To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HOHEPA, Dr Patrick Wahanga (Patu)
For services to Māori culture and education
Dr Patu Hohepa is a kaumātua whose leadership and advocacy for Māori cultural recognition and development has raised the profile of Māori culture in New Zealand.
A retired Professor of Māori Language at the University of Auckland, he is a renowned teacher and scholar of te reo Māori and other Pacific languages. A leader in the ‘Māori renaissance’ he was the first to advocate for a marae at the University of Auckland. In the 1980s he wrote a report for the government on the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, and repeal of the Māori Affairs Act. From 1997 to 2007, he served as the Commissioner of the Māori Language Commission, heavily promoting Te Reo Māori and developing proficiency testing. He served as a member of Te Waka Toi, the Māori Board of Creative New Zealand from 2004 and 2008. He has been a kaumātua for a large number of organisations, including as a member of Haerewa, the Māori Cultural Advisory Group of Auckland Art Gallery. As part of this role, he led the New Zealand delegation accompanying an exhibition of fifty portraits of Māori by pre-eminent painter Gottfried Lindauer to Europe in late 2014. Dr Hohepa continues to teach te reo Māori and has received awards for his contributions to strengthening Te Reo Rangatira.
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
RENNIE, Mr Heughan Bassett (Hugh), CBE, QC
For services to governance, the law, business and the community
Mr Hugh Rennie has been a leading Queen’s Counsel since 1995 and has worked with major companies and government agencies since the late 1960s.
Mr Rennie’s aviation, medical and energy work included chairing the 1998 Inquiry into the Auckland Power Supply Failure. His pro bono and community work has covered the arts, science, and sport. He chaired the Royal New Zealand Ballet from 1999 to 2003, was a trustee of Theatre Arts Charitable Trust from 1997 to 2013, and chaired the Policy Committee of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography from 1991 to 2000. His many years working for the Chatham Islands community included being inaugural Chair of the Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust from 1990 to 2001. He was New Zealand Counsel to the Medical Protection Society United Kingdom from 1983 to 2012 and a member of the Scientific Committee of the National Heart Foundation from 1988 to 1994. He was a Director of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants from 2009 until it merged into Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand in 2014, then chairing its New Zealand Regulatory Board from 2015 to 2017. Since 1992 he has been a director of Fletcher Challenge, Bank of New Zealand and Fisher and Paykel Finance, and chaired The Marketplace Co group from 1999 to 2010. Mr Rennie has delivered seminars nationally and internationally and his publications include the 2020 book ‘A Business Revolution – The First Two Decades of National Business Review 1970-1991’.
HONOURS
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Queen’s Birthday 1989
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TUKUITONGA, Dr Collin Fonotau
For services to Pacific and public health
Dr Collin Tukuitonga has made a significant contribution to the health and welfare of Pacific people.
Dr Tukuitonga is the inaugural Associate Dean (Pacific) in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland. Between 2014 and 2020, he was the Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, a regional intergovernmental organisation based in Noumea that works with several parties in the Pacific region. He was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs between 2007 and 2012. He was a founder of the first Pacific community-owned health clinic - The Fono. In 2006 and 2007 he was Associate Professor of Public Health and Head of International at the University of Auckland, where he initiated their International Health programme. From 2003 to 2006 he worked for the World Health Organisation in Geneva, developing international policies for the control of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. He was the New Zealand Director of Public Health between 2001 and 2003, leading the national response to the threat of SARS. In the 1990s, he was key in the establishment of the Department of Māori and Pacific Health at the University of Auckland. Dr Tukuitonga has been a key contributor to the national COVID-19 response, especially in relation to Pacific communities regarding information dissemination and ensuring high vaccination rates.