Anand Satyanand was born on 22 July 1944 and raised in Auckland to an ethnic Indo-New Zealander family of Indo-Fijian descent and Telugu as well as mixed Awadhi–Bhojpuri ancestry.

[4] His father, Mutyala Satyanand, was born in Sigatoka of Telugu descent in 1913 and arrived in New Zealand in 1927 to attend high school and later university.

[4] Satyanand attended Sacred Heart College in Auckland, and then undertook the medical intermediate course at the University of Otago in Dunedin.

Looking back over that year, I remembered that one of the things I had really enjoyed was the debating and forum meetings involving students.

During the 1966 general election, Satyanand helped Clive Edwards (later Tongan Deputy Prime Minister) when he stood in Auckland Central for National.

Both were injured, and Satyanand suffered serious spinal injury; he broke his C2 and C3 vertebrae, and had to wear a halo traction to keep his head straight.

In 2006, Satyanand was appointed Governor-General by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the New Zealand government under Prime Minister Helen Clark.

However, following the changes to the New Zealand honours system announced by Prime Minister John Key on 8 March 2009,[23] the Queen approved Satyanand's redesignation from a Principal Companion in the New Zealand Order of Merit (PCNZM) to a Knight Grand Companion of that Order (GNZM) on 27 March 2009.

This style was accorded for life to all future governors-general, prime ministers, chief justices, and Speakers of Parliament.

Although he hosted the meeting, he did not take part in the discussions, which were chaired by New Zealand's then Foreign Minister, Winston Peters.

At the opening of the new New Lynn Train Station on 25 September 2010, Satyanand stated heavy investment in motorways and the decline of public transport after trams were taken off the roads in the 1950s had led to severe congestion to the detriment of both individuals and the economy.

"[33][34] Henry attracted criticism from both sides of politics and New Zealand's race relations commissioner Joris de Bres.