Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Governor-General Bill — Third Reading 
Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Governor-General Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:668;Page:15308] 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 I would like to add my contribution which is in agreement with what my parliamentary colleague Dr Rajen Prasad just said about the Rt Hon Anand Satyanand. The day he was appointed as Governor-General we were really quite proud that someone from our own community had been appointed to the country’s highest office. Not only that but in the last 4 years I have met him on a number of occasions and I have visited the Governor-General’s house in Auckland. Both the Governor-General and his wife have been great hosts. They have welcomed everyone with open arms. The Governor-General represented us very well at the Commonwealth Games and he received a lot of appreciation from the press in India. I met him for the first time at a function where an Indian judge Dr Ajit Singh was appointed to the Manukau District Court. The Governor-General spoke there. I have a lot of respect for him as someone from our own society our own ethnic community representing us in different areas. 
We are debating the Governor-General Bill because the Law Commission made a number of recommendations in the area of transparency that the Government Administration Committee endorsed. One of the recommendations of the Law Commission was that the provisions in the Civil List Act were very old-fashioned unnecessarily complicated and no longer supported what we need which is a more modern office of Governor-General. The legislation is timely and important. 
The Governor-General plays an important role in our constitution. As the Queen’s representative in New Zealand the Governor-General maintains the legitimacy and stability of government. The office of Governor-General is symbolic; it is a link between the community and the State and the Governor-General also represents the New Zealand public in a non-partisan way on important public occasions as was just mentioned by Dr Rajen Prasad. We have both met him on a number of occasions at Diwali celebrations. New Zealand’s Governor-General has always supported many community organisations. It is vital that the office of Governor-General is properly supported in carrying out its roles. 
As a modern stand-alone statute the bill will separate the arrangements relating to Governors-General from those providing for Ministers and MPs and will therefore better reflect existing constitutional boundaries as well as the mana and independence of the office. The bill will further improve transparency by requiring the Government to present to the House on an annual basis the details of the expenses incurred to provide such benefits. 
Apart from one or two exceptions the new legislation will not apply to the current Governor-General but will apply when the next Governor-General is appointed. I thank the officials for their help during the select committee process and I thank the members of the select committee for their work on the bill. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think we have a problem similar to one we had the other day. I think the member is now reading out the Minister’s speech on this bill rather than his own. He was thanking himself for his work on the bill. I do not think it is appropriate for the member to re-read the Minister’s speech or to be thanking himself for the work he did on the bill. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I have been listening reasonably carefully and I have not picked up the inferences the member has. 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI 
: Overall the bill represents a big step forward in the way the Government supports the Governor-General. I commend the bill to the House on its third reading. 
Bill read a third time.