PM saddened by passing of Christopher Doig

Prime Minister John Key today said the country had lost a remarkable New Zealander with the passing of Christopher Doig.

“I am saddened to learn of the passing of Chris, who I was fortunate to get to know in recent years and to see just last week,” Mr Key said.

“Chris was a remarkable New Zealander – he made a great contribution to our country in both culture and sport. Even in his final days he was helping the people of Christchurch as a driving force behind the Placido Domingo concert which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for arts in the city.”

Mr Doig was known as an international opera singer and was the Director of the International Festival of the Arts for a period during the 1990s. In the sporting world, Mr Doig was CEO at New Zealand Cricket and had also held a position on the boards of the New Zealand Rugby Union and Rowing New Zealand for a time.

“Chris’s contribution is not limited to these organisations – he made a wide-ranging and significant contribution to New Zealand,” Mr Key said.

Mr Doig was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours earlier this year for services to the arts and sport.