To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
DYSON, The Honourable Ruth Suzanne
For services as a Member of Parliament and to people with disabilities
The Honourable Ruth Dyson held several ministerial roles with the Fifth and Sixth Labour Governments and was elected as Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020 for Lyttelton, Banks Peninsula, and most recently Port Hills.
Ms Dyson has been involved with the disability sector for more than 30 years. She became the first Minister for Disability Issues from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2001 to 2008. She championed reform of the disability support system, a key outcome of the New Zealand Disability Strategy of 2001. She led work to promote inclusivity for disabled people in employment and education, and provided leadership through various changes to ACC legislation. She played a key role in driving development of legislation recognising New Zealand Sign Language as an official language of New Zealand, which passed in 2006. She supported the Government’s involvement in negotiations at the United Nations on a new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She championed the creation of the Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO) to be an advisory committee to government agencies through the Office for Disability Issues. Ms Dyson supported her electorate and the greater Christchurch rebuild following the Canterbury earthquakes, and was a major supporter of the Earthquake Disability Leadership Group that ensured the disabled community had a voice in the city’s recovery.
To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
GRANT, Mrs Michelle Susan
For services to victims of sexual violence
Mrs Michelle Grant has worked for Whānau Ahuru Mowai O Turanganui A Kiwa (Gisborne Rape Crisis) for 25 years, supporting those affected by sexual violence.
Mrs Grant joined Gisborne Rape Crisis Collective as a volunteer in 1995 and has been Coordinator since 2009. She has helped provide safe and non-judgmental services that have had life-changing outcomes for those accessing them. She supports staff to develop suicide prevention workshops, self-awareness workshops and awareness for the signs of sexual abuse. She developed and helped to implement the ‘He Au Raukati’ suicide youth prevention programme and worked alongside youth to help deliver the programme across schools and marae within Te Tairawhiti. Identifying an emerging need to work with men, she developed programmes and counselling for men, an initiative which has been followed by other sexual assault support services nationally. In 2015 she developed and implemented the Te Tiriti O Waitangi workshop into the National Rape Crisis Training Manual. She has helped her local Rape Crisis to become a fully Kaupapa Māori organisation and in 2019 she joined the Kaupapa Māori Sexual Violence steering group, which informs the seven Kaupapa Māori services nationally. Mrs Grant has served on the governance group and as treasurer of the national collective for six years, and was part of the National Sexual Violence steering group.
To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
MATTHEWS, Mr David Alan
For services to people with disabilities
Mr David Matthews spent 10 years in senior management roles with Special Education Services and the past 21 years with CCS Disability Action.
Mr Matthews has been Chief Executive of CCS since 2011, maintaining the organisation’s positive reputation across the disability sector and increasing the fiscal position of CCS without reducing staff or services. Under his leadership, many innovative initiatives have taken place including in Northland the ‘Karanga Maha – Many Voices’ marae-based support programme for Māori disabled people, a work programme model now taken up by other CCS branches nationally. He oversaw the development of intensive wrap-around services for disabled children with complex needs across New Zealand. As CCS Regional Manager for South Island, he focused on the use of new technologies, access and advocacy. He has been a past Board member with the New Zealand Disability Support Network and involved with many other influential working groups including the 2016 New Zealand Disability Strategy Revision Reference Group, the Disability Systems Transformation and Enabling Good Lives projects. He supported CCS Canterbury to continue its work following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and deferred his retirement to 2021 to ensure continuity and leadership during the 2020 COVID-19 response. Mr Matthews has had an active involvement with the International Initiative for Disability Leadership.
To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
MISKIMMIN, Mr Peter Anthony
For services to sports governance and public service
Mr Peter Miskimmin was Chief Executive of Sport New Zealand from 2008 until 2020.
During this time, Mr Miskimmin led a major restructure of high performance sport and the establishment of High Performance Sport New Zealand. He oversaw two of New Zealand’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing and London, introduced a World Cups Office, and brought a new significant focus on New Zealand’s investment in major sporting events. He led the development of world class high performance facilities for cycling, rowing, and canoe racing. He drove the 2015 to 2020 Community Sport Strategy, the development of Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation strategy and a new Disability Action Plan. He led the establishment of Aktive, a charitable trust focused on making Auckland a leading active city. He was Board member of SPARC and the New Zealand Sports Foundation. He formerly captained the New Zealand Men’s Hockey Team, playing 150 matches and representing at the Los Angeles and Barcelona Olympic Games. He was Chair of the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission for ten years and is Past President of the Olympian Club of New Zealand. Mr Miskimmin is currently a selector for the Black Sticks and continues coaching hockey at club, provincial and international levels, winning national titles on several occasions.
To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
STUART-BLACK, Ms Sarah Ann (Norm)
For services to emergency management
Ms Sarah Stuart-Black was appointed Executive Director of the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM) in 2014, having been with the Ministry from 2003, and as of December 2020 is the current Secretary General of the New Zealand Red Cross.
Ms Stuart-Black has overseen the CDEM response to the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, the 2017 Port Hills fires, the Christchurch terror attacks and Whakaari White Island eruption in 2019, floods in Southland, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and more than 50 other emergencies during her time in the statutory role of Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management from 2014 to 2020. She oversaw implementation of the Emergency Mobile Alert system in 2017, the New Zealand Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys network in 2019 and 2020, and provided leadership during the transition process from MCDEM to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). She was member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team for nine years and has had extensive experience at the executive level nationally and internationally, working across organisations and representing New Zealand at various international forums, regional and global meetings and exercises. Ms Stuart-Black has published papers in international journals and has co-edited three books, including ‘Health Emergency Planning: a handbook for practitioners’.
To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
TANGUAY, Mrs Heather Leigh
For services to local government and the community
Mrs Heather Tanguay was a Palmerston North City Councillor from 1995 and Mayor of Palmerston North from 2004 to 2007 and has volunteered hundreds of hours to West Auckland community projects over the past seven years.
Mrs Tanguay was Executive Director of Red Cross Palmerston North from 1987 to 1994, establishing the Manawatu Multicultural Council and initiating several fundraising schemes including an annual book sale which has raised more than $1 million. She initiated the Ethkick annual football tournament in Palmerston North and introduced a Muslim women’s swimming group. She organised West Auckland’s Ethkick tournament in 2019. She has facilitated the settlement of hundreds of refugees in Palmerston North. She is President of Titirangi U3A and volunteers for the Give a Kid a Blanket initiative. She established the Glen Eden Residents Association and the Glen Eden Community Pataka programme, which provides hundreds of families with emergency food. From 2013 she worked with her husband to transform the Milan Bush Reserve, which won a top local environment award in 2020. From 2007 to 2013 she was the Funding and Community Development Advisor for DIA in Palmerston North, helping to establish the Roslyn Education and Health Programme. Mrs Tanguay helped develop the New Zealand Toy Safety Standard, still in place today.
HONOURS
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal