Governor-General of New Zealand
Satyanand was appointed by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of Prime Minister Helen Clark. He replaced Dame Silvia Cartwright as Governor-General of New Zealand on 23 August 2006. His appointment was welcomed by every Parliamentary party leader. He is the first Governor-General of Indian descent and the first Roman Catholic Governor-General.
Satyanand was the first Governor-General not to hold a knighthood before entering office (Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Governor of New Zealand 1855-1861, was knighted in office). However, due to a change in the New Zealand Royal Honours system, he was knighted two years later, in 2009. On assuming the role of Governor-General he received the style The Honourable for life; in 2010, he was advanced to the style of The Right Honourable. This style will be accorded for life to all future Governors-General, Prime Ministers, Chief Justices, and Speakers of the Parliament.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior of the Order of St John, received Satyanand as Governor-General designate on 7 July 2006 and invested him as a Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
In May 2007 changes were made to the Queen's Service Order. Under the previous Royal Warrant, the Governor-General was ex-officio Principal Companion of the Order but was not a member of the Order. The Royal Warrant now provides for the appointment of the Governor-General as a Companion of the Order in his or her own right.
The first bill to which he granted Royal Assent was the Coroners Bill.
Starting on New Year's Day 2009, Satyanand issued a "New Year's Message" intended to "to bring to attention a number of issues New Zealanders might consider as they looked to the future".
Following the changes to the honours system announced by Prime Minister John Key on 8 March 2009, the Queen approved Satyanand's redesignation from a PCNZM (Principal Companion) to a GNZM (Knight Grand Companion) on 27 March 2009.
Read more about this topic: Anand Satyanand
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