To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CHAMBERS, Professor Stephen Thomas
For services to infectious disease research
Professor Stephen Chambers established the Infectious Diseases Department at Christchurch Hospital in 1987, the first such service in New Zealand outside of Auckland, and he remained Clinical Director until 2015.
During this time Professor Chambers built the Department from a one doctor operation to a service that has trained a large proportion of New Zealand’s infectious disease physicians. For more than a decade he was the only infectious diseases physician in the South Island. He also founded and developed The Infection Group, a collaboration between the Canterbury District Health Board and the University of Otago that is now a leading infectious diseases clinical research team in New Zealand and a world leader in research on certain diseases. The collaboration has been used as a model for how practical and clinically relevant research can be incorporated into health service activities and lead to improved patient outcomes. He has held a range of public health roles including as Chair of the Polio Eradication Committee for the Ministry of Health, the Medical Committee of the Pacific Leprosy Foundation, Chair of Canterbury DHB’s Antimicrobial stewardship and Infection Control Committees, and Co-Chair of the South Island Hospital Antimicrobial Group. In 2016 Professor Chambers founded the Charles Farthing Memorial Scholarship fund to promote research among young doctors and scientists.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CHETWIN, Ms Suzanne Eleanor (Sue)
For services to consumer rights
Ms Sue Chetwin has made significant contributions to consumer rights as Chief Executive of Consumer New Zealand from 2007 to 2020.
Having begun her career in journalism, Ms Chetwin was editor of the Sunday News from 1994 to 1998, the Sunday Star-Times from 1998 to 2003, and founding editor of the Herald on Sunday from 2003 to 2005. As Chief Executive of Consumer New Zealand she successfully campaigned for many important consumer law reforms, including prohibitions on unfair contract terms, fairness in consumer credit contracts, country of origin labelling, and controlling door knockers. She has led other successful campaigns on behalf of consumers including calling for mandatory standards for sunscreens, helping to regulate mobile truck shops, and calling out businesses on misleading claims such as greenwashing. Her commitment to consumer rights have contributed to New Zealand having a strong consumer protection ethos. She has advocated for consumers at Parliamentary committees and other public arenas both nationally and internationally. Ms Chetwin serves as a Board member of the Financial Markets Authority and Food Standards Australia New Zealand, is a member of a Law Society Steering Group for the review of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, and is Chair of the InternetNZ Policy Review Advisory Panel, reviewing the ‘.nz’ domain name space.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
FINUCANE, Dr Annabel Kirsten (Kirsten), ONZM
For services to health, particularly paediatric heart surgery
Dr Kirsten Finucane was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 for her services to medicine and paediatric heart surgery.
Dr Finucane has been Chief Surgeon of the Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Service at Starship Hospital in Auckland for close to 20 years. This National Service performs around 400 bypasses per year including the full range of neonatal surgery, transplants and complex adult congenital cases. She helped establish the Hearts 4 Kids Trust in 2015, which provides funds for repairs of simple congenital heart defects in Fijian babies and children, allowing them through a single operation, to live life without the need for long term medication or follow-up. She has led medical teams to Fiji to operate on children there who do not otherwise have access to heart surgery. This has required the transport of seven tonnes of medical equipment from Auckland each yearly visit. Dr Finucane is one of 24 doctors and nurses on the Hearts 4 Kids Trust team who have taken annual leave to voluntarily work in the islands for one week on an annual basis.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2009
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
FYFE, Mr Robert Ian (Rob)
For services to business and tourism
Mr Rob Fyfe was formerly CEO of Air New Zealand from 2005 to 2012 and CEO and Chairman of New Zealand clothing manufacturing company Icebreaker from 2013 to 2018.
Mr Fyfe’s leadership of Air New Zealand helped develop the New Zealand brand and tourism image. As CEO, he was a key driver of recognising those who lost their lives in the 1979 Erebus and 2008 Perpignan tragedies, as well as their families. In the wake of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake he oversaw Air New Zealand’s provision of cheap and flexible flights in and out of Christchurch. He was appointed in 2018 as independent advisor to Government on plans for the re-entry of the Pike River drift. He has previously been General Manager of the Bank of New Zealand and Chief Operating Officer of ITV Digital. Mr Fyfe has been a Director of Jeweller Michael Hill International since 2014, an independent Director of Trilogy International ltd, Chairman of the CEO Board of Star Alliance, a member of the Board of Governors at the International Air Transport Association, a Director of Antarctica New Zealand, and is a current Director of Hammerforce and Advisor to Craggy Range.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GOWLAND, Dr Stuart Peter, QSO
For services to health and education
Dr Stuart Gowland has made significant contributions to the development and improvement of rural health services in New Zealand.
Dr Gowland developed the concept of a mobile surgical unit for general day surgery in rural communities. He set up the company Mobile Surgical Services and campaigned for investors and government funding to establish a mobile surgical bus, eventually leading to the launch of the service in 2002. The Mobile Surgical Bus has since operated for the past 17 years in small towns, with close to 25,000 surgeries having been performed. He also pioneered remote collaboration for rural health professionals in the early 2000s, using video conferencing to assist with continuing education and reduce professional isolation. He initiated video conferencing during surgeries or consultations, beginning with around 200 hours of education by telepresence in six locations per year, with the service now offering close to 4,000 hours of training at 70 locations annually. He has supported the setup of the New Zealand Telehealth Resource Centre, which provides advice and guidance for health practitioners who would like to setup a telehealth service as part of their practice. Dr Gowland has been a Trustee of the Pat Farry Rural Education Trust since 2010 and was instrumental in setting up the Trust to continue lobbying for improvements and funding for rural medicine.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services, New Year 2001
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HAMILTON, Mr Michael Jon (Mike)
For services to marine engineering and business
Mr Mike Hamilton has made a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy as head of HamiltonJet, one of the biggest waterjet manufacturing companies in the world.
In 1990 Mr Hamilton designed a new generation of waterjet, far larger than anything to date, which was a significant leap forward for CWF Hamilton & Co.’s capability to compete for waterjet propulsion packages in ships traditionally driven by propellers. His contribution to the marine industry has seen the emergence of specialist fleets of jet powered vessels in markets such as tourism, aquaculture, offshore oil fields, patrol, wind farms, search and rescue, and passenger ferries. Privately he supports many charitable causes including the Coast Guard, Dingle Foundation, Christchurch City Mission, Starship, Pacific Leprosy, IHC, Fred Hollows, Banardos and others. He also supports children through Child Fund and the Variety Club. Mr Hamilton was one of the lead jet boat drivers and the boat engineer for Sir Edmund Hillary’s 1977 Ocean to the Sky expedition up the length of the Ganges River, and then on to the summit of a mountain peak at its source in the Himalayas.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HOCKLEY, Ms Deborah Ann (Debbie), MNZM
For services to cricket
Ms Debbie Hockley has been President of New Zealand Cricket since 2016, having been the first woman elected to this position in the 122-year history of the organisation.
Ms Hockley had an international cricket career representing New Zealand between 1979 and 2000. She retired from playing after winning the 2000 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup, having amassed 1,301 runs, including four centuries in 19 Test matches. She played in 118 One-Day Internationals and was Captain for 27, including six Test matches. In 2013 she became the fourth woman and the first New Zealand woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Since retiring from playing Ms Hockley has been a strong advocate for women’s cricket. She contributed to a major review by New Zealand Cricket in 2015 of the state of women's cricket nationally. As a result of the review, New Zealand Cricket has significantly increased the number of women represented on its national and provincial boards and successfully promoted a cricket programme encouraging school-aged girls to participate in in a no-pressure, fun, and enjoyable environment.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 1999
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HOWDEN-CHAPMAN, Distinguished Professor Philippa Lynne, QSO
For services to public health
Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2009 for her services to public health.
Professor Howden-Chapman has continued her work in public health and is currently co-director of He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme. This programme examines and clarifies the links between poor housing and ill health and, under her leadership, was recognised with the Prime Minister’s Science Team Prize in 2014. She has conducted randomised housing trials in partnership with local communities, which have had a significant influence on housing, health and energy policy in New Zealand. She has collaborated on several research publications on health and social impacts caused by inadequate housing, including ‘Home Truths: Confronting New Zealand’s Housing Crisis’ (2015). She chaired the World Health Organization Housing and Health Guideline Development Group and was a member of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty in 2012. She is a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington where she teaches public policy, and in 2019 was appointed one of seven inaugural sesquicentennial distinguished chairs. Professor Howden-Chapman is director of the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, Chair of the International Science Council Urban Health and Wellbeing Committee, and a director on the Board of Kainga Ora - Homes and Communities.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, New Year 2009
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
JELLEY, Mr Albert Archibald (Arch), OBE
For services to athletics and the game of bridge
Mr Arch Jelley has been a long-term contributor to the sport of athletics and to the game of bridge.
Mr Jelley served as a New Zealand Cross Country selector from 1975 until 1993 and has served in a multitude of administrative and coaching roles within the sport. Between 1976 and 1993 he was appointed as coach or manager to twelve New Zealand or Oceania teams, including three Olympic Games teams. He retired from coaching in 2000 but returned in 2005 to coach runner Hamish Carson who has since won the national 1,500 metre title six times. Twenty of the athletes he has coached have represented New Zealand, with twelve competing either in the Olympics or World Championships. He has run several coaching courses nationally and internationally, most recently a workshop tour with Athletics New Zealand in 2012. He was President of Athletics New Zealand in 1996/1997 and was Ombudsman from 1997 to 2006. Outside of athletics, he has been involved with the Mt Albert Bridge Club and New Zealand Bridge. He joined the Mt Albert Club in 1990, has been a bridge tutor since 1996 and was President from 2003 to 2013. Mr Jelley helped fund-raise and was project manager for the construction of new club rooms.
HONOURS
Officer of the Order of the British Empire, New Year 1982
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KERR, Dr David William
For services to health and business
Dr David Kerr worked in general practice in Christchurch from 1976 to 2008 and was a driving force behind the establishment of Pegasus Medical Group in 1992.
Pegasus, a not-for-profit charitable organisation, is a budget holding group to provide services within general practice and has grown to encompass almost all general practices in Canterbury. Dr Kerr was Chairman of Pegasus Medial Group from 1992 to 1998 and Clinical Leader Mental Health from 2002 to 2012. He was one of the main drivers of the Health Pathways information system, which streamlines the referral process and helps general practitioners interact with hospital-based specialists. He was a director of PHARMAC from 2007 and Deputy Chair from 2010 until 2017. He has held a number of positions on medical advisory boards, particularly around mental health. He has been a member of the Executive Committee for the Christchurch City Mission Redevelopment campaign, is a Trustee of the Champion Centre for those with intellectual disabilities, and was previously a Trustee of Life Education Trust South Island. He has been Chairman of Ryman Health Care Ltd since 1999. Under Dr Kerr’s chairmanship Ryman Healthcare was the first to establish fully integrated retirement villages and has grown to become one of the top five companies in New Zealand.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MCSWEENEY, Dr Gerard David (Gerry), QSO
For services to conservation
Dr Gerry McSweeney was a founding member of the Forest Heritage Fund Committee in 1990, now the Nature Heritage Fund (NHF) as of 1998.
Dr McSweeney was a member of the NHF Committee until 2019, during which time he contributed to the protection of more than 349,000 hectares of land containing nationally significant indigenous biodiversity. He was a member of the New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) from 2011 to 2020. During this time he provided valuable advice to successive Ministers and Director-Generals on a wide range of nationally significant issues, including land tenure and the development of landscape scale management of public conservation land. His local knowledge contributed to significant additions of land to the Paparoa and Kahurangi National Parks. He was President of Forest and Bird from 2001 to 2005, remained on the executive until 2008, and has been one of the Society’s three conservation ambassadors since 2011. He was a member of the South Westland Environment and Community Advisory Group from 1990 to 1995. Dr McSweeney, together with his wife, has contributed since 1989 to Canterbury and West Coast eco-tourism through his family’s development and operation of wilderness lodges at Lake Moeraki and Arthur’s Pass, around which he has undertaken protection of threatened local species such as Tawaki (Fiordland crested penguin) and pest control.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services, Queen’s Birthday 1990
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
NICHOLSON, Professor Emeritus Louise Frances Basford
For services to neuroscience and education
Professor Emeritus Louise Nicholson is a neuroscientist who has contributed significantly to the molecular level understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Professor Nicholson became Head of Biology for Medicine in the Department of Anatomy with Radiology at the University of Auckland’s Medical School in 1989. In the late 1990s she set up her own independent laboratory, continuing to work on neurodegeneration including motor neuron disease. She held numerous academic and committee roles at the University of Auckland, including Council member, and Professor in the Department of Anatomy with Radiology from 2009 to 2017. In 2011 she co-founded a Spinal Cord Injury Research Facility within the University’s Centre for Brain Research. On her retirement, she and her husband gifted $1 million to support spinal cord injury research. She has written numerous publications, presented nationally and internationally, and received several teaching awards. She has been a Council Member on the International Basal Ganglia Society and the Australasian Neuroscience Society. She pioneered the annual New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge for secondary school students and taught Biomedical Science at the Rotary National Science and Technology Forum. Professor Nicholson has served on several trusts and boards over the years and remains a trust member of the Oakley Foundation and the Catwalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
RANDERSON, The Honourable Anthony Penrose (Tony), QC
For services to the judiciary
The Honourable Tony Randerson was a Judge of the Court of Appeal from 2010 until retiring in June 2017.
Mr Randerson was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1996 and became a Judge of the High Court in 1997. He was the first Chief High Court Judge and was responsible for the administration of the High Court. He has been active in all aspects of judicial administration, including through the Rules Committee. During his time in practice he appeared in environmental cases and in a wide range of civil litigation. He has been active in both the Auckland District Law Society and the New Zealand Law Society (NZLS). Until 1992 he was Convenor of the Legislation Committee of the NZLS. As a Council Member of the New Zealand Bar Association he represented the Association and the NZLS on the Courts Consultative Committee. In 1991 he chaired the government appointed committee to review the Resource Management Bill. He subsequently led NZLS seminars on the Resource Management Act conducted throughout New Zealand. More recently he chaired an independent panel conducting the most comprehensive review of New Zealand's resource management system since 1991, delivering the panel's report to the government in June 2020. Mr Randerson has chaired the New Zealand Advisory Council associated with the Melanesian Mission Trust Board.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
REID, Distinguished Professor Ian Reginald
For services to medicine
Distinguished Professor Ian Reid is the Head of the University of Auckland’s Department of Medicine and was one of the pioneering doctors researching osteoporosis in New Zealand.
Professor Reid was the first to establish a substantial research group focused on osteoporosis in older people, which has since had a significant impact on the management of bone diseases internationally. He published the first successful trial of bisphosphonates for the treatment of osteoporosis in The Lancet in 1988, with this class of medicines becoming the most widely used for treating osteoporosis over the last 25 years. His research in the benefits and risks of using calcium supplements was recognised with the Prime Minister’s Science Prize in 2015. His research team has been involved in developing treatments for Paget’s disease, a bone condition that affects up to five percent of older New Zealanders. His 630 research articles have been cited more than 33,000 times in scientific literature, making him the most cited and highest impact scientist in New Zealand for both 2012 and 2019. He was a founding Board member of Osteoporosis New Zealand and President of the International Bone and Mineral Society, and was Founding Secretary of the Asian Pacific Osteoporosis Foundation for 13 years. Professor Reid has served on numerous other boards, societies, committees, and panels.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
STEVENS, The Honourable Lynton Laurence (Lyn), QC
For services to the judiciary and the community
The Honourable Lyn Stevens retired as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 2016, having been appointed in 2010, and more recently chaired the Government inquiry into water contamination.
Mr Stevens headed the Government's 2016/2017 inquiry into the Havelock North water contamination outbreak, which made the key recommendation to make it mandatory to treat all public drinking water supplies in New Zealand, and called for the establishment of a dedicated drinking water regulator. He was previously a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2010. He was appointed to the panel of prosecutors for the Serious Fraud Office in 1990 and became a barrister sole from 1992 to 1997. He was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1997. He has served on various Law Society Committees including the Public Issues Committee, International Committee and Bill of Rights Panel. As a member of the International Bar Association he served on committees including the Asia Pacific Forum, IBA Trial Observer Corps, as Deputy Secretary-General for New Zealand and Pacific Islands, and International Legal Assistance Consortium Mission to Sri Lanka in 2003. Mr Stevens was a tutor in law at the University of Auckland for a number of years and later held positions as a member of the University Council from 1999 to 2011, Chairman of the Partnership Advancement Board, and as pro-Chancellor from 2001 to 2003.