To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
FAULL, Distinguished Professor Richard Lewis Maxwell, ONZM
For services to medical research
Distinguished Professor Richard Faull has been involved with the University of Auckland for 38 years, during which time he has established an international reputation for his innovative ground-breaking research studies on the normal and diseased human brain, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Motor Neuron diseases.
In 2009 Professor Faull established and was appointed inaugural director of the Centre for Brain Research (CBR) to promote new treatments and facilitate research interactions between brain research groups at the University of Auckland, clinicians in Auckland Hospitals and community organisations. The CBR now comprises 70 research groups with more than 450 researchers and students, 40 clinicians and 23 community organisations. The CBR has achieved an international ranking amongst the leading brain centres in the world. Professor Faull has raised more than $15 million in philanthropic funding to support CBR’s advancement. In 2014 he and Professor Wickliffe Abraham headed a successful Centre of Research Excellence bid with Brain Research New Zealand – Rangahau Roro Aotearoa to focus on the ageing brain. He is Patron of Alzheimer’s Auckland, the Auckland Huntington’s Disease Association, the Alzheimer’s New Zealand Charitable Trust and the Motor Neuron Disease Association of New Zealand. Professor Faull was selected to deliver the Sir Paul Reeves Lecture in 2013.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2005
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ROCHE, Mr Brian Joseph
For services to the State and business
Mr Brian Roche has been Chief Executive of New Zealand Post since 2010 and has overseen a significant transformation of the organisation and as a Director contributed to the expansion of its subsidiary Kiwibank.
Mr Roche is regarded as a ‘go to’ person and his leadership skills have been called upon to solve strategic issues in public sector organisations and private sector businesses. He was head of the Bid Project Team for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was subsequently Chair of the company which ran the tournament. He played a key role in bringing stakeholders together to achieve the successful bid to host the RWC in New Zealand. He was Chair of the World War One Centenary Panel and contributed to the successful running of centenary events throughout New Zealand. He was chief Crown negotiator on Treaty of Waitangi settlements in the 1990s and is recognised as having been a major contributor to the successful outcome of the Ngai Tahu settlement, which laid the framework for subsequent Treaty negotiations. He was the inaugural Chair of the Auckland Regional Transport and the first Chair of the New Zealand Transport Authority when it was established in 2008. He is recognised as having played a significant role in business transformations, including the Gas Industry Company. Mr Roche has been an Independent Chair of Hurricanes Rugby since 2013 and currently Chairs Antarctica New Zealand, Tait Communications, and the Wellington Gateway Project (Transmission Gully).
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TALAGI, The Honourable Toke Tufukia
For services to Niue
The Honourable Toke Talagi has been Premier of Niue since 2008 and a Common Roll member of the Niue Assembly since 1999.
Mr Talagi has overseen a significant expansion of the tourism industry resulting in increased jobs and income for the people of Niue. He has been a key player in the Polynesia Leaders Group, and as Premier was instrumental in Niue becoming one of the founding members of the Group. He was appointed Niue’s Consul General in Auckland in 1981 and served in this role before becoming Director of Niue’s Economic Affairs Department. From 2002 he held Ministerial roles in finance, telecommunications, education and the environment. As Minister for the Environment he led the Niue delegations to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and the 2005 Barbados Plan of Action meeting in Mauritius. As Minister of Education he participated in numerous Pacific regional meetings, particularly regular meetings of the Pacific Islands Forum Education Ministers and the University of the South Pacific Council. He has spearheaded efforts to protect Niue’s Taoga (cultural treasures), including the Niuean language since 2004. As Premier of Niue, he drove the construction of a new Primary School in Niue, completed in 2016 to support improved quality of education. Mr Talagi played a key role in the establishment in 2006 of the Niue International Trust Fund to support projects for Niue’s future development.
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLIAMS, Mr David Arthur Rhodes, QC
For services to international law and international arbitration
Mr David Williams has been recognised as one of the top international arbitrators in the world and has been an arbitrator in more than 150 international arbitrations.
Mr Williams helped establish a branch of the International Chamber of Commerce, Court of Arbitration, Paris in New Zealand (ICCNZ). This enabled New Zealand lawyers to serve on the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. He was the first New Zealand Appointee to the ICC Court of Arbitration from 1999 to 2002. He has been a long time member of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) holding the position of President from 2004 to 2006, during which time he established the AMINZ Arbitration Appeals Tribunal. He is involved with AMINZ International, which seeks to promote New Zealand as a venue for international arbitrations from Australasian and Oceania. He served as a Judge of the High Court of New Zealand from 1991 to 1994. He has been a Judge in the Cook Islands for more than 15 years and is currently President of the Cook Islands Court of Appeal. In 2010 he drafted an Arbitration Act which was passed by the Cook Islands Parliament. With Ms Amokura Kawharu he authored New Zealand’s leading text on arbitration. Early in his career Mr Williams helped found the Environmental Defence Society wrote New Zealand’s first legal text book on Environmental Law.