Obituaries — Sir Michael Hardie Boys

I seek leave to move a motion without notice on the death of former Governor-General of New Zealand Sir Michael Hardie Boys.

SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.

Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I move, That the House express its sympathy and its condolences to the family of Sir Michael Hardie Boys, and pay tribute to the outstanding contribution he made to this country.

The Rt Hon Sir Michael Hardie Boys died in Waikanae on 29 December 2023 at the age of 92. It was with sadness that I heard of the death of this eminent New Zealander, respected jurist, and constitutional expert who guided New Zealand during its transition to an MMP electoral system.

Sir Michael had a distinguished career in law, and practised in his home town of Wellington before being appointed a High Court judge in 1980. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal and became a Privy Councillor in 1989, and in 1994 he was elected an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn, London. He was a council member of the Wellington District Law Society, and president and a council member of the New Zealand Law Society. He was also a member of the legal aid board, and its chairman.

Sir Michael was appointed as New Zealand’s 17th Governor-General in 1996, ahead of New Zealand’s first MMP election. Sir Michael saw public education as vital if confidence in the electoral and political system was to be maintained, and in the lead-up to that election, he spoke widely on the constitutional role of the Governor-General under MMP, having examined proportional representation systems all around the world and overseas. With a distinguished background in the law, his constitutional knowledge and adept stewardship proved invaluable in an extraordinary period of change for New Zealand.

Following his term of office as Governor-General of New Zealand, he continued to concentrate on supporting young people and community groups; Sir Michael was an enthusiastic volunteer in Kapanui School’s literacy programme for over a decade. He was a trustee and later chair of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery as it was settling into its new premises in Shed 11, and at an age when most others would consider retiring, Sir Michael served on the Court of Appeal of Kiribati.

For his dedication to public services, Sir Michael was appointed New Zealand’s first Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit when it was established in 1996, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, an additional Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, and Knight of the Order of St John.

For his coat of arms, Sir Michael chose the Latin motto “Certus et Constans”, meaning “sure and steadfast”. This was the motto of the Boys’ Brigade, an organisation I belonged to—a youth organisation—and which Sir Michael helped to establish in Wellington, and which he supported in many various decades as a result.

Sir Michael will be remembered as sure and steadfast in his many areas of service to New Zealand. He brought intelligence and he brought calm thoughtfulness to his official roles, as well as generously giving up his time and his talents to support a range of community organisations. The thoughts of the Government are with Sir Michael’s family, and I hope that they feel incredibly proud of the contribution and the legacy that he leaves New Zealand.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

On behalf of the Opposition, can I join with the Government in extending our condolences to the family of Sir Michael Hardie Boys and also acknowledge his significant service to the people of New Zealand.

Sir Michael Hardie Boys was a man of firsts. He was, of course, our first MMP Governor-General, selected for that role because of his legal background and training and because of the new and potentially challenging circumstances that a Governor-General under MMP may face—or perceived challenges that a Governor-General under MMP may face—as they were envisaged back in 1996. Now, of course, for the political tragics in the House now, this may not seem as significant, but back then there was great concern about what would happen following our first MMP election if no Government had achieved a majority. Of course, there’s actually only been one one-party majority Government in the entire history of MMP in New Zealand, but there was concern back in 1996 about whether or not this would politicise the role of the Governor-General and that they may have to choose who got to be the Government—of course, it turns out that the man who gets to often choose the Government is still here. But no crisis was ever established, and we have successfully had MMP Governments, and Sir Michael Hardie Boys led us through the process of Government formation not once but twice after our first two MMP general elections.

He was also our first Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit—something many people would be unaware of. His career was underpinned by a pretty common theme: change. He was on the Court of Appeal when the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act was enacted by the Parliament. He’s been described as astute, gentle, fair, and courteous. He did, as Governor-General, on occasion challenge the Government of the day. I want to reflect on one of his final contributions during his departure speech as Governor-General, and I want to read a quote from him: “Our very identity as a people requires us to commemorate our beginnings. How can we build a nation if we treat our founding as unworthy of celebration? How can we properly understand our present or intelligently plot our future without an understanding of our past?” Sir Michael Hardie Boys was a very thoughtful Governor-General who challenged New Zealanders in a very polite and gentle way, and I’m sure that his words will continue to do that well beyond his passing.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to extend condolences on behalf of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand to the family, friends, and community of Sir Michael Hardie Boys on his passing. He was, of course, as has already been noted, the first MMP Governor-General, which was when the Green Party entered Parliament, first as part of The Alliance and then under our own steam in the 1999 election, and so we have that connection to him.

I also want to acknowledge, of course, that an entire generation of voters has been born, gone to school, and come of age and got the right to vote since he left that post as well. So for many New Zealanders and many current voters, they won’t have that connection to him, and so there are some things that I would like to acknowledge at this moment.

Sir Geoffrey Palmer said that Sir Michael Hardie Boys was a judge of rare distinction, a man of enormous dignity and human qualities, and I think that it’s hard to go past much higher praise than that. As the Leader of the Opposition just pointed out, Sir Michael did believe that Governors-General actually had a duty to speak out about the community’s concerns, and he frequently did so on issues such as inequality, family violence, and child abuse, which, of course, are issues that we are continuing to grapple with in this Parliament and at this time.

He was, as we made that transition from a first-past-the-post political system to a mixed-member proportional political system, a very steady hand during a period of time when we had no prior culture of how to do this, and I think it put us in very good stead.

I do want to acknowledge Sir Michael’s wife, Mary Zohrab, and their four children and several grandchildren. He dedicated his entire life to public service, and outside of that managed to fit in interests like gardening and travelling and so on. We here are very grateful for his service.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. On behalf of ACT, I wish to join with other leaders in supporting this motion to offer condolence and sympathy to the family of Sir Michael Hardie Boys, and admiration for 92 years tremendously well lived. As other leaders have shared, he is somebody who excelled to the top of his profession. But he was also somebody who gave back throughout his career, whether that was being a member of the Law Society in early days, as Governor-General, or helping children’s charities. Long after most people had turned to playing bowls at their village, he was out there helping people, helping as he had throughout his life.

As others have mentioned, he helped New Zealand navigate what could have been, and what many thought would be, a tumultuous time in our constitutional history. Perhaps the fact that that period of uncertainty is such a distant memory, rarely if ever thought of or acknowledged, is actually a tribute to how well the Governor-General of the time was able to handle that situation and reassure the public. To those who survive him, we give our deepest condolences, and to his memory, we give our greatest admiration. May he rest in peace.

On behalf of New Zealand First, we would like to join the rest of the members of this House to extend our sympathy and condolences to the family of Sir Michael Hardie Boys. You’ve heard that he had a very distinguished career, becoming member of the highest court back in 1989 in this country and being made a Privy Counsellor.

He was appointed as the Governor-General, as you know, in 1996, and that was critical at a time when we were entering a new environment in widened politics and engagement in this country. He set out, in a series of speeches, conventions around Government formation that still hold force today. Indeed, on one occasion in 2020, when we wrote to the then Prime Minister about delaying that year’s election due to the varying COVID alert levels operating around the country, his wisdom helped inform that constitutionally important letter.

He was a great New Zealander, and one who, through his lifetime of service to the judiciary and our wider constitutional system, leaves us a living legacy of measured guidance and constitutional insight. Now, it’s common in this forum, more often than not, for people to get up and say all sorts of grandiose things about a personality, but in this case, on this particular occasion, these words have a special significance. His wisdom will be missed, but we welcome the chance and the opportunity to remember a great New Zealander.

E te Māngai o te Whare, e te Pīka, tēnā rā koe. [To the Speaker, Mr Speaker, thank you.]

Te Pāti Māori also adds its voice to conveying condolences on the passing of Sir Michael Hardie Boys.

Nō reira tākiri tū ko te ata, e kōrihi ana te manu, koia te wā e rere kau nei te wairua, ka whiti ki ōna otinga. Nō reira ko tēnei te mihi maioha, te reo aroha e tukua atu ana i runga i te rau aroha me te ngākau iti.

Ki te whānau tonu o Tā Mikaere, rātou kua mahue mai ki muri, nō rātou te haepapa nui, he pīkau i tēnei āhuatanga, te mate. I roto i te ao Māori, ka tukua rātou ko te hunga wairua kia okioki i roto i te hāneaneatanga o te wāhi ngaro, ahakoa te whakapono, ahakoa te whakapae.

Nō reira tēnei rā te whakatairanga ake i te matenga o Tā Mikaere Hardie Boys, me te tuku i a ia, otirā rātou katoa te rārangi mate o te tau kua taha ake nei, kia oti atu i roto i ngā atawhaitanga o te wāhi ngaro. Waiho mai ko tātou, e hika mā, e pae nei i tēnei rangi, me ngā mahuetanga iho o tēnei rangatira o tātou, e mihi, e tangi mō rātou kua ngaro.

Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa.

[And so the dawn breaks, the birds sing, that is the time that the spirit takes flight, and transcends to its culmination. And so these are my kind regards, and condolences that I impart with compassion and humility.

To the family of Sir Michael, they who are left behind, who have the great responsibility of bearing this phenomenon, of bereavement. In Māori society, they, those who are now spirit, are sent on to rest in the comfort of the beyond, whatever the faith, whatever the belief.

And so I would like to honour the passing of Sir Michael Hardie Boys, and to send him on, indeed all of the ranks of dearly departed of the year that’s passed, to spend eternity in the benevolence of the beyond. Leave us, my friends, that sit here today, and the legacy of this noble leader of ours, to acknowledge and to grieve for those who have passed on.

And so greetings to us all.]

I thank members for those comments. For those of us who knew him, he was truly a great New Zealander.

Motion agreed to.