Before becoming governor-general, Reddy was a partner of a law firm, headed a major review of intelligence agencies, held multiple directorships, chaired the New Zealand Film Commission and worked as a chief negotiator on Treaty of Waitangi settlements. Prime Minister John Key advised the Queen to appoint Reddy to succeed Sir Jerry Mateparae as the Queen's representative, and Reddy was sworn in for a five-year term on 28 September 2016.
Early life and education
Born in Matamata, New Zealand, on 17 May 1954,[1] Reddy is the daughter of Neil William and Catherine Marjorie "Kay" Reddy, both of whom were schoolteachers.[2] Three of her forebears left Ireland and went to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. A distant cousin, singer Helen Reddy, was descended from the Australian forebear.[3] Reddy was raised in the small Waikato towns of Te Ākau and Minginui until her family moved to Hamilton when she was six years old. There, she attended Hillcrest Primary School, Peachgrove Intermediate School and Hamilton Girls' High School.[2]
Reddy was a junior lecturer and then lecturer at Victoria University's faculty of law.[4] In 1982 she joined the Wellington firm Watts and Patterson (now Minter Ellison Rudd Watts), becoming their first female partner in 1983. She specialised in tax, corporate and film law. She later took up a position at Brierley Investments, where she was employed for 11 years, and worked on large acquisition negotiations such as the privatisation of Air New Zealand.[5]
In 2016, Reddy and Sir Michael Cullen collaborated on an independent report to the New Zealand government reviewing legislation covering the country's intelligence agencies. Their report was released on 9 March 2016, two weeks before Reddy's appointment as governor-general was publicly announced.[7] The report recommended expanding the Government Communications Security Bureau's rights to monitor the personal communications of New Zealanders, and was met with some controversy.[8]
Reddy was also involved in a number of non-governmental organisations, particularly in the arts and gender equality.[9] She was one of the founding members in 2009 of Global Women New Zealand, a group of prominent women who advocate for inclusion and diversity in leadership.[2][10]
On 12 December 2016, subsequent to the resignation of John Key, Reddy swore in Bill English as prime minister and Paula Bennett as deputy prime minister.[19]
In her first overseas trip, Reddy visited Niue and the Cook Islands, the associated states of New Zealand, on 21 and 22 March 2017 respectively.[21] Reddy was welcomed by Tom Marsters, the Queen's Representative in the Cook Islands.[22]
On 6 May 2017, Reddy travelled to Italy, where she visited various cultural events in Rome and Venice. On 14 May, she visited Barbados, where she met with the Governor-General of Barbados, Elliott Belgrave, and the prime minister, Freundel Stuart.[23]
Reddy with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin during a visit to Israel, 27 October 2017
On 30 September 2017, Reddy travelled to Israel for a two-day trip, in which she represented New Zealand at official commemorations to mark the centennial of the Battle of Beersheba during the First World War.[24] She was received by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and later met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[25]
Dame Patsy Reddy with PM Jacinda Ardern and Deputy PM Winston Peters at swearing-in of the Executive Council, 26 October 2017
On 24 October 2017, Reddy hosted a state welcome for the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, at Government House.[28] A couple of weeks later, Reddy hosted German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Government House from 5 to 7 November 2017. The visit started with a wreath-laying ceremony at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.[29]
On 5 December 2017, Reddy began a three-day trip to Malaysia.[30] The state visit marked the sixtieth year of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Malaysia. Among several engagements, Reddy had an audience with Sultan Muhammad V, and attended a state banquet.[31]
On 1 January 2018, Reddy issued her New Year video message. She focused on gender equality and respect for women; Reddy also noted the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand.[32]
Reddy welcomed former US President Barack Obama to Government House on 22 March 2018.[33] On 23 April, Reddy travelled to Turkey to represent New Zealand at commemorative events associated with the Gallipoli campaign; on 26 April, she met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.[34]
On 28 October 2018, Reddy welcomed members of the Royal Family, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to Wellington. She also hosted a reception at Government House honouring the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage.[35] The following month, on 19 November, Reddy hosted the President of Chile Sebastián Piñera.[36] On 3 December she welcomed the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook to New Zealand during a ceremony at Auckland Government House.[37]
On 15 March 2019, Reddy released a message expressing condolences to the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings. She remarked "Now more than ever is the time to affirm the values that we hold dear – compassion, kindness and tolerance.".[38]
On 7 June 2019, Reddy represented New Zealand at the commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.[39]
In October 2019 she visited Japan on an official visit.[40]
Reddy's last overseas visit was to Australia in June 2021.[41] She completed her term as Governor-General of New Zealand on 28 September 2021.
Reddy is married to the former New Zealand Judicial Conduct Commissioner, Sir David Gascoigne.[2] They married one week before her appointment as governor-general was announced. She and her first husband, Geoff Harley, a tax barrister, divorced in 1988.[42][43] Both husbands were her associates at Rudd Watts & Stone in Wellington in the 1980s.[44]
Reddy is the first vegan governor-general. Accordingly, the banquet at her swearing-in ceremony was entirely vegan.[45]
Patsy Reddy was granted armorial bearings, a badge, and life supporters by the College of Arms on 24 June 2020. Her badge takes the place of a crest because crests are not granted to women. Like a crest, her badge may appear above her shield. The entire achievement consists of:[55]
Escutcheon
Gules between two Cotises bendwise two Masks bendwise in bend one of Comedy in chief and the other of Tragedy in base the ties hanging inwards those in base overlapping those in chief all between two Pūtōrino [Māori bugle flutes] bendwise Or
Supporters
On a Compartment Vert on which are red Pōhutukawa Blossom and yellow Kōwhai Flowers slipped and leaved two Tīeke Birds Proper
Motto
He Toi Whakairo He Mana Tangata ("Where there is artistic excellence there is human dignity")
(And for the Badge) A female Huia proper statant on a Fern Frond curved upwards to the dexter Vert all within a solid Circular Chain charged with four stylised Mānuka Flowers in cross Or.
Symbolism
The overall design alludes to Reddy's interest in the arts which she shares with her husband. For the arms, the colour red is a play on the surname Reddy. Gold alludes to achievement. It may also allude to constancy and wisdom. The cotises (narrow bendlets either side of the bend) alludes to film and the film industry. The cotises may also allude to the position of the sash of a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (GNZM) when worn over the right shoulder. The two theatrical Masks (comedy and tragedy) represent the performing and visual arts, in particular opera and music. For the badge, the gold chain and stylised mānuka flowers allude to the Principal Companion's badge of the Queen's Service Order.
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