To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CLARKE, Mr Herbert John Te Kauru, CNZM
For services to Māori and heritage preservation
Mr John Clarke has held a range of roles in education and Crown agencies throughout his career and since the mid-1990s has played a role in almost 30 completed Treaty settlements around New Zealand.
Mr Clarke continues to advance relationships between Māori, between Māori and their community and region, and between Māori and the Crown. He has been a Cultural Advisor to the Crown Law Office since 2004 and has continued in a Cultural Advisor role with the Office of Treaty Settlements since 1997. He has been Chair of the Māori Heritage Council since 2013, during which time he has been instrumental in bedding in the new Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. As Deputy Chair of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga from 2014 he has worked on changes to the organisation to implement new requirements, such as the enhanced role of the Māori Heritage Council. He has been responsible for a major initiative to reinvigorate and update the vision for Māori heritage as articulated in the document titled ‘Tapuwae’, which captures the philosophy underpinning the work to safeguard Māori heritage places in New Zealand, and the acknowledgement of the role that iwi and hapu have with regard to heritage places. Mr Clarke was responsible for expediting the transfer and vesting of Rangiriri from Pohere Taonga to Waikato-Tainui.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2011
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WHITE, The Honourable Douglas John, QC
For services to the judiciary
The Honourable Douglas White was a Judge of the Court of Appeal from 2012 until his retirement in 2015.
Mr White was previously a High Court Judge from 2009, after having practised as a Queen’s Counsel from 1988. He was a member of the Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the Medical Council of New Zealand and was the legal assessor to Disciplinary Tribunal of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He was counsel to the Auditor-General in an inquiry into the New Zealand Tourism Board in 1999 and counsel to the New Zealand Law Society in respect of the Law Practitioners’ Act reform and Lawyers and Conveyancers’ Act 2006. He conducted inquiries for the State Services Commissioner into the New Zealand Defence Force and Civil Aviation Authority, as well as an inquiry for the Prime Minister into Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust. From 2005 to 2007 he was the legal advisor to Dame Margaret Bazley in relation to the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct. He was involved with Victoria University of Wellington from the late 1970s in a range of roles including Chancellor. He was the Convenor of the Education Review Office National Advisory Council on Quality in Education. Mr White was appointed President of the Law Commission in 2016.
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLIAMS, Mr Bryan George, CNZM, MBE
For services to rugby
Mr Bryan Williams has been involved in rugby in New Zealand and Samoa since the 1960s.
Mr Williams previously played for the All Blacks from 1970 to 1978, played Provincial rugby for Auckland and club rugby for Ponsonby, and coached the Samoan national team in the 1990s. He was appointed President of New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) from 2011 to 2013 and oversaw the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He has been a member of Ponsonby Rugby Football Club since 1960 and has held a number of positions including as President and Director of Rugby from 2001 to 2015. He continues to serve on the Club’s Committee. He established the Rugby Academy at Mount Albert Grammar School, and served as Director until 2012. In 2017, in honour of their former student, the school renamed their number one playing field the BG Williams Field. He continues as Patron and Past President of the New Zealand Barbarians Rugby Club, having served as President from 2015 to 2016. He is a Trustee of the New Zealand Rugby Foundation. Mr Williams received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland in 2015.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2013
Member of the Order of the British Empire, Queen’s Birthday 1983