Ambition, Gender Equality & Being Governor General

Dame patsy reddy reveals why she was the right woman for the job.

- Kelly Bertrand

Having tea with the governor-general of New Zealand is quite the experience.

There’s the fine china, of course – a delicate teacup with a gold gilt crown on the side, served by a charming young assistant – and the impressive three-tiered stand laden with tiny sandwiches, cakes and, on the occasion of our visit, Michelle Obama’s favourite cookies (leftovers from Barack’s visit the day before).

And there’s the fact our host must be announced before appearing. “Her Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Patsy Reddy,” an attendant proclaims as she glides into the sitting room of Government House, all poise and elegance in royal blue.

A passionate advocate of the arts (she was awarded her damehood in 2014 for services to the arts and business), she points out a few works on the wall by Kiwi artists, before picking up her cup of green tea and a slice of vegan carrot cake – she and husband Sir David Gascoigne (78) both follow plant-based diets – before settling into the sofa.

Patsy (63), a former lawyer, businesswoman, Treaty of Waitangi negotiator and company director from the tiny town of Te Akau, near Hamilton, has been the Queen’s representative in New Zealand since 2016 – and she admits when thenPrime Minister John Key asked her to do the job, she was gobsmacked. She even suggested better candidates for the role, including her husband, a prominent lawyer.

“I got this call from the prime minister’s chief of staff asking if I had time to pop in and see the PM that day,” she recalls. “I was wearing jeans! So I asked if tomorrow was okay.”

Likening the experience to going to the principal’s office, Patsy dutifully and warily went in – and the prime minister told her she’d better sit down.