Hon Anand Satyanand, PCNZM, QSO

The Governor-General of New Zealand, the Hon Anand Satyanand, has had a multi-faceted career as a lawyer, judge and ombudsman. These roles have given him a wide perspective on the workings of government and its relationship with citizens, and the needs of individuals.

	The Honourable Anand Satyanand

Born and raised in Auckland, he attended Richmond Road Primary in Ponsonby, and Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes. After graduating with a law degree from the University of Auckland in 1970, he spent the next 12 years in legal practice in Auckland, including employment with the Crown Solicitors’ Office, and subsequently in partnership with a Queen Street law firm, Shieff Angland. He became a district court judge in 1982, holding warrants for both criminal and civil jurisdictions. His main specialist work was in the criminal law area as a trial judge for 10 years.

In 1995 he was appointed as an ombudsman, completing two five-year terms in February 2005. Whilst an ombudsman, he dealt with complaints about unfairness on the part of government officials, assessed governance processes, and worked in the freedom of information jurisdiction of that office.

Throughout his career, the Hon Anand Satyanand, has contributed to professional legal education in New Zealand and internationally. He has been a teacher and mentor to many individuals and institutions, and has written and published in specialist areas. He was also a regular contributor to a Commonwealth Secretariat-funded Ombudsman training programme each year since 1998. He has been frequently called on as a presenter, chair, moderator, and facilitator at a wide range of seminars, professional education courses, and debates.

Since completing his term as an ombudsman, his experience and expertise was called on for a variety of tasks. In 2006 he reviewed the New Zealand Banking Ombudsman Scheme. He chaired the first fifteen months of work undertaken by the Confidential Forum for Former In Patients of Psychiatric Hospitals, and he undertook the task of being the first Registrar of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament. He relinquished these latter roles on taking up the office of Governor-General.

The Governor-General has a long-standing interest in international affairs and New Zealand’s place in the world. He was a government appointed Board member of Asia New Zealand Foundation and served on the national bodies of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs and Transparency International.

The Hon Anand Satyanand also was a contributor to community events, both cultural and sporting. Prior to his appointment as a judge he spent a number of years in football administration with New Zealand Rugby League, and as a member of the Freemans Bay Community Committee. Whilst working as a judge, he had two principal areas of community contact—as a prison board chairman and as a member of the national parole board.

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2005, he was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) and with a view to his tasks as Governor-General, a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (PCNZM) in 2006, and an Additional Companion of the Queen's Service Order in 2007. He and his wife Susan were married in 1970, and they have three adult children.

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