Frazer speech notes – NZ Asian Lawyers Awards 6 November 2025
E ngā mana
E ngā reo
E ngā rau Rangatira mā
Sir Anand Satyanand
Kei taku Rangitira.
Tēnei te mihi nui
kia a koe.
Ngā taniwha o te tika me te pono
E ngā Rōia,
E ngā kaitiaki o ngā ture o Aotearoa
Tēnā koutou katoa
I‘m sorry not to be there in person, but I had a meeting with the Attorney General and just couldn’t get there in time.
It is an honour to be invited to be a judge at these second NZ Asian Lawyers Awards, in which we recognise the achievements of the award winners, and celebrate the important contribution made by all those gathered here tonight.
We are also incredibly fortunate to have been graced with one of our most preeminent members of the legal profession – Sir Anand Satyanand. Sir Anand, thank you for supporting this event and thank you for your long service to the law and to New Zealand, and thank you for your insightful words.
Thank you to both Pam and Mai, and also the awards judges Takeshi and Ayush, for driving this event and the support that you give for the diverse nation that we serve as lawyers in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is hugely important that as lawyers we represent the communities that we serve. Our profession must reflect the society that we live in.
Law Society data shows us that the number of Asian lawyers in New Zealand is growing year on year, and this is further reflected in Law School numbers throughout the country. Overall, Asian Lawyers now represent 12 per cent of the profession and bring a diverse and valuable range of cultural and linguistic skills and experiences.
Of our newest practitioners, who are those in the 0-7 years cohort, 19.4 per cent identify as Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian or other Asian. The top three languages other than English that are spoken by this group are Mandarin, Hindi and Korean, with Punjabi, Tagalog and Malaysian also making the top ten.
The chances now of having an Asian client or appearing in court on a matter that involves an Asian party is ever increasing and so it becomes more important for all of the profession to advance their awareness of the cultural and linguistic issues that can influence proceedings.
It’s crucial that Asian lawyers succeed. I know I’m preaching to the converted here, but I’d encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities for connection and collegiality that are offered by organisations such as NZ Asian Lawyers and the Law Society. Building those pathways and interconnections with the profession will help you to be successful and to meet your full potential.
So while we are here tonight to acknowledge and highlight the achievements of Asian lawyers, there are other aspects to my role as Law Society President in which there is perhaps less cause for a celebratory mood, and I’d like to offer a few remarks about the
rule of law.
I was honoured to recently attend and speak at two conferences in India on behalf of the Law Society. I spoke on the importance of diversity in the legal profession as a means of better serving communities and protecting the rights of the vulnerable. The conversations that I had at these global events have reflected a world in which adherence to the rule of law is declining year by year.
My counterparts have told me of concern for the safety of lawyers, targeting of the judiciary, and disregard for – or the deliberate dismantling of – constitutional safeguards.
Here at home, lawyers and the Law Society have a fundamental obligation to uphold the rule of law.
The Law Society discharges this important function in a number of ways, including, commenting on law reform proposals, intervening in court proceedings which engage rule of law issues, and advocating to strengthen the rule of law. Earlier this year we published a landmark report on Strengthening the Rule of Law in Aotearoa New
Zealand, which highlighted the ongoing and emerging challenges which have an impact on trust and confidence in the rule of law.
The report identifies barriers to access to justice as one of the most pressing threats.
This can include:
• Difficulties with accessing and understanding the law.
• Difficulties accessing lawyers and legal advice.
This of course underlines what I was saying earlier about lawyers needing to reflect the communities we serve.
While we may not face challenges of the same magnitude as other nations, we do face challenges. For the rule of law to remain strong, we must all remain vigilant and be proactive and vocal in responding to challenges as they emerge.
Fortunately, attending events such as this one tonight gives me a lot of hope that we are well-placed as a profession to rise to that challenge.
I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to all the nominees tonight. To our newer lawyers, you are our future. That future is richly diverse and all the more valuable and propitious for it.
I’ll conclude by congratulating the winners and commending all nominees for making our judging job so challenging because of the high calibre of the candidates.
We met with all candidates so that we could get to know them better. The quality was universally high and we were faced with a very difficult task to choose between them.
Jochebed impressed us with her warmth, her energy and her enthusiasm, which was infectious. In the end, she was the obvious candidate to win the community award.
When it came to the Asian Lawyer of the Year award, we were faced with the dilemma of how to choose between two very strong candidates, each of whom had quite different strengths. Karen undoubtedly had to be recognised for her huge achievements in her high profile career path, but Hannah deserved recognition for her career path which has her doing criminal legal aid in South Auckland. We know this can be a really hard grind and it is important to recognise and respect this. in the end, both were equally deserving of the award.
No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
