To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BARNETT, Mr Michael Francis, ONZM
For services to business
Mr Michael Barnett has been Chief Executive of the Auckland Business Chamber since 1988 and is Director of the 30 New Zealand Chambers of Commerce networks throughout the country.
Through the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Mr Barnett has supported migrants and those new to New Zealand to settle successfully and gain meaningful employment, as well as placing thousands of migrants and young people into employment annually through the organisation. He works with employers to ensure bias is overcome through the recruitment process, particularly for migrants by curating workshops and providing employment support. He partnered with the Ministry of Social Development to launch CadetMax in 2009, a programme which has helped disadvantaged youth in the labour market gain employment, with more than 3,000 young people employed to date. He established a programme in South Auckland to help students gain their driver’s licence to remove barriers to them finding meaningful employment. He has represented New Zealand and the Asia Pacific Region on the World Council of the International Chambers of Commerce, as well as on numerous trade missions. During the COVID-19 pandemic he established a mental health support programme that provided advice and tools for struggling small businesses. Mr Barnett chaired the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust from 2001 to 2019.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2011
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BOND, Mr Hamish Bryon, MNZM
For services to rowing
Mr Hamish Bond has represented New Zealand in rowing at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2020.
Mr Bond won gold medals with Eric Murray in the coxless pair at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, setting both world and Olympic records at the London Olympics. Between 2009 and 2016, he and Mr Murray had an unbeaten partnership with 69 consecutive wins in the men’s coxless pair and two in the coxed pair. They won seven consecutive World Rowing Championship titles in the coxless pair and a further two in the coxed pair. Their world best times in the coxed pair, set in 2014, and coxless pair from 2012 still stand in 2021. They won 16 World Rowing Cup medals and have had 11 wins at the Henley Royal Regatta, two wins at the Holland Beker, and 14 domestic wins in New Zealand. He was a member of the gold medal winning men’s eight crew at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the only New Zealand male to win gold medals at three successive Olympics Between 2016 and 2019, Mr Bond competed in road cycling, winning bronze at the 2017 Oceania Championship in the time trial event, gold in the same event in 2018, and a bronze at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2013
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CAMPBELL, Dr Bruce Donald
For services to plant and food research
Dr Bruce Campbell has partnered science with a range of agricultural and horticultural industries over 38 years to significantly grow New Zealand food productivity and exports.
Dr Campbell served as the Chief Operating Officer with Plant and Food Research between 2008 and 2018. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science with the University of Auckland and the Joint Graduate School of Horticulture and Food Enterprise with Massey University. He introduced and actively promoted initiatives for Māori and Pacific students into science education and careers and championed the development of the Plant and Food Research Student Internship Programme. He was instrumental in the development of Nuku ki te Puku, a network of innovative Māori food businesses in partnership with Callaghan Innovation, to connect science with Māori food innovation. He coordinated the crisis response to the bacterial disease Psa, which threatened the kiwifruit industry in 2010, working closely with Zespri in introducing new genetics which allowed the industry to recover and thrive. He chairs Horticulture New Zealand’s Northland Horticulture Careers Progression Governance Group, creating career progression pathways to address workforce gaps in horticulture. Dr Campbell has been a Director of Horticulture New Zealand since 2019.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DANESH-MEYER, Professor Helen Victoria
For services to ophthalmology
Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer has had a ground-breaking career as the first female Professor of Ophthalmology and the second female Professor in any surgical speciality in New Zealand.
Professor Danesh-Meyer has been the Sir William and Lady Stevenson Professor of Ophthalmology with the University of Auckland since 2008 and has been the Head of Academic Neuro-Ophthalmology and the Glaucoma Research Unit of the New Zealand Eye Centre. She is the Chair and co-founder of Glaucoma New Zealand, founded in 2003, recognised as the official advocacy organisation for patients with glaucoma. The organisation has provided the unmet need for the professional education of optometrists, lifting clinical standards of care through courses and online seminars. She has served as the Chair of Women in Ophthalmology for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, introducing innovative polices that have reduced inequities and promote diversity and inclusion in clinical and scientific training. Her research has yielded key insights into the causes and improved management of glaucoma and other leading causes for blindness in New Zealand, including discovering the measured thickness of the nerves in the retina as a guide to the ideal timing for pituitary gland surgery. A discovery by Professor Danesh-Meyer showed the thinning of retinal nerves is a feature of dementia, laying foundations for novel diagnostic tests.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GIBBS, Mrs Leigh Helen, ONZM
For services to netball
Mrs Helen Gibbs was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 for her services to netball.
Mrs Gibbs has been a player, coach, umpire and administrator in netball for 50 years. She served as the Talent Development Coordinator for Netball New Zealand from 2002, serving as Assistant Coach of the Silver Ferns, and as Head Coach between 1994 and 1997. She was Netball New Zealand’s Community Netball Manager and served on the International Federation of Netball Associations’ Rules and Coaching Advisory Panel between 2009 and 2017. She was the Coach of the Mainland Tactix between 2012 and 2014 and spent five years at the Queensland State Netball Centre. She was made an Honorary Life Member of Netball New Zealand in 2017. Mrs Gibbs has been the General Manager of Nelson Netball Centre since 2021.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2001
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MAXWELL, Mr Trevor Horowaewae, MNZM
For services to Māori and local government
Mr Trevor Maxwell (Ngāti Rangiwewehi) was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 for his services to Māori, arts and local body affairs.
Mr Maxwell has been a Councillor with the Rotorua Lakes District Council for 45 years and has served as the Cultural Ambassador for Rotorua since 2013. He served as the Deputy Mayor from 2002 until 2013 and as Chair and Deputy Chair of Te Arawa Kapa Haka Charitable trust since 1990. He was a member of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Board, Chair of Opera in the Pā and a Board member of Waiāriki Institute of Technology for ten years. He was the Co-Chair of the Te Arawa/Ngāti Whakaue committee who helped organise the visit for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Te Papaiouru Marae in 2018. He has been a New Zealand Community Trust Board member since 2012, Chair of Toi Māori since 2018 and a previous Kaupapa Māori Director of Tourism New Zealand for eight years. Mr Maxwell was awarded Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi – Te Tohu Whakamanawa o Te Matatini for outstanding contribution to Kapa Haka in 2021.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2002
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MORGAN, Mr Paul Te Poa Karoro Reginald, QSO
For services to Māori and business
Mr Paul Morgan was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2010 for services to Māori business and Māori.
Mr Morgan has been instrumental in helping iwi reclaim land of their forebears to develop commercial and social enterprises to restore social and economic wellbeing of Māori. He has been the Director and Chairman of Kono New Zealand LP since 2011 and the Alternative Director of Anagenix since 2011. For more than 31 years, he has dedicated himself to seeking restitution associated with the Nelson Tenths and Occupation Lands, which included years of research and travel through the nation to engage with families affected. The claim was settled in 2017 when the Supreme Court recognised that the Crown owes legally binding duties to Māori landowners, independently of the Treaty of Waitangi or statute. He is Director, Chair and Member of several organisations initiatives including the Asia New Zealand Foundation and the New Zealand China Council. He was recipient of the Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Whakahaere Māori, Māori Governance Award in 2019. Mr Morgan was inducted in the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2021.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, New Year 2010
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MURRAY, Mr Eric Gordon, MNZM
For services to rowing
Mr Eric Murray represented New Zealand in rowing at four Olympics Games between 2004 and 2016, when he retired from competing.
Mr Murray won gold medals with Hamish Bond in the coxless pair at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, setting both world and Olympic records at the London Olympics. Between 2009 and 2016, he and Mr Bond had an unbeaten partnership with 69 consecutive wins in the men’s coxless pair and two in the coxed pair. They won seven consecutive World Rowing Championship titles in the coxless pair and a further two in the coxed pair. Their world best times in the coxed pair, set in 2014, and coxless pair from 2012 still stand in 2021. They won 16 World Rowing Cup medals, and have had 11 wins at the Henley Royal Regatta, two wins at the Holland Beker, and 14 domestic wins in New Zealand. He has been an ANZ Olympic Ambassador since 2012, a member of World Rowing’s Indoor Rowing Commission from 2021 and Patron of Autism New Zealand since 2019. He continues to be regularly involved with rowing regattas at Lake Karapiro. Mr Murray is one of 12 Trustees of Perago Trust, established in 2012 to support young athletes in the Cambridge to achieve in their chosen sport.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2013
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SIMMONS, Emeritus Professor David Gerard
For services to tourism and tertiary education
Emeritus Professor David Simmons is an internationally recognised tourism expert, has been a leading tourism scholar nationally for more than 40 years, and is regarded as a key founder of the discipline of tourism at tertiary level in New Zealand.
Professor Simmons founded tourism studies at Lincoln University and established the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Tourism, which is focused on generating and supporting sustainable tourism regions. He has contributed to international tourism planning and education in numerous countries such as Sarawak, Cambodia, Niue, Mauritius and Nepal, and advised international organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund and United Nations World Tourism Organisation. He was Project Leader for a number of Foundation for Research, Science and Technology-funded multi-year programmes for tourism planning and yield and was Director of Research at the Australian Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre from 2008 to 2010. He is widely published and a frequent keynote speaker. For many years he authored Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s annual ‘State of the Industry’ report. He was awarded a Fellowship of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism in 2015 and received the New Zealand Tourism Industry’s highest honour in 2020, the Sir Jack Newman Award. Professor Simmons has contributed to numerous government tourism strategies, particularly advising the New Zealand Tourism Sector on the future of tourism in the post-COVID-19 era.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SMITH, Ms Kereyn Maree, MNZM
For services to sports governance
Ms Kereyn Smith was CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) from 2011 until 2022.
Since 2015, Ms Smith has overseen New Zealand’s representation at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games team. She has focused on athlete wellbeing, diversity and inclusion with development of an integrity and human rights framework, organisational and team kaupapa and a culture of manaaki, establishment of Te Urunga Tu Māori Advisory Committee, and introduction of a new haka pou tangata. She was a driving force behind establishing the Olympic Women’s Leadership Academy in New Zealand, with the first intake in 2018. She has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sport and Active Society Commission and was on the IOC 2024 and 2028 Bid Evaluation Committees. She has been Vice-President of the Commonwealth Games Federation since 2015, supporting new standards in governance, ethics and organisational capability across the movement. She was a driving force behind the Commonwealth Games Federation Transformation 2022. Ms Smith is a founding member of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women or Sport and was on the New Zealand advisory board that steered New Zealand’s successful bid to host the IWG Secretariat and Conference.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2015
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TUMAHAI, Ms Lisa
For services to Māori development
Ms Lisa Tumahai (Ngāi Tahu, Tainui, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Kahungunu) has been the Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu since 2016, contributing to Māori health and development, and climate change efforts.
Ms Tumahai previously served as the Deputy Chair from 2011 and has led Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu through challenging times including the COVID-19 pandemic, growing the tribal council towards climate-friendly decisions and strategies. Her leadership has shifted Te Rūnanga towards sustainable approaches when making decisions on the tribe’s future investments, whether it is commercial or through people development. With Ngāi Tahu engineering, V8 engines were turned into electric engines to help protect the waters and the environment, a first in New Zealand. She has been a board member of Poutini Waiora since 2015, a Māori health and social service provider, delivering holistic care to whanau across Te Tai O Poutini. She has been the Director of Arahura Holdings since 2008, a commercial company located on the West Coast, with a portfolio of property, forestry and tourism. Ms Tumahai served as the Deputy Chair of the Interim Climate Change Committee between 2018 and 2019 before becoming Deputy Chair of the Climate Change Commission.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
VIVIAN, The Honourable Mititaiagimene Young
For services to Niue
The Honourable Mititaiagimene Vivian was the Premier of Niue from December 1992 to March 1993 and from May 2002 to June 2008.
During his time as Premier Mr Vivian oversaw the response to the destruction caused by Cyclone Heta, the construction of the Niue Foou Hospital in 2006, and has advocated for youth employment programmes such as the Young Farmer’s Project, the Niue Pig Farming Initiative and the Vanilla and Nonu Organic Farming Project. He redeveloped the old Lialagi school in Lakepa village and was key to the establishment of the Fonuakula Industrial Park. He has held a number of ministerial roles since 1969, including Finance, Economic Development, Agriculture, Police, Marketing, and the Crown Law Office. He has been a member of several committees, including as the Secretary General of the South Pacific Conference based in New Caledonia from 1979 to 1982, a member of the Constitutional Review Committee and one of the founders of the Niue Constitution 1974, and Chairperson of the Niue National Commission for UNESCO. He was the Member for Hakupu on the Niue Legislative Assembly for many years until 2017. He has been a schoolteacher and is currently Ulumotua, a Senior Elder and lay preacher in the village of Hakupu. Mr Vivian was inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal in the Niue National Awards 2020.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLIAMS, Mrs Kaa Kataraina Kathleen, QSO
For services to Māori and education
Mrs Kaa Williams (Ngāti Tuhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Haka-Patuheuheu) and her husband Tawhirimatea Williams established the private learning institution Te Wānanga Takiua o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa in 2000, where Mrs Williams continues as Pouako Matua.
Mr and Mrs Williams have continued to support Te Reo Māori revitalisation at all levels, setting learning standards that have impacted broadly across government agency responsiveness to Māori strategy implementation, strengthening paepae and general oratory skills, private businesses, and community practice. Since 2010 the enrolments for the one-year total immersion Rumaki Reo course have doubled, with more than 200 students enrolled for 2022. The course has led to an increased number of qualified Te Reo Māori teachers and agencies such as the New Zealand Police and Customs Service have committed to funding their staff to attend these courses annually. The couple established the Judge Karina Williams Scholarship in 2013 in memory of their late daughter. The Scholarship is offered annually to aspiring Māori lawyers and to date 10 recipients have gone on to success in their chosen fields. They have also engaged with senior members of the judiciary through an evening learning facility for Te Reo fluency and tikanga. Mrs Williams has continued as a senior judge of Te Matatini performing arts at the Auckland regional level until 2016 and nationally until 2017.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, Queen’s Birthday 2009
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLIAMS, Mr Tawhirimatea Te Auripo Rewita (Tawhiri), MNZM
For services to Māori and education
Mr Tawhiri Williams (Te Aupouri, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta, Whakatohea, Ngaitai Ki Torere, Te Whanau Ā Apanui, Ngāti Tuhoe) and his wife Kaa Williams established the private learning institution Te Wānanga Takiua o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa in 2000, where Mr Williams is currently Chief Executive.
Mr and Mrs Williams have continued to support Te Reo Māori revitalisation at all levels, setting learning standards that have impacted broadly across government agency responsiveness to Māori strategy implementation, strengthening paepae and general oratory skills, private businesses, and community practice. Since 2010 the enrolments for the one-year total immersion Rumaki Reo course have doubled, with more than 200 students enrolled for 2022. The course has led to an increased number of qualified Te Reo Māori teachers and agencies such as the New Zealand Police and Customs Service have committed to funding their staff to attend these courses annually. The couple established the Judge Karina Williams Scholarship in 2013 in memory of their late daughter. The Scholarship is offered annually to aspiring Māori lawyers and to date 10 recipients have gone on to success in their chosen fields. They have also engaged with senior members of the judiciary through an evening learning facility for Te Reo fluency and tikanga. Mr Williams was as a senior judge of Te Matatini performing arts at the Auckland regional level until 2016 and nationally until 2017.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2015