Paul Little: Governor-General's role should be reviewed

AJ Hackett with Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In a few days or weeks, it will fall upon the Governor-General to sign off on the new Government for which you voted yesterday.

The role of Governor-General undergoes little scrutiny, yet this year marks half a century since we got someone in the job - Sir Arthur Porritt - who was actually born here. It's not an anniversary that's likely to be widely celebrated or even noticed, however, because really, no one cares.

Governors-General used to be prominent public figures, regular fixtures on nightly TV bulletins in the slow news years of the 1960s and 70s.

Baby boomers will easily recall the names of Sir Bernard Ferguson and Porritt, but latterly Governors-General have needed brand-enhancing points of difference to make an impact.

Sir Paul Reeves was the first Maori Governor-General. Dame Catherine Tizard was the first woman in the role. Dame Silvia Cartwright was possibly the first with a really big brain. Sir Anand Satyanand will inevitably be best remembered for providing the trigger for Paul Henry's firing by TVNZ. Sir Jerry Mateparae's name stuck in your head because he was a former head of the SAS and there was a certain frisson to knowing the Queen's sub could kill someone with his bare hands if called upon.

Which brings us to the current Governor-General, of whom it has been said: Who?

I was enjoying a meal with a party of New Zealanders from various walks of life, when some erratic train of thought led me to realise that I couldn't think of the Governor-General's name. I had a suspicion I was not alone in this and asked my companions if they could.

Without exception, the retired hairdresser, the West Coast farmer, the IRD investigator, the widow and the fitness enthusiast paused before eventually saying: "It's a lady."

Later I asked a rising media superstar who ventured "Jerry Mataperae?" So, possibly some work to be done on name recognition for Her Majesty's current representative.

The West Coast farmer eventually managed to dredge the name up from a far recess of his memory. It's Dame Patsy Reddy, a former tax law specialist, who will be in the job until 2021.

I suspect that if you turned the question around and asked people who Patsy Reddy was not many would identify her as the Governor-General.

There's no reason why a former tax specialist can't be as charismatic as a former SAS CO or a judicial intellectual giant, but they will probably have to work that little bit harder.

It's probably not entirely Dame Patsy's fault that her name recognition is lower than the captain of the national Scrabble team. It's more likely because the role is of increasingly minor relevance.

Getting the job in the first place involves a circular absurdity - the Government advises the Queen to appoint someone it has chosen to represent the Queen.

Once chosen, according to the Governor-General's own website, the job involves: "appointing the Government after an election; giving Royal Assent to legislation [capitals in the original]; presiding over the Executive Council (no, I don't know what it is either); and appointing key public officials and accepting diplomatic credentials".

I suppose all those things need to be done but the first comes up - God willing - only every three years, and all four are the definition of mere formalities which I suspect could be done by slightly adapted versions of the eGates at airports that electronically scan your passports these days.

Apparently, there's been a mood for change in the air. The job of Governor-General should be changed to make it relevant and useful.