To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
AITKEN, Dr Judith Estranna, QSO
For services to local government, the community and education
Dr Judith Aitken was a Councillor for the Greater Wellington Regional Council from 2001 until 2016.
Dr Aitken was also a member of the Council’s Te Upoko Taiao, Environmental Wellbeing and Social and Cultural Wellbeing Committees. She was a member of the Capital and Coast District Health Board from 2001 to 2016 and held the positions of Deputy Chair and Chair. She oversaw the governance of the 2016 Pacific action plan, which outlined initiatives and services the CCDHB would focus on to improve Pacific peoples’ health throughout Wellington, Porirua, and Kapiti. She has been a member of the Carter National Observatory Board since 2004, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Board, and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand Board. She is a Trustee of the Citizenship Trust, which works towards the development of a Citizenship Education Centre to educate young New Zealanders in the nation’s democratic system. She continued in her roles as Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, then as Chief Review Officer of the Education Review Office until 2001. She served on the New Zealand Teachers’ Council Review. Dr Aitken is currently collating four oral histories, one of which is ‘Women in a disabling world’, focusing on six disabled women succeeding in their chosen fields, and one on the history of women in the Public Service typing pools since 1945.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services, New Year 1997
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BALZER, Ms Roma Cherry, QSO
For services to family violence prevention
Mrs Roma Balzer was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2005 for her services to families and the community.
Mrs Balzer has been one of the leading theorists and strategists in family violence interventions in New Zealand for more than 40 years. She was a member of the Board of Trustees for Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa for 20 years until standing down in 2017. In 2018 she worked with the Ministry of Social Development to develop and deliver a Residential Youth Programme for vulnerable children in youth justice in Hamilton. In her current employment she is helping establish Te Puanga, a holistic wellness home for rangatahi of Oranga Tamariki with complex care needs or in state care. She played a key role in establishing the Family Violence Technical Assistance Unit in the mid-2000s. She was responsible for starting the Silent Witness Project to identify women, children, and men who had been killed by their partners, fathers, or new partner’s husbands. She has represented the ‘Battery of Women Sector’ on ministerial advisory panels, safer communities, and Care and Protection Resource Panels. She has represented New Zealand internationally on the subject of violence against women and has published research articles and chapters on community responses to domestic violence, Māori family violence, and Māori Pakeha relations.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Community Services, Queen’s Birthday 2005
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DIXON, Mr Scott Ronald, MNZM
For services to motorsport
Mr Scott Dixon was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 for his services to motorsport and has since continued to achieve international victories in the American IndyCar Series.
With 44 wins Mr Dixon holds the most IndyCar wins by an active driver. He has won the IndyCar Series championship five times in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, and 2018. In the 2010 to 2012 seasons of the IndyCar Series he won seven races and finished third in the championship three times. His sixth placing in the 2016 championship was the first time in a decade he did not finish in the top three. He won the 24 Hours of Daytona race in 2006, 2015 and 2018. In the 2015 off season he won the Dan Wheldon Karting Challenge. His career is the focus of the 2018 documentary film ‘Born Racer: The Scott Dixon Story’ that has screened internationally. He regularly returns to New Zealand for motorsport events and is widely known to provide is expertise to younger New Zealand drivers competing nationally and internationally. Outside of racing he regularly returns to New Zealand for fundraising work with Starship Hospital, KidsCan, and as an Ambassador for Canteen. Mr Dixon has been a director of Concept Motorsport New Zealand since 2012.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2009
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
EASON, Professor Charles Thomas (Charlie)
For services to science and wildlife conservation
Professor Charlie Eason has been the Chief Executive of the Cawthron Institute since 2012 and a Professor of Wildlife Management and Conservation at Lincoln University.
Under Professor Eason’s leadership the Cawthron Institute has increased staff numbers by around 100, trebled its operating surplus, and significantly increased its research output. He continues as an active scientist and researcher while also leading the Institute. As Chief Executive he has overseen the securing of long-term research funding for the Institute and the development and marketing of high-value, bioactive compounds extracted from algae, which have introduced a new innovative export product for New Zealand. He has overseen the establishment by industry of major shellfish spat nurseries on Cawthron-owned land near Nelson and led a research programme to breed virus resistant oysters to support the rebuilding of the Pacific oyster industry in Northland. He has led research in the development of new tools and toxins for the control of predators, which have made a material difference nationally in the creation of predator-free zones and sanctuaries. He is recognised internationally as a leading expert on predator control, has published more than 200 papers and articles, and been lead speaker at numerous international conferences. Professor Eason has been appointed to various scientific advisory committees and panels, including an expert panel to review the fluoridation of water in New Zealand.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MARSDEN, The Reverend John Alexander, QSO, JP
For services to Māori and the community
The Reverend John Marsden was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2001 for his services to Māori.
Reverend Marsden was General Manager of the Iwi led primary health provider Te Haa Oranga o Ngati Whatua until 2005 and was General Manager of Te Puna Hauora o Te Raki Paewhenua from 2005 until 2018. He has been Kaumatua for North Shore Hospice since 2007, where he provides spiritual support for whanau of patients in palliative care and supports hospice workers as a cultural advisor. He has maintained a cultural advisory role with several retirement homes and provided his services as a Kaumatua to local kohanga reo and the New Zealand Police. As of 2017 he has been a cultural advisor for the Department of Corrections. He is a member of a number of Boards including ProCare as Māori advisory, Equip Mental Health, Connect Mental Health, and Te Puna Whanau Ora Network Alliance. He has been a Trustee of Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua since 2003 and was involved with Treaty claims for the Iwi, as well as the acquisition of commercial enterprises for the Runanga. Reverend Marsden is often called upon to conduct blessings in the community and has been a Justice of the Peace since 2002.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Community Services, Queen’s Birthday 2001
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PRICHARD, Mrs Elizabeth Jane (Jane), QSO
For services to women
Mrs Jane Prichard served a second period as President of Pacific Women’s Watch New Zealand (PWWNZ) from 2007 until 2014 and under her leadership PWWNZ gained special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 2010.
Mrs Prichard has played a key leadership role in the United Nations NGO 10 and 15 year reviews of the Beijing Declaration and Beijing Platform for Action by spearheading a programme of workshops throughout New Zealand in 2004 and 2009 to gather data and write the New Zealand Country Report to submit to the UN ECOSOC and the Asia-Pacific Regional Review process. She has served as Vice President of the International Council of Women (ICW) for six years. In 2008 she oversaw the formal constitution and registration of the ICW’s Asia-Pacific Regional Council and became Foundation President and has chaired a seminar in Nadi, Fiji, the first such seminar to be held in the Pacific region. From 2004 to 2011 she raised funds for the National Council of Women to enable women from Pacific Island countries to attend ICW meetings. She was an Executive member of Asia-Pacific Women’s Watch from 2006 to 2008. In 2010 the Bridge-Builders Trust appointed Mrs Prichard as a Patron and she was President of Bridge-Builders International from 2011 to 2014.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Community Service, New Year 2004
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SMITH, Mr Ewan Francis
For services to Cook Islands business and tourism
Mr Ewan Smith founded and has been Managing Director of Air Rarotonga Ltd. since 1978, which has made significant contributions to the social and economic development of the Cook Islands.
Air Rarotonga grew from transporting around 3,000 to 4,000 passengers a year to flying more than 70,000 passengers annually by 2013. Mr Smith has overseen the development of an Air Ambulance service by Air Rarotonga, including the acquisition of a jet aircraft which has allowed the service to extend to other Pacific countries. Under his leadership Air Rarotonga has trained and employed almost exclusively Cook Islands-born pilots and support staff. He has contributed to a number of community causes through Air Rarotonga, which have included sponsoring or providing free air travel for sport or charitable groups, as well as sponsoring the education of a number of Cook Islands children up to tertiary level. He has been Chairman of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation since 2011. He has played key roles in developing long-term relationships with tourism partners such as Air New Zealand. He was President of the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce in 1996 and provided leadership during the Cook Islands economic crisis, championing the establishment of appropriate legal governance frameworks. Mr Smith has been Patron of the Rarotonga Golf Club since 2005.
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ST JOHN, Associate Professor Susan Margaret, QSO
For services to social policy
Associate Professor Susan St John was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2010 for more than 30 years of contribution to social policy.
Associate Professor St John retired from her teaching position with the School of Economics at the University of Auckland in 2015. She was co-founder of the Child Poverty Action Group Aotearoa in 1994 and has maintained her involvement until the present. She co-founded the Retirement Policy and Research Centre in 2006 and has maintained her involvement as Honorary Director. She has contributed to New Zealand’s policies in the areas of superannuation, Kiwisaver, private saving schemes, and promoting decumulation products for older people with a housing asset but limited income. She has been an advisor and keynote speaker on New Zealand’s Kiwisaver experience and superannuation policies at international conferences. She was appointed as Advisor to the 2010 Tax Working Group and to the External Panel of the Long Term Fiscal Statement from 2011 to 2013. Associate Professor St John has published more than 80 books, book chapters and peer-reviewed academic articles in both New Zealand and international journals.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, Queen’s Birthday 2010
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TAYLOR, Mr Gary Vernon, QSO
For services to the environment and resource management
Mr Gary Taylor has continued to lead the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) since being appointed as a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services in 2005.
Mr Taylor has overseen a large body of successful environmental litigation. He was involved in holding Horizons Regional Council to account for issuing consents for intensive dairy farming contrary to its plan. He led the successful legal challenge of Kaipara District Council’s decision to remove the landscape chapter from its district plan in 2010. He initiated the Supreme Court proceedings in the ‘EDS v King Salmon’ case which reset the jurisprudence on environmental bottom lines. After defeating a cubicle dairy farming proposal in the Mackenzie Basin, EDS convened a symposium in 2010, which led to the establishment of the Mackenzie Forum and the subsequent Mackenzie Agreement in 2013. Subsequent litigation he led has helped protect the area’s outstanding landscapes. EDS produced a number of reports that have been influential in informing Government environmental reforms and hosts annually a leading environmental summit as well as the Climate Change and Business Conference. He established the Land and Water Forum in 2008, later endorsed by Government, which produced four reports that changed policy on how freshwater is managed. Mr Taylor is now a member of the Freshwater Leaders’ Group.
HONOURS
Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services, New Year 2005
To be a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLERING, Ms Yvonne Mignon, ONZM
For services to netball
Miss Yvonne Willering was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 for her services to netball.
Since that time Miss Willering has continued to contribute to the sport, primarily as an independent contract coach. In this role she has predominantly instructed coaches both established and aspiring throughout New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2018 she was a contract defensive coach for a number of New Zealand ANZ netball teams. She coached the Fijian national team from 2002 to 2003, guiding them to victory at the South Pacific Games in 2003. She is a current member of the Coaching Advisory Panel of the International Netball Federation. In this role she has delivered defensive coaching workshops to international coaches. She has been a netball commentator for sports radio since 2016. She has been a panel member and judge for the Trusts Sport Waitakere Excellence Awards for many years. She has been Head Coach of the Netball North Shore Old Girls for the Tuesday night club competition. She has been a guest speaker for various netball associations and to Probus club meetings in the Auckland region since 2010. Miss Willering was made a Life Member of Netball New Zealand in 2018.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2002