Former Auckland Grammar headmaster and All Black captain John Graham is among a group of seven prominent New Zealanders made knights or dames in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Auckland philanthropist Rosemary Horton and Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira, from Hamilton, who has helped lead the revival of the Maori language, have been made Dame Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit, while Court of Appeal judge Grant Hammond, Anzco Foods founder Graeme Harrison, Manawatu businessman Dan Higgins and arts patron James Wallace join Sir John as Knights Companion.
Former Auckland mayor John Banks and former Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast have been made Companions of the Order (CNZM). Recently-retired Police Commissioner Howard Broad, former Treasury Secretary John Whitehead, and opera singer and administrator Christopher Doig are among others to be made Companions.
Former United States deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage is awarded an honorary Companion of the Order for his services to New Zealand-US relations.
Silver Ferns netball coach Ruth Aitken and her captain Casey Williams, past New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming and the most recent one, Daniel Vettori, have all been made Officers of the Order (ONZM).
Others including broadcaster John Hawkesby, celebrity gossiper David Hartnell, first Fonterra chairman John Roadley and winemaker Allan Scott have been made Members of the Order.
