GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24904, 18 June 1946, Page 6

GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND

General Freyberg Takes Office CEREMONY IN PARLIAMENT GROUNDS

(P.A.)

WELLINGTON, June 17.

Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., K.C.8., K.8.E., C. 8., C.M.G., D.S.O. and two bars, two and a half hours after he disembarked from the Buahine this morning became Governor-General of New Zealand at an impressive ceremony in ■which he took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office and signed the proclamation of assumption of office.

As the redoubtable commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force General Freyberg was given a warm greeting by many hundreds of former servicemen and women among the big crowd which gathered in Parliament grounds for the occasion, and as a distinguished adopted New Zealander he was given an enthusiastic reception by thousands of Wellington citizens. The day was fine.

General and Lady Freyberg arrived by the Ruahine, which entered port on Saturday evening and berthed yesterday. They were welcomed on landing this morning by members of the Wellington Harbour Board, receiving an illuminated address. They then went to the war memorial, General Freyberg deposited a wreath and paid tribute to the war dead. On the way to Government House the party called at the Town Hall, where civic dignitaries were introduced.

chiefs, inspected a composite service guard of honour. When General Freyberg and his suite took their seats on the flag-draped dais, the commission of appointment was read, and the Governor-General-desig-nate then took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office, which were administered by the Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers). The proclamation of assumption of office was also read,, and as soon as his Excellency had signed it, the guard of honour gave the Royal salute, and the Governor-General’s flag was broken out.

A flight of aircraft escorted the official party from Government House to Parliament House. The grounds were crowded, and all buildings were decorated. When General Freyberg stepped from his car he was attended by Major-General N. W. McD. Weir, Chief of the General Staff, Air ViceMarshal A. de T. Nevill, Chief of the Air Staff, and Commodore G. H. Faulkner, Chief of the Naval Staff. After the Royal salute, General Freyberg, preceded by his naval and Air Force aides-de-camp, and followed by his military secretary, Major the Hon. N. Wigram, and the three service

At the conclusion of the salute the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) delivered a speech of welcome, to which his Excellency replied. General Freyberg, then descended from the dais, and inspected a parade of foYmer servicemen and women of this and the first world war. He shook hands with many with whom he was acquainted. After the inspection the guard of honour again gave the Royal salute as the vice-regal party moved off and returned to Government House, with a flight of aircraft overhead.

PRIME MINISTER’S WELCOME

Mr Fraser in a welcome on behalf of the Government and people, of New Zealand, pakeha and Maori, and the people of its island dependencies and the mandated territory of Western Samoa, said: “It is the earnest wish of the Government and all the people of the country that your period of office will be most pleasant. We feel assured that it will be beneficial and profitable for our nation.

“We sincerely hope that Lady Freyberg’s stay in our midst will Be a most happy one. She has already, by her never-failing kindness and gracious consideration, endeared herself to many thousands of men and women who served in our forces. “To-day we welcome you back to your own land, as one of her most distinguished sons. There could be no better choice for the high and responsible position of Governor-General than that of a man whose life was so closely associated with New Zealand and the Mother Country. “You arriVe when New Zealand, like the rest of the British Commonwealth, after the sternest trials and dangers of war, is facing the problems of reconstruction after victory. You will find men and women inspired with a fervent wish to share to the full with their kinsfolk in the United Kingdom and other parts of the British Commonwealth, the £ask of rebuilding our material strength, of safeguarding and promoting our hard-won liberties, and of preserving Christian civilisation and our democratic way of life.

“It has rarely fallen to the lot of a commander to Be so closely identified with his men as you have been. We remember the instantaneous and

general approval of your appointment to command the New Zealand Division, and the confidence that that appointment inspired ambng the people whose men you were to lead. Throughout the period of the war to the New Zealand government, whom you served with the utmost loyalty and devotion, you were a tower of strength. The finest of New Zealand’s manhood was entrusted to you. We always appreciated your realisation of that responsibility. From the early experiences of your boyhood, youth and early manhood in New Zealand, and from your long association with New Zealand troops, you have a deep kinship with the people of this country, and therefore take office under the happiest auspices among friends. “We face, a period now when all the best qualities of the New Zealand people are demanded to meet the work of reconstruction and readjustment. I feel your presence will have a beneficial and strengthening influence, particularly among young people, in the years ahead. “Our feelings of warm friendship in welcoming Lady Freyberg are comparably deep, and I wish to express on behalf of the people of New Zealand the warmest appreciation of her outstanding and untiring work for the welfare of the men and girls overseas.” Mr Fraser said the pakeha and Maori people of New Zealand were bound together in a common destiny, and in loyal devotion to the British Throne and Commonwealth. He added that the part of Maori servicemen in this war was symbolic of the fraternal unity. The Maori people looked forward to welcoming their Excellencies with, all their customary friendliness, as indeed did al] New Zealanders.

GENERAL FREYBERG’S REPLY

General Freyberg said: “I am deeply touched by the welcome you have given me. and I am most grateful for the kind personal references made to both of us.

“In receiving me here to-day the Government dnd people of New Zealand are again showing the traditional devotion of the two races, pakeha and Maori, to the King and the Royal Family. “It has been an inspiration to us ail during the war to see how the indeS endent and sovereign countries of the mpire have united under the Royal ’ leadership and played their part in the great campaigns in the defence of freedom. The war put a heavy strain on the Empire as a whole but no people made a finer contribution to the general cause than the people of New Zealand.

“During my audience with Their Majesties last April they wished me. as did also Queen Mary, to carry a special message to the people of New Zealand and to tell them how much they remember their visits to these hospitable shores. I will take an early opportunity of assuring Their Majesties of your great devotion and affection for them personally, and for all that the Royal Family stands for. “I am glad to be welcomed to-day by representatives of the Maori people, for whom, as soldiers and as men and women. I have such affection and admiration. I hope at an early date to renew my friendships amongst the Maori people.” General Freyberg paid a tribute to the New Zealand forces for the gallant way in which they upheld the honour of New Zealand. “No one is better qualified to do so than I. because during my six years in the service of the Government I had every chance of hearing the opinions of our Allies, and seeing with my own eyes the great qualities of the men and women you sent overseas. Their qualities have been most generously praised by the British and all our Allies. I can say with great sincerity that the reputa-

tion of the New Zealand forces, sea, land, and air, has been most remarkable. They lived up to the great traditions of Anzac, and proved themselves worthy sons of the men of the last Great War.”

General Freyberg said he hoped he would have an opportunity of renewing many friendships in New Zealand with the friends of his youth, many of whom had written to him faithfully over a period of 30 years, and having had more than 70,000 New Zealand men and women under his direct command, he would look forward to frequent reunions with them, which would be among the most precious and happy moments of his years of office.

“Mr Prime Minister, you referred to the fact that I am the first New Zealander to be your Governor-Gene-ral. I am as conscious of this great honour as I am of the fact that I foflow a line of most distinguished predecessors—statesmen, sailors, soldiers and airmen. I am therefore fully aware of the responsibility that has been placed upon my shoulders. These are difficult times for those in high position. I am convinced that so long as we stand together, and uphold the principles for which we fought, and tackle our problems as they arise with courage and optimism, we can successfully overcome our. difficulties, *as we did in the war years. i “For the last six years I have been your general. To-day, I become your Governor-General. This, for me, is a farewell to arms, but by no means a farewell to work. I hope from now onward to devote my energies whereever they can best be used in home life, in your work, in the realms of welfare and of recreation. I shall develop my time to the labours of my office, which will enable me to watch with sympathy the progress and prosperity of New Zealanders who have done so much in the past, and who, by their efforts, have earned for themselves a place of honour in the world.”