Prasad Rajen: Governor-General Bill — Second Reading 
Prasad Rajen: Governor-General Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14453] 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour) 
: 
 Thank you for the opportunity to avail myself of the honour to speak on the Governor-General Bill and also to talk a little about the present Governor-General. I agree with all the previous speakers who have already underscored the importance of this role and its symbolism in our nation State its constitutional position and indeed the wonderful work that our present Governor-General does. The bill gives form to the work of the Law Commission on the role of the Governor-General and the new mechanisms. The bill makes the arrangements for the Governor-General far more transparent and perhaps simpler to administer as well and modernises the language that is currently contained in the part of the Civil List Act that pertains to the Governor-General. The bill is timely and it does all of those things for us. 
Perhaps the one part of the bill that gives me great joy is the acknowledgment of the spouse of the Governor-General. It is the work that in this case Lady Susan Satyanand does day in and day out alongside the Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand. I want to register strong support for the part of the legislation that acknowledges the family of the Governor-General and the spouse. It is also appropriate and we support this strongly for the Governor-General—and this Governor-General like I am sure the others would want it to be no different—not to have any special privileges so the paying of taxation and matters like that which this bill brings into being are also very strong and important aspects of this particular bill. 
It is very hard to talk about a bill of this nature that brings all of the positive things about the office of the Governor-General the funding into one place without talking about the person who currently occupies the position. Who is this Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand? I go back 4½ years to when the announcement of Governor-General was made. At that time Anand Satyanand was nominated for the position of Governor-General and without exception there was great rejoicing in the country particularly in my community but certainly in other communities as well that knew him and his background very well. I do not remember one voice criticising at all why that person at that time should be appointed to that position. It was a great day for minority ethnic groups. I received a phone call today from a radio station talkback host. A talkback had occurred a couple of days ago and Vapi Kupenga who is well known to a number of us in the House said that participants had talked about the work of this Governor-General amongst the Maori community as well over the years. 
There has been an endearing relationship between New Zealand and this particular Governor-General. He has been a model of race relations throughout the country. He has been a model of a person who is totally inclusive of every aspect of New Zealand society and a tireless worker who works way beyond the call of duty if you like to be in touch with people to communicate with them to pass information across to connect people together and then to be there he and his family day in and day out. He does the same type of work for us when overseas. He has received tremendous accolades for the work he does overseas on behalf of New Zealand and of us as New Zealanders. Most recently we have seen him presenting medals at the Commonwealth Games in a country that he loves and that is the country of his ancestors as well. When we reflect on the quality of the present Governor-General and relate who he is and his beliefs to the provisions of this bill there is nothing in this bill that he would even mildly object to. He would support and welcome the way in which the bill regularises his office even though he will not be the beneficiary of it but his successors will. 
It is therefore difficult to understand in the context of this person and this role what the last 2 weeks’ debate has been about. Paul Henry decided to have one of those moments and say something that can be defined only as racism. When we collect together a number of characteristics and criticise a group of people on the basis of those characteristics and try to withhold positions from them that is racism—as technically defined—and that is what he was doing. The bit that is difficult to understand is why the opportunity was not taken then and there to do the most powerful thing possible to stop that rot. When people in leadership particularly on public television are confronted with issues like this they have only one shot at trying to kill the argument and propose the way in which people should behave. I am saddened that the Prime Minister did not take the opportunity at that point to really defend this Governor-General and the provisions this bill is trying to make for that position and to say to Paul Henry “Stop! This is not what you ought to be doing. You are talking about somebody quite different.” I have been in positions like that many times. It would have been a great opportunity to talk about this Governor-General in the sense that I and others have of him. It is not surprising that the reaction against what was said and for our present Governor-General over the last 2 weeks has been overwhelming. 
It is a matter of satisfaction that New Zealanders welcome the role of the Governor-General the role of this particular Governor-General and the provisions being made here and also that they are prepared to stand up and say that what was being propounded in the media was unfair. Being a New Zealander is something that one achieves either by birth or by immigration as I did—in this case this Governor-General is a New Zealander by birth. I support strongly and I appreciate those people in positions of leadership who have stood up to say that one ought not to speak with disrespect about this position. This position represents all of us. 
This Parliament is now making firm provisions for the future and to bring all of that together. We must relate to the position in a way that is different. So I am a little surprised that members opposite cannot see that there is a continuity here and that we ought to honour and respect the position of the Governor-General and understand who that person is because there will be others. It could be a woman next time it could be a Maori next time it could be a person from a different profession next time or it could be a Chinese person next time. They all will be New Zealanders they all will avail themselves of the provisions of this bill and they will be our Governor-General; they will be our constitutional head. I hope we will always stand up and support that position in this way. Thank you. 
Bill read a second time.