David Beattie

Early life

Born in Sydney on 29 February 1924, he was brought up by his mother in Takapuna. He went to Dilworth School in Auckland.

In 1941, at age 17, he joined the army during World War II, and rose to the rank of sergeant before transferring to the Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Sub-Lieutenant.

Judge of the Supreme Court

After the war, he gained a law degree at the University of Auckland in 1948 before setting up in private practice. In 1969 Beattie was appointed as a Supreme Court judge (the old name for the High Court, not to be confused with the new final court of appeal, the Supreme Court of New Zealand), serving on the bench until 1980.

He was heavily involved in sports administration, serving as New Zealand Olympic Committee president for 11 years. He was president of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association in 1989 and was president of the Sports Foundation twice. His work was recognized with the award of the Olympic Order. He was also patron of the New Zealand Rugby Union, the New Zealand Boxing Association, the New Zealand Squash Rackets Association, and the legion of Frontiersmen (NZ) Command. He was a keen golfer, tennis player and fisherman.

Governor-General

On 1 August 1980 Beattie was appointed as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and was granted the right to retain the title of The Honourable for life. One of the roles of Governor-General is to act as Grand Prior of New Zealand, and Beattie was appointed as a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem just prior to assuming the office of Governor-General. He was appointed as Governor-General by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of her New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, his term of office beginning on 6 November 1980 and continuing until 10 November 1985. On resignation from office, both Sir David and Lady Beattie were appointed as Companions of the Queen's Service Order. Sir David was recognised for his Public Services and Lady Beattie for Community Service.

Controversies

At the height of the Springbok tour of 1981, Beattie met a delegation from Halt All Racist Tours. Beattie promised to discuss their issues with the Prime Minister Rob Muldoon. Beattie was ridiculed by supporters of the tour, and as a result, the Prime Minister refused to speak to the Governor-General about his meeting with HART.

Beattie again caused controversy when he met with protesters trying to petition the Queen at the 1983 Waitangi Day celebrations, after the Prime Minister had blocked all petitions. As a result, Muldoon declared that Beattie's term would not be extended beyond the traditional five-year tenure.

Beattie's final controversial move was to import two Mercedes-Benz cars at the end of his term in 1985. At the time the Governor-General was exempt from paying taxes and thus exempt from paying import tariffs on cars as well. The tax benefit to Beattie was $85,000.00.

Constitutional Crisis

Following the 1984 general election, a political crisis arose. Muldoon declined to follow the instructions of the incoming Prime Minister, David Lange, as he was constitutionally required to do. At the time, many felt that Muldoon should accede to Lange's demands. It has been stated that Beattie suggested to senior members of the National Party that he could dismiss Muldoon and appoint his deputy, Jim McLay, as Prime Minister before swearing in David Lange as Prime Minister (McLay was to replace Muldoon as leader later that year). However, such action proved unnecessary as Muldoon's cabinet threatened to remove him as leader themselves if he did not accept Lange's instructions.

The crisis led to an inquiry which recommended passing the Constitution Act 1986.

Beattie died in Upper Hutt in February 2001.