colonial government. In 2006 political commentator Colin James suggested that the Governor-General could be elected (or, more correctly, 'nominated' to the Queen) by a 60% majority of votes cast in Parliament. James argued that the New Zealand public should be given the ability to choose the Queen's representative, and that the current system is undemocratic and not transperant. Such a system is not unusal, the Governor-Generals of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are nominated in such a way. Constitutional law specialist Professor Noel Cox, who is also the Chairman of the Monarchist League, critised the proposal, claiming that "*.

List of Lieutenant-Governors, Governors and Governors-General

Lieutenant-Governors, Governors and Governors-General of New Zealand

1840 - 1841 NZ a dependency of New South Wales

Title: Lieutenant-Governor (under Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Gipps RE, Governor of New South Wales 1837 - 1846, and Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand 1839 - 1841)

1841 - 1853 NZ a Crown Colony of Britain

Title: Governor

Title: Governor-in-Chief

1853 - 1907 NZ a self-governing colony

Title: Governor of New Zealand

1907 to present: New Zealand as dominion and, later, realm

With the title: Governor-General of New Zealand

Sir Arthur Porritt was the first New Zealand-born Governor General (although he had been living in Britain for 31 years at the time of his appointment). All Governors-General since Sir Denis Blundell have been New Zealand born and resident, and appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Note: In the absence of the Governor-General (trips overseas, sickness etc.) the Chief Justice acts as the Administrator of the Government, or simply Administrator in everyday usage.

See also

External links

Lists of office-holders | Government of New Zealand | Constitution of New Zealand | New Zealand-related lists

Liste der Generalgouverneure Neuseelands | Генерал-губернаторы Новой Зеландии | 新西兰总督

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Governor-General of New Zealand".

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