Aotearoa gains two Māori dames and a knight today in the Queen’s Birthday Honour List, which also recognises many Māori for their work in the community.
The wahine who first sang the New Zealand national anthem in Māori at an international rugby match, the All Black captain whose supporters still yell “Bring back Buck” at matches and the legendary wahine who swept the tennis world will all be knighted.
Legendary tennis player Ruia Mereana Morrison has been made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to tennis.
Morrison was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1960 when she was highly ranked in women's tennis, having been the first Māori player to compete at Wimbledon in 1957, again competing in 1958, 1959 and 1960.
Morrison has been a trailblazer in tennis for Māori and women, encouraging athletes to break barriers and achieve their goals. She volunteered her time as a coach and mentor to the tennis community and was involved with Aotearoa Māori Tennis Championships for many years. She was the New Zealand Open singles champion in 1960, the doubles champion in 1961 and singles and doubles champion in 1962 and 1964. She was captain and player for the 1965 New Zealand Federation Cup Team against Argentina and Australia. In 1972 she was Captain against Columbia, Finland and the Netherlands. She was Aotearoa Māori singles, doubles and mixed doubles champion in 1965 and 1970.
She was awarded Life Membership of Aotearoa Māori Tennis Association in 2001 and Tennis New Zealand in 2014. She was inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Te Arawa Hall of Fame in 2014. Morrison returned to Wimbledon in 2013 where the All England Club awarded her membership of the Last Eight Club, which recognises players who reach either the quarterfinals in singles or semifinals in doubles.
Hinewehi Mohi has become a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori, music and television.
Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe) has contributed to music, television production, charity work and advocacy for te reo and tikanga Māori.
She sang the New Zealand national anthem in Māori at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Twickenham. It was the first time this had been done at an international rugby match, leading into the now customary practice to sing the anthem both in Te Reo Māori and English at events of national significance.
She co-founded the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in 2004, for people with disabilities. The centre now has more than 500 people receiving music therapy each week in its three centres in Auckland, Whangārei and Hawke’s Bay. As a prolific television producer, she has created television and digital content for mainstream and Māori programming, celebrating te ao Māori.
Mohi's shows have received or been nominated for several television awards. In 2019, she produced the Waiata/Anthems album, supporting well-known musicians to re-record their hit songs in Te Reo Māori. It debuted at No 1 on the New Zealand top 40 chart and achieved gold record sales. Mohi continues to support the growth of Māori music in her role at the Australasian Performing Right Association, (ARPA) promoting waiata reo Māori and the development of a bilingual music industry in Aotearoa.
Previously, she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday honours in 2008.
Wayne Thomas (Buck) Shelford will become a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rugby and the community.
Shelford is recognised for his time with the All Blacks as a player from 1985 and captain from 1987 to 1990, where he is credited for bringing the mana back to the All Black haka and leading a record-setting 14 consecutive test victories as captain.
Shelford has given freely and tirelessly back to the community through numerous charitable works, most notably through men's health. He is a committed ambassador for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. His numerous fundraising activities include golf tournaments, 'Pedals4Prostate', 'Shear4Life', keynote speaking and charitable auctions, such as for the Child Cancer Foundation. He was involved with the Ministry of Health's 'Life Keeper Suicide Prevention' programme and 'Waimarie – Whatever it takes' community housing for the disabled. He recently became involved with 'Te Kiwi Māia', a charitable trust involved in offering respite care for emergency first responders. He is member of the Northern Region Lion Foundation Grants Committee. He is on the executive of the Auckland RSA and patron of the Passchendaele Society. He is president of Northshore Rugby Club, having been involved for more than 40 years as a player, captain and coach. He is the patron of New Zealand Navy Rugby, New Zealand Defence Force Rugby and of the Māori education programme 'Te Reo Tuatahi', supporting Te Reo Māori in mainstream schools. Mr Shelford is well regarded for his standing and mana within Aotearoa and within Te Ao Māori.
He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1991.
Other honours made today include Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane (Ngāti Whakau) who has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education, psychology and Māori.
Macfarlane has been a leading figure in cultural theory in education and psychology and an eminent researcher in the field of Mātauranga Māori, who has gained international recognition for the transferability of his theories.
Macfarlane has developed bicultural approaches for teachers and psychologists to create safe and inclusive relationships with Māori students and clients, notably the Educultural Wheel, his most widely referred to framework for professional practice. His education theories have also proven to be effective for Pacific, disabled and gifted learners.
He developed his first education theory in New Zealand, the Hikairo Rationale (now Hikairo Schema), a bicultural approach to positive behaviour, while head teacher of the Awhina special education school in 1980s and early 1990s. He has contributed to national projects, such as Resource Teachers for Learning and Behaviour and Hui Whakatika, a Māori-developed restorative justice programme in schools.
His bicultural research model He Ara Whiria has been widely used by Superu (The Families Commission), MSD, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, and is the basis for research for E Tipu e Rea A Better Start National Science Challenge. Professor Macfarlane is Professor of Māori Research and was founding Director of Te Rū Rangahau (The Māori Research Laboratory) at University of Canterbury.
Aquaculture pioneer
Also made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit is Harry Haerengarangi Mikaere for services to the aquaculture industry and Māori
Mikaere has been a pioneer of aquaculture as one of the earliest mussel farmers in the Coromandel area, and has supported other organisations in the development of their businesses over 30 years, helping the industry become world-renowned.
Mikaere is a director of Pare Hauraki Fishing Trust and has been a Director of Aquaculture NZ since 2011. He has travelled internationally to develop relationships and capability in aquaculture throughout Asia. He established several successful businesses that have employed local people across the aquaculture and health sectors, including the first and, to this day, only rest home and private hospital in the Coromandel region.
He is a director of Hauraki Māori Trust Board and chairs Pare Hauraki Assets Holdings, Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki, and Tikapa Moana Enterprise Ltd. Regionally, he is Chair of Hauraki Primary Health Organisation, Tainui Waka Alliance, and Ngāti Pūkenga ki Manaia.
He has previously been on the Waikato District Health Board, chaired the Iwi Māori Council from 2007 to 2016 and was Iwi negotiator of Te Au Maaro from 2005. He was director and Chair of the Asset Holding Trust of Ngāti Kahungunu. As a committee member and Chair of Manaia Marae, Mikaere has been instrumental in the redevelopment of the marae and the local kura of Manaia.
Traditional navigator
John Webster Te Kapene (Jack) Thatcher becomes a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Māori and education.
Thatcher is the chairman of Te Puna I Rangiriri Trust (TPIRT), which he co-founded in the early 1990s.
Through TPIRT Thatcher and other staff have taught hundreds of children and young people about waka and other traditional Māori knowledge through programmes in schools, polytechnics and wānanga. He has run events and classes based on traditional Māori activities such as waka ama, mau rākau, kapa haka, and Māori sports and cultural experiences. Under the umbrella of the Trust, he established a traditional navigation school in 2015 where 30 students a year can gain recognised NZQA qualifications.
He develops and leads ocean voyages for his students using traditional navigational instruments and techniques. He has led educational tours of Mount Maunganui and the Mauao historic reserve for 27 years during Matariki. He navigated the Mātaatua Waka for the 150 year commemorations of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He captained the Waka Odyssey voyage for the 2018 New Zealand Festival of the Arts and in 2019 was flotilla kaitiaki for Tuia 250 commemorations.
He was chief navigator for Sir Heke Busby’s Waka Tapu project in 2012/2013. Mr Thatcher taught navigation skills for a crew of seven waka for Te Mana o te Moana, a journey from around the Pacific to join the Pacific Arts Festival in the Solomon Islands in 2012.
Farm educator
James Anthony Brownlie has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to agriculture and education.
Brownlie has owned Ngā Tuhoe Station in Ruakituri Valley since 1974 and was involved with the establishment of the East Coast Farm Cadet Scheme in 1980.
Brownlie opened his farm to be used as a training and operations base for Search and Rescue exercises close to Urewera National Park. He began his involvement in mentoring trainees with the formation of the Agriculture Industry Training Organisation (Ag ITO). He was Chairman of the Ag ITO Gisborne regional committee from 1995 to 2010 and was elected to the national board between 2003 and 2009. In 2006 he co-developed the Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust, facilitating a commercially operating farm where trainees could live on site for two years. He was instrumental in setting up the trust’s ability to grant a formal agricultural qualification. The trust is now a benchmark for agricultural training in the sheep, beef and supporting agencies sectors.
He has provided guidance and contributed to governance for several Māori incorporated farms and farming clusters, including Whangara Farms, Onenui Station, Tauwharetoi Station, and the Te Taumata Cluster. Since 2012, he has been at the forefront of a syndicate of farmers developing and breeding a premier lamb export product, which has developed into a joint venture with the Alliance Group.
UK resident Esther Rata Jessop has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori and to New Zealand-United Kingdom relations.
Jessop is the honorary president of Ngati Ranana – The London Māori Club - having been a founding member in 1958 and former chair.
Ngati Ranana has been a sought after group to perform at New Zealand commemorative events across the United Kingdom and Europe. Jessop supported the New Zealand Olympic Team at the 2012 London Olympics and New Zealand Government and Defence Force delegations to World War I centenary commemorations in 2015, among other significant international events. She is regarded as a go-to person for advice on cultural protocols by a wide range of government officials and delegates either working in or visiting the UK. She has provided guidance and support to New Zealand high commissioners.
She is a Te Papa Foundation Trustee and continues to coordinate projects of cultural cooperation with UK and European museums housing Māori taonga and supported significant repatriations in 2008, 2016 and 2017. She coordinated the opening ceremonies and ritual protocol for the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2018. She has been patron of Kohanga Reo in London since 1997.
Jessop was recognised with the Te Waka Toi Sir Kingi Ihaka Award for continuing service to Māori Culture in the UK and Europe in 2012.She was also awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for Community Service in 1994.
Another new Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit is Takutai Moana Natasha (Takutai Moana) Kemp for her services to street dance and youth.
Takutai Moana Kemp has supported rangatahi to achieve through New Zealand's street dance community and worked to address suicide prevention and Māori health outcomes.
Kemp has been director of Hip Hop International (HHI) New Zealand since 2013, which holds the qualifying event for New Zealand crews to represent at the International World Hip Hop Championship, and has managed New Zealand delegations to world championships since 2008. She is the national Hip Hop New Zealand Events Coordinator, which pioneered a special category of competition for schools to participate in the national championship.
She has been a trustee of Street Dance New Zealand and was instrumental in legitimising the industry, opening doors for arts sector careers and helping create systems to build future success for the street dance community. She became Auckland Regional Manager for Street Dance NZ in 2013.
Kemp has been CEO of Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi since 2008. She has worked with the University of Auckland to develop an innovative Rangatahi Mental Health Youth Hub in Manurewa to support wellbeing and address high suicide rates in rangatahi Māori from a Te Ao Maori perspective. She was invited to present the project at the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference.
Kemp is Manurewa Marae chief executive and initiated exercise programmes for the wider Māori community.
Art and tikanga
Dr Benjamin Frank Pittman becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and art.
Pittman has chaired Creative Northland since 2016 and been a Trustee and Secretary of Wairau Māori Art Gallery Charitable Trust Board since 2017.
He has played a key role with the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery project control group and project action team since 2014. He was a member of Haerewa Māori Advisory Board for Auckland Art Gallery.
He was a member and Treasurer of Tai Tokerau District Māori Council and member of the New Zealand Māori Council in 2015/2016. He was marae Secretary and member of the Business Development Unit of Akerama Marae between 2013 and 2018.
Pittman has been chairman of Te Pouwhenua o Tiakiriri Kūkupa Trust Board – Te Parawhau ki Tai since 2016, through which he has been involved with a Unesco research project on soil health, regenerative farming and tikanga-based practices in partnership with Auckland University of Technology and NorthTec. He has been involved with Sydney Marae Inc. and the Māori Women’s Welfare League Poihakena Inc. in Australia. He developed Mana Pacific/Mana Pasifika, a Māori and Pacific Island cultural reclamation programme for use in various institutions in New South Wales. Dr Pittman has been sought after for Treaty of Waitangi presentations, facilitating and a member of claims team for Te Parawhau and Ngāti Hau.
Kirikiriroa resident Gwendoline (Gwen) Tepania-Palmer has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori and health
Tepania-Palmer (Te Aupouri, Ngati Kahu, Ngati Paoa) has been a transformational leader for Māori health organisations and health sector governance.
In 1989 Tepania-Palmer was appointed by the National Heart Foundation as the first director to create a specific response to Māori heart disease, created Te Hotu Manawa Māori, now Toi Tangata – Specialists in Positive Health, Fitness and Nutrition.
As national clinical manager of Māori Health Funding in the Transitional Health Authority, she instituted a rheumatic fever reduction programme in Northland which led to the development of Kaupapa Māori Health and social services provider Ngāti Hine Health Trust. She has helped develop a marae-based nutrition programme, which led to the establishment of Ngāti Porou Hauora and two marae-based GP clinics, a Māori Nursing Midwifery Service and four Māori health services centres in the Auckland region. She played a significant role in the creation of Te Roopu Taurima, a Māori disability support service.
Tepania-Palmer was instrumental in the development of Māori health business boards in Te Taitokerau, Ngāti Whātua and Tainui, for the delivery and monitoring of all health services in those tribal areas. She was executive manager of Auckland University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Te Kupenga Hauora. Tepania-Palmer has given 18 years of governance Māori health leadership to Waitemata and Auckland DHBs and was a director of the Health Quality and Safety Commission.
Promoting race relations
Beverley Celia (Bev) Watson has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to race relations and youth.
Watson has made a significant contribution to promoting positive race relations in New Zealand since the 1990s.
She has made a significant contribution to the youth of New Zealand through her work in designing, implementing and sustaining a national annual speech competition on the importance of race unity. She has been director of Race Unity Speech Awards and Hui since 2001 and the competition now extends to hundreds of secondary schools nationally. She was a member of the Executive of the National Council of Women from 1997 to 2015 and was a member of the national executive during the same period for the United Nations Association New Zealand. She was instrumental in establishing the Human Rights Network and was its co-founder and first secretary in the late 1990s. As a member of this network she became involved in a range of human rights issues and through action with partners in the Network has been able to raise awareness of a broad range of issues, including the religious persecution the Baha'i community. She has advocated for families of Iranian diaspora and members of the Baha'i minority religion in Iran, leading delegations to Ministers and liaising with the NGO sector. Mrs Watson helped draft the first National Statement on Religious Diversity in 2007.