The memory of some days sticks with you forever. I was at home last Thursday rebuilding a fence - a job that has needed doing for some time - when the cell phone rang. The Prime Minister offered me a place in his executive as Minister of Courts and Associate Ministers of Welfare and Justice.
I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and said "yes" and "thanks" several times to a boss who has shown his stature and wisdom as a leader over the past six years in opposition and in government.
Now my challenge is to prove the wisdom of placing this responsibility into my hands and the prospect is challenging and daunting but will bring with it satisfaction and reward.
As Minister of Courts, there are some on-going projects and issues regarding earthquake strengthening and some temporary court closures while the rebuilds go on. There is a review of the Family Court and other examinations happening in our courts processes. The implementation of the courts' modernisation legislation transacted last year will be a big job, as those within the sector get used to doing things differently. And change is never popular. But the biggest challenge is to enable those at the centre of our justice system - offenders and victims - to answer for themselves the question most commonly asked in our courts: "What the hell just happened?"
It is an indictment of our legal system to think that people can be in the middle of a process which invariably alters and affects their lives for the foreseeable future or frequently forever and yet need the outcome explained to them, usually more than once. The court involves its own jargon, its own language, and conventions which are not replicated in any other part of society and bear no resemblance to the day-to-day lives of those the system most affects.
