Former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand has been inducted into the Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame at a glittering function at the Cordis Hotel, Auckland on Friday, August 9.
The name of Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand does not need any introduction.
A former lawyer, judge and ombudsman, Sir Anand Satyanand rose to the highest public office that this country can offer to anyone when he served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011.
Till recently he was heading the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Institutions and Faith-based Institutions – a prestigious position from which he resigned on Tuesday, August 6, sighting the increased work load, given the further expansion in the scope of the enquiry since it was first constituted in February 2018.
The list of crucial government and inter-governmental leadership positions that he has held in the past or continues to hold as of now is long and illustrious.
Soon after resigning from the Royal Commission, Sir Anand announced that he will be taking up the position of Chancellor of Waikato University - for a part-time governance and ceremonial role - and will start a four-year term in November.
Born and raised in Auckland to a Fiji-Indian family in 1944, Sir Anand attended Sacred Heart College and graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Auckland in 1970.
In 1982, he was appointed as a District Court Judge with a jury trial warrant, working in Palmerston North and then in a number of Auckland courts.
During this time he was involved in the development of judicial orientation and professional education programmes and served as a Prison Board chairman and on the National Parole Board.
In 1995 he was appointed as a Parliamentary Ombudsman, serving two five-year terms.
In 2009 he was re-designated as a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
In 2011, he received Indian government’s most prestigious award that can be offered to a person of Indian origin – the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.
In the same year he was made a Member of the Royal Order of the Crown by the King of Tonga.
On the family and community front, he has been married to Susan Sharpe since 1970 and they have three children and several grandchildren.
Sir Anand has contributed immensely and exemplarily in New Zealand’s public life in the last five decades and continues to bring the same passion, energy, and leadership in his day to day engagement with the wider community.
He is indeed one of the most deserving Kiwi-Indian sons who have risen to the highest office of this land through his sheer hard work, diligence and commitment.
We are honoured to induct him into the Indian Weekender’s Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame 2019.