Editing Silvia Cartwright (section)

===Governor-General of New Zealand===
Cartwright's term as [[Governor-General of New Zealand]] was from 4 April 2001 to 4 August 2006. She was succeeded by [[Anand Satyanand]] at midday on 23 August 2006. During the intervening period, Chief Justice [[Sian Elias|Dame Sian Elias]] was the [[Administrator of the Government]] (acting governor-general).{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

On 16 June 2002, Cartwright made a speech at the Annual General Meeting of [[Save The Children]]'s New Zealand branch, in which she criticised section 59 of the [[Crimes Act 1961]], which allowed parents to use "reasonable force" to discipline their children.<ref name="smacking_speech">{{cite web|title=Speech to Save the Children AGM|url=http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/utilities/printspeech.asp?ID=21|date=16 June 2002|author=Dame Silvia Cartwright|accessdate=23 July 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928045740/http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/utilities/printspeech.asp?ID=21 |archivedate = 28 September 2007}}</ref> A number of groups criticised this position, such as the [[Society for the Promotion of Community Standards]]<ref name="SPCS">{{cite web|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0206/S00102.htm|title=GG's Views on Smacking Kids Attack Family|date=18 June 2002|accessdate=7 August 2010}}</ref> – the [[Monarchist League of New Zealand|Monarchist League]] stated that these comments were "overstepping the mark" for a representative of the Queen,<ref name="mnz_dame_silvia">{{cite web|title=Monarchy New Zealand, November 2002|date=November 2002|url=http://www.geocities.com/cox_nz/|author=Monarchist League of New Zealand|author-link=Monarchist League of New Zealand|accessdate=7 August 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026234758/http://geocities.com/cox_nz/|archivedate=26 October 2009}}</ref> while Green Party MP [[Sue Bradford]] welcomed the comments.<ref name="greens_gg">{{cite web|title=Violence against children shaping up as election issue|url=https://home.greens.org.nz/press-releases/violence-against-children-shaping-election-issue|date=17 June 2002|accessdate=27 May 2015|archive-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518062706/https://home.greens.org.nz/press-releases/violence-against-children-shaping-election-issue|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 12 August 2002, in a speech at the opening of the Specialised Applied Research Centre of the [[Victoria University of Wellington]], Cartwright questioned whether longer sentences would reduce criminal reoffending rates. This was after the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002 were passed – Acts for which Cartwright granted Royal Assent on 12 July 2002. The Acts introduced mandatory sentences for criminal convictions, and reduced the likelihood of parole.<ref name="sentencing_speech">{{cite web|url=http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/utilities/printspeech.asp?ID=39|title=Speech at the Opening of the Specialised Applied Research Centre Victoria University Wellington|date=12 August 2002|accessdate=23 July 2007|author=Dame Silvia Cartwright |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928045749/http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/utilities/printspeech.asp?ID=39 |archivedate = 28 September 2007}}</ref> [[ACT New Zealand]] MP [[Stephen Franks]] was critical of the remarks, stating "I don't think she was regarded as one of the most weighty judges and she's putting herself into a difficult constitutional position by weighing in this area",<ref name="TVNZ_gg">{{cite web|title=Dame Silvia joins sentencing debate|date=13 August 2002|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425825/123803|author=Television New Zealand|author-link=Television New Zealand|accessdate=7 August 2010}}</ref> as was the [[Sensible Sentencing Trust]]. However, Prime Minister [[Helen Clark]] defended the governor-general, stating "One of the challenges for us is we clearly are no longer a dominion of Britain where the Governor-General is exactly like the Queen".<ref name="clark_herald">{{cite news|title=Clark foresees president role|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2349518|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|agency=NZPA|date=15 August 2002|accessdate=7 August 2010}}</ref>

On [[Waitangi Day]] 2004, following [[New Zealand National Party|National]] leader [[Don Brash]]'s controversial [[Orewa Speech]] on race relations, Cartwright controversially gave a different interpretation of the phrase "He iwi tahi tatou".<ref name="orewa_speech">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=350&objectid=3547692|title=Governor-General expected to give different interpretation of Brash's treaty quote|date=6 February 2004|accessdate=23 July 2007}}</ref>

Following the [[2005 New Zealand general election|2005 general election]], former National deputy leader [[Gerry Brownlee]] stated that Cartwright had not allowed National the chance at forming a government. Brownlee said "I have to publicly say that I have lost respect for the Governor-General and I think it is time we sat down now and started to look at a much more formal constitution for New Zealand". In response, Helen Clark said that the governor-general followed a "very, very proper process".<ref name="nzh_brownlee">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354305|title=Brownlee outburst backfires|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=9 November 2005|accessdate=23 July 2007}}</ref>