To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ALA'ALATOA, Ms Barbara Frances, MNZM
For services to education
Ms Barbara Ala’alatoa chaired the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2015 until 2019.
During Ms Ala’alatoa’s tenure the Education Council has worked on designing and promoting ‘The Code of Professional Responsibility’ and agreed Standards and Practices for teaching in New Zealand ‘Standards for the Teaching Professional’, as well as releasing a Leadership Strategy for the teaching profession and an Educational Leadership Capability Framework in August 2018. She has been a member since 2018 of the Tomorrow’s Schools Review Independent Taskforce looking at future options for the schooling system to improve equity and achievement. She has continued as the Principal of Sylvia Park Primary School in Mt Wellington, Auckland. The higher than average achievements of Year 5 to 8 students at the school led the Education Review Office to profile the culture and teaching practice of the school in 2018. Students are involved in shaping the school’s culture, from planning and leading assemblies, pitching ideas to the Board of Trustees in person, and the creation of an outdoor classroom initiative to explore questions linking the curriculum and students’ lives. She remains active with the Pacific Principals Association and is a member of the Auckland Primary Principals Association. Ms Ala’alatoa is Chair of Te Aho o te Kura Pounamu and lead Principal for the Maungakiekie Kāhui Ako.
HONOURS
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2014
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BEGEJ, Mrs Jeanne Lorraine
For services to ice figure skating
Mrs Jeanne Begej has made a significant contribution to ice figure skating in New Zealand since the 1960s as a competitor, judge and administrator at club, regional and national levels.
Mrs Begej was the National Intermediate 1967 and Senior Ladies Champion 1968 and 1969. She competed again in later years and represented New Zealand as a member of the Spectrum Synchronised team at the Australian National Championships from 2009 to 2014 and 2016. She has been an accredited national ice skating judge for 55 years and was an International Skating Union Judge from 1978 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2006. She has been a New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Association (NZIFSA) team leader and team official at various international competitions and congresses and has served in several local and national voluntary administrative roles over 50 years. She was jointly responsible for introducing the Kiwi Skate Learn to Skate Program in 1986 and has been a volunteer coach for many years. She has been President of the Canterbury Masters Figure Skating Club since its inception in 2004. Most recently she was the NZIFSA Officials Director from 2016 to 2019. Mrs Begej is a Life Member of the Centaurus Ice Skating Club in Christchurch, Dunedin Ice Skating Club, and the New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Association.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BONNE, Mr Anthony André (Tony)
For services to local government and the community
Mr Tony Bonne, as Mayor of the Whakatāne District Council, led the District through the Māori Wards referendum, building closer relationships between Council and iwi, development of youth partnerships, and the response to the 2017 Edgecumbe flood disaster.
Mr Bonne was Councillor for the Ōhope Ward with the Whakatāne District Council from 1992 to 1995, before being elected Mayor until 1998. He returned to local body politics in 2008, standing again for the Ōhope Ward and then serving three consecutive terms as Mayor from 2010 until retiring in 2019. He was Zone Two Chairman with Local Government New Zealand from 2016 to 2019. He was involved with Rotary Whakatāne West from 1994 to 2014 and became inaugural President of Rotary Whakatāne Sunrise in 2014, a club he co-established. He has been a volunteer Coastguard radio operator since 2000. He was Chairman and Treasurer of Whakatāne Intermediate Board between 2004 and 2016 and Deputy Chairman of the Vic David Memorial Trust from 2008 to 2011. He has been a business mentor in the community since the late 1990s. He was a member of Te Mana Whakahaere Council of Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi from 2010 to 2016. Mr Bonne was Director of the Rural Couriers Society and Chairman of the Inland Mail Contractors Bay of Plenty/Waikato Branch from 1980 to 1995.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
COHEN, Mr Taika David (Taika Waititi)
For services to film
Mr Taika Waititi has a background as a comedian, screenwriter and actor and has achieved national and international success as a film director, most recently winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his 2019 film ‘Jojo Rabbit’.
Mr Waititi wrote, directed and acted in ‘Jojo Rabbit’, which also won the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. He gained prominence for his 2004 short film ‘Two Cars, One Night’, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won several international film festival awards. His feature film ‘Boy’ (2010) became the highest grossing New Zealand film, a record that was then surpassed by his 2016 film ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’, which broke records for a New Zealand film in its opening weekend. His earlier films ‘Eagle vs Shark’ (2007) and ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (2014) were received with critical acclaim, as well as his major Hollywood directorial debut ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017). He has directed episodes of the ‘Flight of the Concords’ television series and a series of the New Zealand television show ‘Super City’, and more recently an episode of the Star Wars live action series ‘The Mandalorian’ (2019). Earlier in his career Mr Waititi was one half of the comedy duo Humourbeasts, who received New Zealand’s highest comedy accolade the Billy T Award in 1999.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CONDER, Distinguished Professor Marston Donald Edward
For services to mathematics
Distinguished Professor Marston Conder has worked at the University of Auckland’s Department of Mathematics since 1983 and is a world expert on the symmetry of discrete objects, covering algebraic, combinational and computational techniques to make ground-breaking discoveries.
Professor Conder worked as Head of Department for three years and as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for two years, before being appointed as a distinguished professor in 2012. He has been the President of the New Zealand Mathematical Society, President of the Academy of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and a member of the Marsden Fund Council. He was involved with the establishment of the New Zealand Mathematics Research Institute in 1998 and is currently Treasurer. He was also a driving force behind establishing the Mathematics Centre of Research Excellence in 2002 and was its co-director until 2011. He chaired the government committee that established the Performance Based Research Fund for New Zealand tertiary education organisations. He chaired the Science Advisory Panel for Plant and Food Research Ltd. from 2012 to 2018 and has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Pacific Rim Mathematical Association since 2009. Professor Conder has published more than 160 research articles in some of the world’s top-ranked academic journals and has been awarded several prestigious fellowships.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CROWTHER, Mr Derek Rex (Rex)
For services to the motor vehicle industry
Mr Rex Crowther has been involved with the motor vehicle collision repair industry since the 1960s.
Mr Crowther joined the New Zealand Collision Repair Association (CRA) in the early 1990s, initially serving on local committees and progressed through national executive representation. He was President from 1999 until 2004, during which time he led a restructure of the organisation to better meet modern consumers’ expectations for a safe repair after a vehicle collision. Much of his work on the restructure was done without remuneration. He researched successful models from around the world and toured the country delivering presentations to the 500 plus CRA members and their staff. These presentations, known as Road Shows, continue to be held annually. He developed and delivered a CRA Customer Service training programme to boost business skills in the sector. He built solid relationships with insurance company work providers to promote an ongoing collaborative approach with industry stakeholders. In 2012 he redeveloped the now internationally recognised bimonthly trade magazine PanelTalk. He was elected to the Motor Industry Training Organisation (MITO) Board from 2005 to 2015, where he chaired the Remunerations and Brand/Name committees. Mr Crowther was elected to the I-CAR New Zealand, (Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair) board in 2000, and was Chairman from 2010 to 2013.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DARRAGH, Ms Judith Ann (Judy)
For services to the arts
Ms Judy Darragh has had more than 70 solo exhibitions in her 35-year career as an artist and is a teacher, mentor, advocate and champion of the arts.
Ms Darragh was a board member of Artspace Aotearoa for more than 15 years. She co-founded the Teststrip artist-run space in 1992 and the Cuckoo collective for artists in 2000. She has chaired Reading Revolution since 2018, an organisation that uses literature to alleviate loneliness and isolation in older people, new migrants, prisoners, and many others. She has been a board member of the Starving Artists Fund and the Auckland City Council’s Advisory Panel for Public Art from 2009 to 2013. She co-founded the journal Femisphere and has collaborated on award-winning documentary films. She has been Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts and has had various teaching and lecturing roles over the past 40 years. Ms Darragh was appointed to Massey University’s College of Creative Arts Hall of Fame in 2007.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DEERING, Dr Daryle Elizabeth Anne
For services to nursing, particularly mental health and addiction nursing
Dr Daryle Deering has spearheaded the development of addiction nursing in New Zealand.
Dr Deering is a registered nurse whose career in mental health and addiction nursing spans close to 50 years. In 2007, she completed her PhD, studying methadone treatment in New Zealand. She was a founding faculty member of the National Addiction Centre at the University of Otago, where she was a strong voice for effective provision of methadone maintenance treatment in New Zealand. She was the Director of Mental Health Nursing for the Canterbury District Health Board from 2000 to 2007. She volunteered as President of Te Ao Māramatanga – New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses from 2010 to 2014. She has been a member of multiple health working groups and advisory groups. She led a national nursing reference group that eventually developed the New Zealand Addiction Specialty Nursing Competency Framework in 2012, which continues to guide mental health, primary care, and addiction nurses in their professional development. Dr Deering is a Life Member of Drug and Alcohol Nurses of Australasia.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DOHERTY, Mr James Edward, JP
For services to Māori and conservation
Mr James Doherty has made a significant contribution to the protection of the natural environment through his traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.
Mr Doherty has been a lead contributor to developing the matauranga o te ngahere o Tuawhenua/Ruatahuna (forest lore/knowledge), an assembly through interview and wananga of the traditional knowledge of the species of the lands and forests of the Tuawhenua. He has been at the forefront of the national advancement of matauranga Māori as a knowledge system. He has been Chair of the Tuhoe Tuawhenua Trust since 1987. He was a member of the Nga Matapopore Māori Research Advisory Group for 10 years, the Te Herenga Regional Network for three years, and the Claims Committee of Te Runanganui o Te Ikawhenua for 10 years. He has been a delegate for the Tuhoe Manawaru Tribunal since 2004 and was Chair of the Kaingaroa Village Council for six years. He represented New Zealand at the inaugural Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Dialogue Workshop in Panama City in 2014, which informed the first United Nations Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Mr Doherty has co-authored a number of scientific peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and co-presented at international and national conferences with Manaaki Whenua researchers.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DU PLESSIS, Adjunct Associate Professor Rosemary Ann
For services to women and education
Adjunct Associate Professor Rosemary Du Plessis has contributed to the advancement of women’s rights and education for the past 45 years.
Adjunct Associate Professor Du Plessis has held various teaching and research roles at the University of Canterbury since 1974. She is a pioneer of gender studies in New Zealand, teaching some of the first gender studies courses in the country, co-editing important texts on feminist issues and working with others to establish the Feminist Studies programme at the University of Canterbury. She was Commissioner - Social and Human Sciences at the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO for five years and has been a member of the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand and Chair of its Social Science Advisory Committee. She was a member of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs Advisory Committee, the National Advisory Committee on the Employment of Women, and a Co-Convenor of the National Council of Women of New Zealand’s Public Issues Standing Committee. She chaired the ‘Who Gets Born’ policy document working group for Tai te Taiao: The Bioethics Council. She has been a National Committee member of the Women’s Studies Association and Board member of the New Horizons for Women Trust. Adjunct Associate Professor Du Plessis has undertaken research into women’s experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes with the NCWNZ Christchurch Branch.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
EKEROMA, Professor Alec Joseph
For services to health and the Pacific community
Professor Alec Ekeroma has been a leader in Pacific people’s health for more than 20 years and has been active in the development of medical services in primary health care for Pacific women.
Professor Ekeroma played a leading role in initiating the Pacific Society for Reproductive Health, a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2001, of which he is the current CEO. It is now the foremost organisation for the professional development of doctors, nurses and midwives in the Pacific region. He has produced 51 academic publications, primarily focusing on the health of Pacific women and health capacity building in the Pacific region. He founded the Pacific Journal of Reproductive Health in 2015 and is Chief Editor. He was on the Board of Well Pacific Mother and Infant Services from 2010 to 2012, Ta Pacifica Primary Health Organisation from 2006 to 2012, and Southseas Healthcare Trust from 2004 to 2008. He has been a member of the Royal Australia New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 2002, including as the Chairman of the New Zealand branch from 2006 to 2007. He served on the National Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee from 2010 to 2014. Professor Ekeroma has supported hundreds of medical students and trainees in obstetrics and gynaecology since 1998.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
FORGESON, Dr Garry Vernon
For services to oncology
Dr Garry Forgeson has been Specialist Medical Oncologist at Palmerston North Hospital and has been involved with the Cancer Society of New Zealand at a governance level since 1988.
Dr Forgeson led the expansion and consolidation into a complete cancer treatment provider, of the current Regional Cancer Treatment Service, linking the hospitals of Palmerston North, Gisborne, Hastings, Taranaki and Whanganui. He has been Chair of the Palmerston North Hospital Radiotherapy and Oncology Trust since 1995, overseeing an expansion in the activity and assets of the Trust. He has been a member, Vice President and President of the Cancer Society Manawatu Centre Executive. He has been President of the Cancer Society of New Zealand Central Districts Division since 2000 and a member of the National Board of the Cancer Society since 2002. He has held Crown appointments as Chair of the Cancer Treatment Advisory Group, a member of the Cancer Programme Steering Group, the Cancer Control Implementation Task Force from 2003 to 2004, and the Cancer Control Council in 2005 and 2009. Dr Forgeson was a lecturer in Medical Oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research and Senior Registrar for the Department of Medicine at the Royal Marsden Hospital in the United Kingdom from 1985 to 1987.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GREGOR, Dr Jan Elizabeth
For services to water safety and public health
Dr Jan Gregor has made significant contributions to water safety in New Zealand and the wider Pacific region.
Dr Gregor is a Senior Science Leader with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR) Risk Assessments and Social Systems Group. She is the technical lead of ESR’s Healthy Pacific Environments Programme and an internationally recognised safe drinking water expert, particularly for small communities. For the past 25 years she has been an advisor to the Ministry of Health in the development and implementation of its national drinking water quality management programme. Over the past 15 years, she has been involved in numerous projects throughout the Pacific region, helping to improve access to safe drinking water for many isolated and underdeveloped communities. She was a member of the New Zealand Water and Wastes Association (now Water New Zealand) board from 1998 to 2004, serving as President from 2002 to 2003. More recently, she has contributed to projects that relate to climate change, including the ‘Strengthening Water Security of Vulnerable Island States’ project and the ‘New Zealand Pacific and Development Climate Action Plan 2019-2022’.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GRIFFIN, Mr James Arthur
For services to the television and film industries
Mr James Griffin has made significant contributions to New Zealand’s television and feature film industry for more than 30 years.
Mr Griffin has worked as a scriptwriter, executive producer and show-runner, and has been responsible for creating some of New Zealand’s most loved and successful television shows and films; shows such as ‘Outrageous Fortune’, ‘The Almighty Johnsons’, ‘Westside’ and ‘800 Words’. These series have found success both nationally and internationally, taking New Zealand stories all over the world. He also served as the story producer on the first season of ‘bro’Town’ and co-wrote ‘Sione’s Wedding’ and ‘Sione’s Wedding 2’, all of which have been applauded for their depiction of migrant families living in New Zealand. Mr Griffin is currently the Head Writer at South Pacific Pictures, New Zealand’s foremost producer of television content.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HARNETT-KINDLEY, Mrs Joan Frances
For services to netball and the real estate industry
Mrs Joan Harnett-Kindley has contributed to netball as a national representative player and as a provincial coach and administrator.
Mrs Harnett-Kindley represented Canterbury in netball from 1960 to 1974, including six years as Captain. She played more than 100 matches for the Silver Ferns netball team between 1963 and 1974, including 26 matches across three World Cups. She was named as the Player of the Tournament at the 1967 Netball World Cup in Australia and as New Zealand’s ‘dream player of 75 years of netball’ in 2000. She was an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. She was a member of the Canterbury Netball executive for six years and coached club netball in Christchurch for 20 years. She was a member of the Canterbury-Westland District Real Estate Executive Committee for 12 years, President of the Canterbury-Westland and Otago District’s Committees for two years each, the first woman appointed to the Real Estate Council, and the first woman awarded both a Fellowship and Life Membership to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. She was an inaugural member of the Real Estate Authority for six years. Mrs Harnett-Kindley was a National Judge of Master Builders House of the Year from 2000 to 2004 and is a current Patron of the New Zealand Masters Games.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HOLM, Ms Mary Helen
For services to financial literacy education
Ms Mary Holm is a bestselling author and columnist who has written extensively about personal finance and contributed toward ensuring the financial literacy of ordinary New Zealanders.
Ms Holm holds an MBA in finance and has been a journalist, media commentator, seminar presenter and lecturer on personal finance for more than 40 years. She has been a weekly columnist for the New Zealand Herald since 1998 and features on Radio New Zealand each fortnight to talk about how New Zealanders can better manage their finances. In 2018, she wrote ‘Rich enough? A laid-back guide for every Kiwi’, which was a number one bestseller for seven weeks. She has written three books on KiwiSaver and helped develop tools for the sorted.org.nz financial advice website. She is noted for her ability to convey complex financial matters in plain and simple terms to ordinary New Zealanders. She was a founding director of the Financial Markets Authority from 2011 to 2019 and has previously written for the Listener, Dominion Post, Christchurch Press and Waikato Times. Ms Holm was a director of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme from 2010 to 2016 and has been a member of a range of advisory groups and government bodies responsible for financial regulation and literacy.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KAYES, Mr Terence John (Terry)
For services to the engineering industry
Mr Terry Kayes has been involved in New Zealand’s infrastructure and built environment sector for more than 40 years.
Mr Kayes was the Managing Director of Tonkin and Taylor from 1989 to 2006. Over this period he grew the company’s revenue from $4 million to $40 million, and quintupled staff numbers. The company was one of the first consultancies in New Zealand to recognise the importance of environmental issues, as he transformed the company from a specialist geotechnical consultancy into an environmental and engineering consultancy. He was a Board member of the Consulting Engineers Advancement Society (CEAS) from 1982 until 2019. He was the director of the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency Ltd. for five years, where he helped to guide the sustainable urban regeneration of the Wynyard Quarter. He was also a member of the University of Auckland’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Advisory Board for eighteen years. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Consulting Engineers Advancement Society and received the Turner Award from Engineering New Zealand for extraordinary commitment to the engineering profession and the community in 2007. Mr Kayes was also the Honorary Consul for Malaysia in New Zealand between 1997 and 2006.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LAMBIE, Professor Ian David
For services to clinical psychology
Professor Ian Lambie has contributed to clinical psychology for more than 30 years.
Professor Lambie has been engaged in clinical practice since 1990, providing assessments and therapy for children and young persons with high and complex needs involving care and protection concerns, youth justice matters and severe challenging and violent behaviours. He was appointed Chief Science Advisor for the Justice Sector in 2016. Since 1999 he has lectured in clinical psychology at the University of Auckland where he also served three years as Associate Director of the Werry Centre for Child and Adult Mental Health. He has informed national policy, standards and guidelines through participation in numerous national and trans-Tasman advisory groups. He has conducted research, staff training and clinical work with Oranga Tamariki, The SAFE Network, The Ministry of Education, Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Fire Awareness and Intervention Programme, and the New Zealand Police. He has been a member of the SAFE, Youth Horizons and Epsom Girls Grammar Boards and Literature Board of Review in the Office of the Chief Censor. He provides presentations and training to local community groups co-ordinated by agencies such as Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Education, The Institute of Judicial Studies, New Zealand Police and schools. Professor Lambie was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Psychological Society in 2018.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LEPPER, Mr Anthony Bruce (Tony), JP
For services to sports administration and local government
Mr Tony Lepper held local government positions for 27 years, most recently as Mayor of Central Otago for two terms from 2010, and has contributed to sports administration.
Mr Lepper chaired Sport Otago from 2006 to 2013. He has been Chair of the Sport Central steering committee and helped establish the annual Central Otago Sport Awards. He was appointed to Bowls New Zealand in 2015 and has been Chair since 2017. He was on the Clyde Earncleugh Rugby Club committee for 27 years, including 13 years as Treasurer and three as President. He helped introduce canoe polo to the area and was Treasurer of the White Water Club for 11 years. During this time he was instrumental in working with the Central Otago White Water Club in getting a resource consent to establish the Hawea Water Park. He was also Treasurer of the Central Otago Multisport Club from 2006 to 2013 and is the immediate Past President of the Central Otago Racing Club. He was a member of the Clyde Recreational and Reserve Committee from 1989 to 2010. He helped establish Clyde Bar and Garden Ltd. in 1994 to help grow the Clyde community and was Chair from 2001 to 2003. Mr Lepper was appointed to the New Zealand Conservation Authority in 2017.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LING, Mr David Robert Maurice
For services to the publishing industry
Mr David Ling has been a leader in book publishing in New Zealand for more than 40 years.
Mr Ling has been a ground-breaking publisher of New Zealand fiction and Māori literature. He has published the works of Witi Ihimaera, Paul Moon, Maurice Shadbolt, James McNeish, Michael King, Fiona Kidman, Janet Frame, and Tessa Duder among many others. He was a director of general and educational publishing companies for nearly 20 years before establishing David Ling Publishing Ltd in 1992, an independent publishing house that produces around 10 books each year. He is an active member of the Publishers Association of New Zealand, previously serving as a Councillor of the Association from 1998 to 2011, and was made an Honorary Life Member in 2011. He served on the management committee of the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust of New Zealand from 2012 to 2015. In 2010 he launched a children’s picture book imprint Duck Creek Press, which has since produced more than 50 books and has gained an international reputation for the quality of its illustrated fiction. He has been a generous supporter of workshops and festivals that encourage new writing and illustration. Mr Ling was a member of the New Zealand Post Book Awards and Children’s Book Awards’ management committees for two and five years, respectively.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MASSON, Ms Vicki Louise
For services to perinatal and maternal health
Ms Vicki Masson was the National Coordinator of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) from 2006 until 2019.
Ms Masson is a midwife with expertise in high risk pregnancies. As National Coordinator she played a key role in the development and establishment of a system to report the deaths of babies who died from 20 weeks of pregnancy until four weeks after delivery. She helped develop the process for reporting on both maternal mortality and morbidity during pregnancy. She worked collaboratively with District Health Boards to collect data to inform investigations and improvements. She established the Local Coordinators Network including midwifery and medical staff from every DHB in New Zealand and led this group for close to 13 years. She was the Coordinator of the Neonatal Encephalopathy Working Group established in 2008. She has presented on behalf of the PMMRC on how to undertake a review of adverse events in maternity. Ms Masson has taken a meticulous, systematic and thorough approach to the collection of data in these roles to improve services and outcomes for babies and mothers in New Zealand.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MAY, Mrs Beverley Ann (Bev)
For services to cycling
Mrs Bev May has been involved with cycling since 1958 and has been a pioneer of women’s cycling in New Zealand.
Mrs May has been a rider, race promoter, women’s advocate, and administrator. In 1960 she was the first woman to gain a cycling licence to race competitively in New Zealand against men. She continued to race at the national level until a cycling accident in 1988 ended her competitive career. She helped establish the Morrinsville Wheelers in 1964, holding several administrative positions including as a committee member since 1970 and Club Secretary for 37 years. She has held various roles at the Western Bay of Plenty Centre level, including secretary, selector, manager and judge. She developed the Bev May Women’s Only Tour in 1990, a cycling event for women which she continues to organise and that celebrated its 30th event in 2019. She has held various team management positions for national and international teams and has been a national commissaire for Cycling New Zealand since 1989. Mrs May was an appointed UCI Commissaire at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and continues to as an active national commissaire today.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
O'BRIEN, Dr Anthony John (Tony)
For services to mental health nursing
Dr Tony O’Brien has had a career in mental health nursing for 46 years.
An educator and prolific researcher and writer, Dr O’Brien has made a significant contribution to the development of mental health nursing as a rigorous, evidence-based profession. His many research contributions have led to practice change in the way that aspects of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 is interpreted and used by registered nurses. He is a clinical practitioner who was also a lecturer and senior lecturer at the University of Auckland between 1997 and 2019 and is currently Associate Professor of mental health nursing at the University of Waikato. He was the inaugural President of Te Ao Māramatanga – New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses and has continued to support the organisation for the past 17 years. His research has led to the redevelopment of police operational guidelines for the use of Tasers in mental health emergencies and Dr O’Brien is now a member of the Community Liaison Group that the Police consult with over the use of force and other issues.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PAULING, Dr Brian Thomas
For services to broadcasting and education
Dr Brian Pauling founded the New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS) as a small community education course in 1983, which has since grown to be recognised as the pre-eminent broadcasting education programme in New Zealand.
Dr Pauling was Head of the NZBS until 2001. Since establishment, more than 1,400 graduates have been conferred with the Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications degree. He has published textbooks including ‘The Access Radio Handbook’ and most recently has worked on a book chronicling the history of access radio in New Zealand. He helped to establish the Canterbury Communications Trust and established Plains FM, the first independent community access radio station, in 1986. He was the Director of the Canterbury Workers Educational Association from 1976 to 1982. He has chaired the Association of Community Access Broadcasters and the New Zealand Library and Information Commission. He was the Commissioner of the New Zealand National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for 10 years, applying his expertise in communication technologies and broadcast education. He was a Board member of the International Broadcast Education Association in 2011. Dr Pauling was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1992.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
POWELL, Mr Murray
For services to wildlife conservation and the deer industry
Mr Murray Powell established the Hilldale Zoo and Wildlife Park in 1969, now the Hamilton Zoo, and together with his late wife put significant investment towards the Zoo’s development over the years.
Today, the Zoo is one of Hamilton’s leading attractions with more than 140,000 visitors a year, as well as running successful breeding programmes and conservation and research projects for both nationally and internationally endangered species. In 1976 Mr Powell gifted the Hilldale Zoo to the Hamilton City Council, including all equipment and a total of 600 specimens, and became a trustee of the Hilldale Zoological Trust. He was then a driving force behind deer farming in the Waikato region. He established the Waikato Deer Farmers’ Association and made major contributions toward the national association. Today, the deer industry contributes more than $300 million per year to the country’s export earnings, a third of which stemming from the mid-North Island region that can be partially attributed Mr Powell’s efforts. He was a committee member of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society for 28 years, including serving one term as President. Mr Powell’s knowledge of avian husbandry was utilised by the New Zealand Wildlife Service for projects such as rearing Brown Teal, capturing Kokako for breeding at Mount Bruce, and kiwi rescue in Northland.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
RAINEY, Mr Thomas Richard Barton (Tom)
For services to music and music education
Mr Tom Rainey is a multi-instrumentalist who worked at the Ara Institute of Canterbury for 28 years, where he was the Head of the Department of Creative Industries from 2012 to 2019.
Mr Rainey was a founding tutor of the Jazz School in 1991 and was Head of the School of Performing Arts from 2008 to 2012. He mentored and taught a number of high profile New Zealand musicians. He had significant influence on the emerging New Zealand music scenes of the 1990s and 2000s. He has collaborated with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra for more than 25 years as a conductor, arranger and performer. His arrangements have been performed by a number of orchestras around the world, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Mr Rainey is a Trustee of the New Zealand International Jazz and Blues Festival, the Christchurch Jazz Foundation, Chair of the Andromeda Arts Trust, and Treasurer of the Christchurch School of Music Council.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
READ, Mr Kieran James
For services to rugby
Mr Kieran Read played for the All Blacks for 11 years, including 52 test matches as Captain.
Mr Read made his debut for Canterbury in 2006, and for the Crusaders and Junior All Blacks in 2007. He has made 156 appearances for the Crusaders over 13 years, scoring 125 points, and was Captain from 2014 to 2016. He played in the 2008, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Championship winning Crusaders teams. He is the third-most capped All Blacks player in history with 128 test caps. His 19 consecutive wins as Captain between 2012 and 2016 is a world record and he is one of only 20 players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups, winning in 2011 and 2015. He also captained the All Blacks to a Bronze medal at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He was the IRB World Rugby Player of the Year in 2013 and New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2010 and 2013. He was an Ambassador for the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust from 2011 to 2017. Mr Read was an ambassador with the Child Cancer Foundation over the past decade and has assisted with other charities.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
RICHARDSON, Ms Anne Lesley
For services to wildlife conservation
Ms Anne Richardson is the Wildlife Manager at The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust (ICWT), an organisation that has helped to prevent the extinction of several native, endemic New Zealand birds.
Ms Richardson has worked at ICWT for the past 28 years. ICWT is a self-funded charitable trust that carries on the vision and legacy of Sir Neil and Lady Diana Isaac in creating a conservation area focusing on wetlands and the breeding of some of New Zealand’s most endangered species. She developed and managed the only captive breeding facility for kākāriki karaka/orange-fronted parakeets, pioneering methods to incubate eggs and raise the chicks and establishing a breeding population to re-establish kākāriki karaka populations back into the wild. Ms Richardson has also made significant contributions in developing captive breeding programmes and holding protocols to support ICWT conservation efforts for the kakī/black stilt, whio/blue duck, pāteke/brown teal, tuturuatu/shore plover, and many others, playing a key role in their preservation from extinction.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
RISHWORTH, Mrs Avis Janett Ann
For services to women
Mrs Avis Rishworth has contributed more than 45 years of service to the New Zealand Federation of Women’s Institutes at a local and national level.
Mrs Rishworth first joined the Tuapeka Mouth Women’s Institute in 1974, immediately being elected to their Committee and holding a variety of positions, including President, Secretary, Treasurer and National Conference Delegate. She was elected to the South Otago Federation Women’s Institute in 1986, holding a variety of positions including a four-year term as South Otago Federation President. She was elected to the New Zealand Women’s Institute National Executive Committee, where she chaired the Education Committee. She was Vice President of the National Executive and elected as the National President from 2002 to 2006. She visited 52 different Federations throughout New Zealand during her time as President, and served as New Zealand’s United Nations Women’s Institute representative. She was a member of the centennial committee for NZFWI. She has chaired the Barbara Wood Trust and is a Life Trustee of the Mealing Estate Trusts. She was the Women’s Institute Representative to the National Council of Women. Mrs Rishworth was a Trustee of the Otago Rural Support Trust from 2008 to 2018 and the Secretary of the Century Farms New Zealand Organising Committee from 2008 to 2017.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SPIERLING, Mr Alistair Norman
For services to the State and the community
Mr Alistair Spierling has had a 49-year career in the public service and has led the development of New Zealand’s parole system.
Mr Spierling worked for the Department of Social Welfare in various roles for 27 years. He founded the New Zealand Parole Board in 2002 and was its manager until his retirement at the end of 2019. He has grown the Parole Board’s capacity to manage more than 9,000 hearings every year. He has a special interest in victim support and has set high standards for the Parole Board to ensure that all victims are well informed and treated with compassion and respect. He personally travelled throughout New Zealand to engage with victims’ families, often under stressful circumstances. He is a Pacific representative for the Association of Paroling Authorities International and has been a consultant to several overseas parole boards. He has also been involved with his wider community through several organisations. He has been a founding member of the Wairarapa United Football Club for the past 25 years, served as a coach and senior administrator, and was made a Life Member. Mr Speirling has been a member of the South Wairarapa Working Men’s Club since 1999 and was an elected member of the Kuranui High School Board of Governors.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TOMLIN, Mr James Ronald (Jim)
For services to art education
Mr Jim Tomlin has been at the forefront of art education in New Zealand for more than four decades.
Mr Tomlin was the Head of the Dunedin School of Art for 24 years, until 2000. During his time in this role, he led change in how the subject of art was perceived, recognised and taught in New Zealand. His efforts led to the creation of the first degrees and postgraduate qualifications in the field of fine art, as diplomas were the only tertiary art qualifications that were offered prior to his advocacy. He has presented academic art education papers at dozens of conferences throughout Australasia and has had his works exhibited in almost 40 galleries. For close to 10 years, he was a member of the New Zealand Qualification Authority’s Visual and Performing Arts Strategic Planning Committee, the University Art Syllabus Revision Committee, and the UNESCO International Association of Art. Mr Tomlin is a Trustee of the Beeby Foundation for Visual Arts Education and is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TURNER, Dr Brian Lindsay
For services to literature and poetry
Dr Brian Turner writes poetry, non-fiction books, television scripts, articles and columns, and has received many of New Zealand’s top awards in literature over the past 40 years.
Dr Turner has written biographies on Sir Colin Meads, Anton Oliver, Glenn Turner and Josh Kronfeld. He has published thirteen collections of poetry, most recently ‘Selected Poems’ in 2019. His collections ‘Beyond’ and ‘Just This’ winning the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry in 1993 and 2010 respectively. His poetry often focuses on Central Otago landscapes and environmentalism. He was a founding member and subsequently Chairman of the Central Otago Environmental Society. His best-selling books ‘Into the Wider World’ (2009) and ‘Elemental' (2012) focused on an appreciation and concern for New Zealand’s natural environment. He received the University of Otago Robert Burns Fellowship in 1984 and was Te Mata Estate New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2005. His numerous awards also include the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry in 2009, Lauris Edmund Memorial Award for Poetry 2009, the J.C. Reid Memorial Prize in 1985, and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize 1979. Dr Turner was awarded a University of Otago Honorary Doctorate in 2011.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WAINUI, Mrs Āni Pātene Gazala, JP
For services to Māori language education
Mrs Āni Wainui has contributed 55 years to teaching te reo Māori to students in both mainstream and kura kaupapa Māori schools.
Mrs Wainui was the first Itinerant Teacher of Māori in Southland promoting and encouraging the introduction of Māori language in mainstream primary schools in the 1970s. She taught Māori at Cargill High School in Invercargill until 1989. She then formed the second Kura Kaupapa Māori in the South Island, a Kura Kaupapa Māori based at Murihiku Marae, which was formally recognized by the Ministry of Education in 1991. She became the principal of Te Wharekura o Arowhenua for 28 years until 2017, having overseen growth in the roll from 35 students at inception to 160 students at the time of her retirement. She has been Chairperson of Te Runanga Nui o nga Kura Kaupapa Māori Te Aho Matua o Aotearoa, the national body representing Te Aho Matua Kura Kaupapa Māori and has been a member of its Board since 1993. Mrs Wainui is an Archdeacon in the Anglican Church, Te Huiamorangi o Te Waipounamu.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WOOLLEY, Mrs Lisa Jacqueline
For services to the community and governance
Mrs Lisa Woolley has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of VisionWest Community Trust since 2001.
Mrs Woolley has worked in several leadership roles at the Trust, beginning as Manager of the Home Healthcare service in the Friendship Centre Trust in 1998 and then moving to the CEO role in 2001. The Trust has been offering community-based services to people in West Auckland since the 1980s, with the aims of addressing homelessness and poverty and supporting the elderly and youth. In 2001, its turnover was $2.5 million, increasing to more than $75 million in 2019. The Trust has 240 permanent staff and more than 1,350 support workers. She was a driver of the Trust becoming involved in emergency housing in 2002 and then moving into permanent housing solutions for people who have been homeless. She led the acquisition of TSA Homecare in 2015. She was the President of the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services and has been a member of a variety of reference and advisory groups, including the Auckland Council Homelessness Plan, the Housing First Auckland CEO’s Collective, and the Ministry of Social Development’s Housing Assistance Reform group. Mrs Woolley was a key member of the team that arranged Transform 18, an event to help faith-based organisations to be part of community transformation.
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ZWARTZ, Mr David John
For services to the Jewish and interfaith communities
Mr David Zwartz was President of the New Zealand Jewish Council from 1998 to 2005 and is Chair of the Wellington Jewish Council.
Mr Zwartz has been spokesperson and advocate for the Jewish community at many levels since the 1980s. As national President he was a key leader in the response to the desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Wellington in 2004 and 2007 and has been active in the fight against antisemitism. He liaised with the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand to institute the annual United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies around the country, and continues to facilitate this event in Wellington. He has volunteered with the Holocaust Centre since its establishment in 2007, contributing to Holocaust education directly as a writer and presenter, and assisting with the 2019 publication of Anne Frank’s Diary translated into Te Reo Māori. He has been editor and on the editorial board of the former ‘New Zealand Jewish Chronicle’, and a presenter of Jewish programmes on community radio since 1982. He was one of the group of Wellington faith leaders who founded the Wellington Interfaith Council in the late 1980s and established the National Interfaith Forums in 2003. Mr Zwartz continues to work as a Jewish representative in the interfaith movement.