Governors From 1832
James Busby was assigned the post of official
British resident in New Zealand. He played a role in drafting the
Treaty of Waitangi, Proclamation as Governor (1879) FitzRoy's replacement, Sir
George Grey, is considered by some historians, such as
Michael King, to be the most important and influential governor of New Zealand. Grey was the last governor of New Zealand to act without reference to parliament. During his first term (1845–1852), Grey petitioned the
British Parliament to largely suspend the complex
New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 (Grey briefly took the title "governor-in-chief" under the act but this was eventually reverted to governor), drafting his own constitution bill, which became the
New Zealand Constitution Act 1852. Grey's first term ended before
responsible government was implemented, although he established the first
provinces under the 1846 Constitution Act, appointing a
lieutenant-governor for each of the provinces:
George Dean Pitt for the
New Ulster Province and
Robert Wynyard for the
New Munster Province. The office of lieutenant-governor was superseded by elected
superintendents with the implementation of the 1852 Constitution Act, in 1853. The task of overseeing the transition to a responsible government was left to
Robert Wynyard, as the
administrator of the Government, who opened the
1st New Zealand Parliament on 24 May 1854. Wynyard was quickly confronted by the demands from members of parliament for the ability to select ministers from among their number—rather than the governor deciding. The parliament passed a resolution to that effect on 2 June. Wynyard and the
Executive Council of New Zealand refused to allow this, stating that the Colonial Office made no mention of responsible government in its dispatches. Wynyard then offered to add some elected members of parliament to the Executive Council, which he did—a compromise that worked for a few weeks, until on 1 August 1854, parliament again demanded complete power to appoint ministers. Wynyard refused and prorogued parliament for two weeks. Then on 31 August, he appointed more elected members to the Executive Council, but when Parliament met again on 8 August 1855, it moved a motion of no confidence in the members. Fortunately for Wynyard the next governor, Sir
Thomas Gore Browne, arrived on 6 September 1855. Gore Browne's tenure saw the introduction of responsible government, which constrained the powers of the governor, who now had to work with a
premier and their ministers. In the following years, Gore Browne and Premier
Edward Stafford clashed over whether the governor (and hence the imperial government) had control over Māori affairs, a key issue at the time with the ongoing New Zealand Wars. Stafford began the practice of
Cabinet meeting independently of the Executive Council, further reducing the influence of the governor. Sir George Grey returned to New Zealand in 1861 for a second term. Grey struggled to meet the competing demands of the colonial and British governments. The New Zealand Wars had brought many thousands of British troops to New Zealand, and fearing further fighting Grey, with the support of Edward Stafford, evaded Colonial Office instructions to finalise their return to Britain. In the end, the Colonial Office recalled Grey in February 1868. After Grey, successive governors of New Zealand were derived from the British aristocracy and played a much less active role in government. In only a few instances did the governor refuse the advice of the premier. Ironically this happened mainly during the tenure of Sir George Grey as premier of New Zealand from 1877 to 1879. One famous instance of the use of the governor's powers came during the term of Sir
Arthur Gordon. Gordon had left New Zealand on 13 September 1881 for a visit to the Pacific Islands. In his absence, Premier
John Hall advised
Chief Justice James Prendergast (well-known for his negative opinions about Māori from his decision in the case
Wi Parata v the Bishop of Wellington), acting as the administrator, to order the invasion of the Māori pacifist
Te Whiti o Rongomai's village at
Parihaka, something the Governor had indicated he was opposed to.
Governors-general British subjects In 1907 Sir
Joseph Ward's
Liberal government passed a resolution to turn New Zealand into a
dominion as the
Dominion of New Zealand. This led to new letters patent being issued in 1917, which greatly curtailed the powers of the governor. To reflect these changes, the office was renamed governor-general (equivalent to governors-general of other dominions), with
Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, the serving governor, becoming the first to be titled governor-general. In 1926, following the
King–Byng affair in Canada, an Imperial Conference approved the
Balfour Declaration, which defined a British commonwealth as a freely associated grouping known as the
British Commonwealth of Nations. Despite adopting the statute later than most other Commonwealth realms, the functions of the governor-general in representing the British government were gradually reduced prior to the statute passing. For example, beginning in 1939, the
high commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand replaced the governor-general as the foremost diplomatic representative of the British government in New Zealand. The appointment of New Zealand citizens and residents led to concerns that the constitutional convention that governors-general remain "above party politics" might be compromised, especially with the appointment of former prime minister Sir Keith Holyoake to the role in 1977. Despite this appointment, Holyoake was said to have acted in an impartial way, especially following the very close
1981 general election. In 1983,
letters patent were issued once again, further reducing the powers of the office. The new letters patent were counter-signed by the New Zealand Prime Minister, symbolising the "
patriation" of the office. With the patriation of the office came an expectation that the officeholders would be representative of New Zealanders generally; Dame
Catherine Tizard (1990–96) was the first woman to be appointed to the office. Sir
Anand Satyanand (2006–11) was the first Governor-General of
Indian and
Pasifika descent, and the first Roman Catholic to hold the office. (front row, leftmost) joins the Queen, other heads of state and heads of government at a
D-Day commemoration in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2019. The governor-general often represents New Zealand at gatherings of national leaders. Beginning in the late 20th century, the governor-general has been performing more and more of the head of state's functions, such as travelling overseas, representing all New Zealanders at major international events and generally promoting New Zealand interests abroad. The first time such a visit occurred was in 1989 for the
death and state funeral of Hirohito, the late Japanese emperor. New Zealand governors-general could not make state visits until 1992, when the King of Spain invited Dame Catherine Tizard on a state visit for the
Seville Expo '92. Advisers at
Buckingham Palace stated that
Elizabeth II was unable to travel abroad in her capacity as the queen of New Zealand. As a compromise, the Palace agreed that governors-general could accept invitations for state visits, but that it must be made clear that the governor-general is the sovereign's representative. At the 2007 commemorations of the
Battle of Passchendaele, Governor-General Anand Satyanand represented New Zealand on behalf of the Queen, while the Queen herself represented the United Kingdom. Dame
Cindy Kiro holds a
virtual meeting with the Queen in 2021 Reform of the office is usually only mentioned in the context of a
New Zealand republic.
Helen Clark, while defending Dame
Silvia Cartwright after a political controversy surrounding Cartwright's comments on prison sentences, stated, "[o]ne of the challenges for us is we clearly are no longer a dominion of Britain where the Governor-General is exactly like the Queen. I think we need to consider how the role of Governor-General might evolve further. As you know, my view is that one day there will be a president fulfilling the kind of role the Governor-General does." Others, such as Professor
Noel Cox have argued that the governor-general's role needs to be updated, rather than reforming the office. Following the adoption of MMP at a referendum later in 1993, Prime Minister
Jim Bolger suggested at the opening of parliament in 1994 that one reason New Zealand might move to a republic was that the governor-general would have more influence under the new electoral system. In a 1996 address, Governor-General Sir
Michael Hardie Boys clarified how he would use his powers in the case of an unclear electoral result; he maintained that politicians must decide who would govern, and only after a public announcement of their decision would he appoint a prime minister. In December 2009 a review of the
Civil List Act 1979 by the
Law Commission recommended that part 1 of the act be repealed, and replaced with a new
Governor-General Bill to reflect the nature of the modern office of governor-general. The most significant change would be that the governor-general was no longer exempt from paying income tax on their salary. The changes proposed in the report would take effect for the appointment and term of the next governor-general. The bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 28 June 2010 and was granted royal assent on 22 November 2010. In 2020 a poll by
Curia, commissioned by
New Zealand Republic, found 32 percent of New Zealanders thought the governor-general was the head of state, and only 18 percent could name the Queen as New Zealand's head of state (25 percent answered that it was the prime minister). == See also ==