ONZM Recipients
Nelson
Services to conservation
After a long career working "behind the scenes" as a public servant, Jeffrey Connell (70) says his Queen's Birthday honour is gratifying because it recognises work that was often very difficult and sometimes contentious.
Mr Connell was conservator for the Department of Conservation in Otago, based in Dunedin, for two decades until his retirement in 2009.
That followed a stint as the department's conservator in Whanganui.
He played a pivotal role in the Ngai Tahu Treaty settlement process for the Greenstone, Elfin Bay and Routeburn high country stations at the head of Lake Wakatipu.
He was also instrumental in negotiating public access to Motatapu Station, between Arrowtown and Lake Wanaka's Glendhu Bay, which led to the formation of the Motatapu Track.
Those achievements were "career highlights", he said.
"But both were very challenging and highly controversial."
During his time as Otago conservator, three new conservation parks were opened: Te Papanui in 2003, Hawea Conservation Park in 2009 and Oteake Conservation Park in 2010.
He was also instrumental in the creation of the Otago Central Rail Trail, a blueprint for dozens of cycling trails throughout the country.
Initiatives advanced under his leadership improved the populations of Otago skinks and grand skinks from critical to endangered status. He also worked with Ngai Tahu to introduce buff weka to the mainland from the Chatham Islands.
Dunedin
Services to documentary filmmaking, natural history and conservation
"These things come out of the blue, don't they?"
That was the philosophical reaction of Rod Morris to the news the Dunedin conservationist, photographer, filmmaker, writer and naturalist to the news of his honour.
"I feel very honoured, and rather surprised because those sort of awards ... don't usually go to conservationists or naturalists."
Mr Morris (67) has directed more than 15 wildlife documentaries, first under the Wild South Banner for TVNZ and later for broadcasters including the Discovery Channel.
His films have won awards at national and international festivals, while from 1980 to 2003 he was involved with Wild Track, a children's natural history series.
He is also known for his writing on natural history and conservation, starting with the School Journal in the 1970s and later for New Zealand Geographic and Forest and Bird.
More recently, he and others unsuccessfully campaigned to stop opencast mining on the Denniston Plateau, using his photography to raise awareness of the area's wildlife.
Albert Town
For services to people with intellectual disabilities
Donald Hewitt Thompson was a farmer in a small rural town west of Oamaru when his daughter was born with special needs.
When his two sons started school in Windsor he discovered another family with a special needs child also struggling with no support, which motivated him to seek help.
"I had two other children, two sons, they needed a life and to do that we needed to share the care of our daughter. That's why I got involved with IHC."
Mr Thompson's daughter was aged 3 when he first joined IHC in Oamaru.
He moved to Albert Town 18 years ago but continued his involvement with IHC. He was North Otago branch president for 12 years and national president from 2005 to 2015.
Mr Thompson also led a governance review of the organisation, which included streamlining the IHC board, after which he became IHC board chairman from 2015 to 2017.
Mr Thompson has been a director of IHC subsidiaries, Idea Services and Accessible properties, and a trustee of the Donald Beasley Institute.
Over the years he has made numerous submissions to Parliament on behalf of IHC members, and in 2008 took legal action against the Ministry of Education over its failure to ensure inclusive education for all children.
"Our daughter had to go to a pre-school run by IHC and it was not until the Education Act changed that she was allowed to go to a normal school and a special needs class."
Mr Thompson described the people working for IHC as "just a wonderful group" and said people with intellectual disabilities had taught him
"not to sweat the small stuff".
Mr Thompson continues to sit on the board of the property arm of IHC.
MNZM Recipients
Dunedin
For services to rehabilitative programmes
Claire Aitken's unshakeable belief that change is possible, has made her a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for rehabilitating offenders.
Since 1987, Ms Aitken has been the Downie Stewart Foundation director, where she has provided special care and therapy to at-risk individuals, as well as succeeding in reconnecting clients to their Maoritanga and families.
Ms Aitken was pleased her work on addictions, mental health and other related areas, had been recognised.
"I am passionate about this work because I believe that change is always possible.
"A key part of that is to provide hope and promote belief in the capacity of the men and their whanau to drive their own change processes in a way that fits them."
To ensure the programme continues, she has also worked diligently to secure external funding by fostering strong connections with local Maori representatives and holding community events such as annual Christmas tree sales.
Her efforts have enabled the foundation to expand its treatment of those affected by methamphetamine, and it now provides 17 beds for vulnerable people.
She also helped initiate a national training programme - Te Taketake - to further enhance the available rehabilitation support.
Riverton
For services to Coastguard
When Ian Coard (63) moved from Invercargill to Riverton in 1988, he had a choice between joining the fire service or Coastguard - he chose the latter and has now been honoured for his contribution.
"I had an affinity with the water, being a diver, [so] I decided the Coastguard was for me.
"I like boats and I couldn't afford one, and the Coastguard's got a nice boat," he joked.
Mr Coard's roles within the unit include as safety officer, search and rescue co-ordinator and president.
He joined Coastguard Southern Region's board in 2003 and Coastguard New Zealand's board in 2004, serving three years as president before stepping down in 2012.
As president he led the national governance structure and local Coastguard units and oversaw the development and signing of the first service level agreement between Coastguard New Zealand, the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council and New Zealand Police.
He is the independent member representing the search and rescue volunteer sector on the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council and has been a Coastguard boating education tutor since 2004.
Mr Coard said he was renewing his ticket for another five years, but was likely to transition to the incident management side of Coastguard.
"The body's telling me [to slow down] - there's bits on me hurt after bouncing around out there in the brinies ... There's a fair bit of organising [required] - the boat's the easy part of it."
Invercargill
For services to the community
During a 1950s teacher shortage, an Education Department representative called at James Hargest High School in Invercargill seeking volunteer relief teachers.
A then 16-year-old Margaret Cook put up her hand and was soon standing in front of Southland classes containing "big, strapping farming lads" older than her.
And Mrs Cook (80) has continued to put up her hand as a volunteer.
Born in Hastings, she moved to Invercargill with her parents Fred and Noelene in 1948 when her father transferred with the Post and Telegraph Department.
She trained at the Dunedin Teachers College, and taught in Southland before marrying Keith Cook in 1960.
In a period when women were "encouraged to stay home" she raised four children, and was involved with the running of Scouts and Girls Brigade.
In 1978 she became a special needs teacher at James Hargest and remained there for 18 years before beginning her "full-time volunteer stuff".
Since 2000 she has been with Habitat for Humanity, chairing the Invercargill board and the Christchurch board - through the earthquakes - and as a national director.
Claiming to have no carpentry skills herself, Mrs Cook has helped facilitate the building or renovation of 23 houses in Invercargill and 21 houses in Christchurch.
She is still family services convener for the organisation in Invercargill, and convenes the South Alive Housing Action Group, which encourages people to take care of their homes.
Mrs Cook described the shortage of "warm, safe" housing in Invercargill as "dire".
Invercargill
Services to conservation
Tane Davis says his honour comes at a sad time, because his mother and mentor in conservation, Jane Davis, died in March.
"But it really enhances the mana of my mother ... and it gives me the strength to carry that work on."
Mr Davis (63) has contributed to conservation efforts and Maori interests throughout New Zealand for more than 20 years.
The support of his whanau had been extremely important during that time, because "conservation takes you away from home a lot", he said.
He has been an advocate for the appropriate management of nature reserve Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.
He was instrumental in establishing an access policy and operational plan for the island and
has been the chairman of the Whenua Hou Committee since its inception. He was the principal Murihiku Maori representative in the major archaeological excavations on the island in 2007.
Since 2006, he has been a member of the Kakapo Recovery Group.
He has led efforts to promote biosecurity on the Titi Islands, and successfully negotiated an agreement between Titi islanders to use a conservation dog trained to detect rodents.
Auckland
Services to library and information management and the arts
Former Dunedin librarian Allison Dobbie says she was "absolutely stunned" to receive her honour.
"You just feel like you're doing your job to the best of your ability," Ms Dobbie, now living in Auckland, said.
"It was a really nice surprise."
Ms Dobbie (67) is receiving the honour for services to library and information management and the arts.
During her career she served as a librarian in Christchurch, Dunedin and Parliament, and led Auckland Libraries, the largest library network in Australasia.
She worked in Dunedin twice - in the 1970s after finishing her history degree at the University of Otago, and most recently between 1988 and 2001.
"I like the sense that libraries can make such a positive difference to people's lives," she said.
Although she studied in Dunedin Ms Dobbie said she was born in Southland, and later went to high school in Waimate.
Ms Dobbie led the development and adoption of the first registration scheme for library and information professionals in New Zealand, and has had an active role in the work of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa since 1975.
She has also served in broader arts roles, including as a councillor of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand in 1993, a member of the advisory committee for Te Ara, the online encyclopedia of New Zealand, and a convener of the strategic direction working group for the National Digital Forum.
Ms Dobbie also headed a leadership development programme for library leaders in Oceania and convened the Pacific Libraries Summit last year under the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Wyndham
Services to clay target shooting
Little could Wyndham dairy farmer Ewen Pirie have suspected his first shot - aged just 12 - would lead to a life in gun sport.
His dedication over nearly six decades has led to his honour.
Mr Pirie (72) said he regarded himself as "very lucky" to have gained a lifetime of "immense satisfaction" from clay target shooting, both in competition and in governance.
A former New Zealand and Australian title holder in many of the sport's disciplines, in later years Mr Pirie has also been a devoted global administrator.
Mr Pirie was appointed the sole South Island referees' examiner by the New Zealand Clay Target Association (NZCTA) in the early 1980s.
He has been an executive member of the NZCTA, serving as vice-president and as president from 2000 to 2006.
In 2002, during his term as president, the World Down-the-Line Championships were held in New Zealand.
He helped found the International Clay Target Shooting Federation, of which he was president from 2008 to 2011, and has also been president of the New Zealand Shooting Federation since 2012, having previously been New Zealand Clay Target delegate and vice-president.
Most recently, in 2017, Mr Pirie became president of the Oceania Shooting Federation.
He described his years of governance as contributing "in some small way" to the sport he loved.
The receipt of the honour had left him "quite emotional".
"It's by no means why I've been involved for so long, but it's nice to be acknowledged."
Among his greatest pleasures was seeing his eldest son Clark Pirie follow him into the sport.
"We've had a lot of enjoyment together. That's huge credit to my younger son Bevan, too, whose dedication to the farm has allowed me to pursue this sport."
Dunedin
For services to education
Janice Tofia has dedicated her entire career to improving education outcomes for Maori and Pasifika pupils in Dunedin.
Mrs Tofia (70) has worked as a teacher, principal and adviser for the Ministry of Education.
From 1989 until 2000, she was an Education Review Office reviewer, before being appointed principal of Forbury School.
From 2000-11, she actively supported underprivileged children and their families, and improved the performance of the decile 2 school.
The school roll more than doubled during her time and she introduced initiatives to support the wellbeing of pupils, which included the community preparing healthy school lunches with support from local businesses and organisations.
Her support frequently extended beyond that expected of a principal, when she offered personal support to pupils.
"In all aspects of my work, I have done my best to ensure students and their families received the very best service available at the time, and that students learn in an environment where they were cared for and valued, and where they could achieve success."
As a result, she received a New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award in 2010.
Since 2012, she has been a facilitator at the University of Otago Education Support Service, training teachers to create culturally responsive classroom environments and help schools better engage Maori and Pasifika pupils.
Although delighted to receive her honour, she said motivation for her work was how heartening it was to see many of her past pupils living good and successful lives.
QSM Recipients
Dunedin
Services to Scouting and the community
For more than 70 years, Mervyn John Cranefield has been associated with Scouting.
His tireless service to that organisation, along with several others in Dunedin, has netted the 86-year-old a richly deserved honour.
Now a resident of Frances Hodgkins Retirement Village in St Clair and an accountant by profession, Mr Cranefield first joined Scouting in 1945, becoming a Scout leader in 1950.
In 1956 he established the first Cub packs in Alexandra.
Then from 1967 to 1984 he was a member of the National Training Team on courses at Tatum Park in Levin.
Always community minded, since 1982 he has provided voluntary auditing services to Otago community groups.
He also gave his time to the cause of conservation through the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, volunteering as treasurer from 1990 to 2000, and introducing financial and accounting systems to the Trust.
Mr Cranefield's efforts extended to the arts in providing guidance as volunteer treasurer, board member and president of the Dunedin Sinfonia, while also assisting other volunteer organisations.
He remains part of the Baden-Powell Guild of NZ.
Scouting still had a lot to offer young people, he said.
But he acknowledged with a hint of sadness it had declined somewhat in recent years
In his view, the fact Scouts New Zealand were selling halls around the country had not helped matters.
Tuatapere
For services to conservation
Joyce Kolk has steered extensive conservation efforts in Southland.
For the past 12 years she has run roadside clean-ups as well as organising four major clean-ups in Fiordland and the west coast of Stewart Island.
During these, Ms Kolk played a key role in procuring stores, precooking meals and catering for volunteers and transportation. She secures funding and donations from businesses in the Fiordland and Southland areas for these efforts.
She has arranged sponsored beanies, gloves, knives, sacks and badges from various companies, as well as high-visibility T-shirts for volunteers.
The beach clean-up from East Ruggedy to Doughboy on Stewart Island last year collected 16.5 tonnes of rubbish.
The success of these operations has attracted volunteers from around the country to participate, one of many things Ms Kolk is proud of.
"The trusts and groups of volunteers that I have been involved with - the commitment that others have - show what can be achieved if you have a group of like-minded people all working towards a common goal."
Ms Kolk is a trustee of the Southern Coastal Charitable Trust and was an administrator of the South West New Zealand Endangered Species Charitable Trust for 12 years.
Along with husband Johan Groters, Ms Kolk has operated the Wairaurahiri River jet-boating operation since its humble beginnings in the mid-1990s.
She credits her husband as her biggest source of motivation.
"He is always behind me 100% - even when I'm down in the dumps he can pick up my spirit and dust me off and makes me think I can achieve anything."
Oamaru
Services to horticulture and the community
Bak Fong (Peter) Lee arrived in New Zealand as a youngster in 1949.
As a pupil at Waitaki Boys' High School, in Oamaru, Mr Lee watched from the sidelines as his father ploughed fields with horses.
Now the retired market gardner is recognised as an industry leader in technological innovation, particularly in the development of superior seed and plant production.
"We more or less moved from the Stone Age onwards," Mr Lee (82) said.
For nearly 30 years Mr Lee was a director of the North Otago Growers Co-op. He is a life member of the North Otago Vegetable and Potato Growers Association.
He was a member of the Totara School Parent Teacher Association from 1975 to 1990, and was instrumental in obtaining a free school bus and fundraising for the school's first computers.
He once served as a trustee of the Waitaki Health Board.
Born in a village in Guangdong Province, China, Mr Lee was also the first Chinese grower to represent a district association at the national level at Vegfed Fresh Vegetable Sector.
For more than three decades he has been involved with the Oamaru branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association, and, beyond organising cultural events, Mr Lee and his wife Shui (Betty) Lee have served as a bridge between the Chinese community and other New Zealanders, overcoming language barriers.
"It's an honour to be trusted and supported by the people I help," Mr Lee said.
Moeraki
Services to conservation and the environment
For the past 20 years, Dugald MacTavish and his wife Alison have campaigned for change "as a team".
Mr MacTavish has dedicated countless hours to providing hydrological expertise and evidence at hearings, fundraising for community projects both locally and in developing countries, organising regional seminars and workshops, and helping to prepare submissions to councils, the Environment Court and Parliament.
"What I really reckon is lovely is that in the last few months there's been this tremendous upsurge of youth coming out en masse demanding that sort of change towards resilience, and going away from the development-centred focus that we've had around individual gain. That's a massively positive sign," Mr MacTavish (68) said.
"I don't know how many stirrers like me get these kind of awards, but if it helps with that in any way at all, then it's good."
A trained geohydrologist and water engineer, Mr MacTavish, of Moeraki, started the Dunedin branch of Oxfam Water-for-Survival, helped form Waitaki First to oppose Project Aqua, initiated Sustainable Dunedin City and the Hampden Community Energy Societies, and helped establish the Wise Response Society.
Among his many contributions to conservation and the environment was his role in the community of Hampden buying a shared electric car.
He said he was honoured to be recognised - and did so with his wife's encouragement.
Dunedin
For services to broadcasting
While Lyndsay Rackley has spent more than 50 years in radio broadcasting, he says today may be one of the few times he actually hears a story about himself on the news.
The 75-year-old has received his honour for his services to broadcasting - something that came as a complete surprise.
"It was out of the blue, as these things are."
His career started in 1961 when he joined the Otago Radio Association and worked as a volunteer announcer on Radio Dunedin, previously called 4XD.
In November 1971, Mr Rackley began his professional radio announcing career by moving to Dunedin station 4XO, which was the first private commercial radio station in the South Island.
He continued to work as an afternoon announcer until 2015.
Throughout that time, he continued to work closely with the Otago Radio Association.
For the past 34 years he has been the association's voluntary secretary and co-ordinated volunteer announcers to provide programmes for time slots on Radio Dunedin.
Since 2015, he has continued to work in broadcasting as a voluntary announcer on the Sunday Morning Breakfast Show at Radio Dunedin.
"The Otago Radio Association went through some pretty hard times before it was commercialised.
"I'm proud to have helped keep it going."
Invercargill
For services to badminton and the community
Ann-Marie Searle has contributed to the Southland community for more than 50 years, receiving many plaudits along the way.
A stalwart of badminton in Southland, she has coached at the Oteramika Badminton Association, where she was club captain.
Mrs Searle also has been recognised for her work as a sports administrator, serving on the association's committee and organising tournaments at the Gorge Rd community hall.
A "huge honour" was when she was asked to coach national juniors in Denmark in 1996. She was unable to do so, however, as she put her family first.
More recently, her contribution to the wider community as a volunteer has taken over from her sporting exploits
Mrs Searle took over the leadership of Table 4 Eight, a voluntary organisation which introduced people in lonely environments to one another.
She has been active in Plunket and Playcentre, becoming secretary of her local Playcentre.
As a Sunday school teacher at her local Presbyterian church, she occasionally judged and taught craft sewing and dressmaking, and voluntarily assisted other families with food, housework, dressmaking and knitting.
"All my life I have been creative, doing things with my hands," she said.
She was sent a card from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2013 after she knitted a red cardigan for the newborn Prince George. Six years later she is now a recipient of a Queen's Service Medal.
"Everything I have done, I have put my heart and soul into it. I like to do my best."
Greymouth
Services to athletics
Sixty years of tireless dedication to the Greymouth Athletic Club has earned Margaret Joan Swinburn a well-deserved honour.
Mrs Swinburn, now a sprightly 75 and still secretary and patron of the club, and a regular officiator at club events, said she was reluctant to accept the award.
"I felt what I'm doing was reward enough."
"When you're patron, well, you don't actually do anything, do you?"
The self-deprecating Blaketown resident had been associated with the club since she began as a competing athlete in 1959, specialising as a sprinter.
"Nothing of great fame."
By 1965 she was club captain, two years before club member Dave McKenzie won the Boston Marathon.
On top of regular club competitions, she officiates at inter-club and regional events, where her duties include starting, time-keeping, measuring and recording results.
She has spent countless hours in schools as a volunteer Kiwisport co-ordinator, and in 1998 was named West Coast Volunteer of the Year.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times last week, she admitted that like other sporting clubs, numbers had dwindled in recent years at the Greymouth Athletic Club.
"Here in Greymouth, when the kids get to 16, 17, 18 they go away to work or to varsity, and the numbers drop.
"But we've still got to keep the club going. We've got lots in the juniors, from 6 up to 14."
The club was especially strong in throwing and middle-distance events, she said.
Milton
Services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community
Fireman Alan Tapp's near 50 years of service have gained him his honour.
Mr Tapp said he was "humbled" by the acknowledgement, and paid tribute to the support of his family in allowing him the time to contribute to his Milton, South Otago community.
The 72-year-old former panel beater said without the backing of his family, he could not have done so much.
"To begin with I was in a bit of everything - rugby, Lions, search and rescue, and the firefighting of course.
"But thanks to my wife Lorraine it's been the fire service I've been able to stick with, and it's been something that's involved the whole family over time."
He would achieve his double gold star for 50 years' service to Fire and Emergency New Zealand in 2021, and sons Grant and Nathan were following in his footsteps with more than 20 years' service apiece, he said.
Mrs Tapp had also supported the Milton brigade's competitive exploits for several years, he said.
"You enjoy helping out the community, and just the camaraderie of it."
Mr Tapp has taken part as both competitor and coach in waterway and road crash competitions, and served on the Otago Southland Challenge Panel for eight years, half of that as chairman.
He has also undertaken several roles on the Clutha District Emergency Services Committee, the Milton Civil Defence Group and Clutha District Search and Rescue.
"It's sure kept me busy," he said.
Now he looked forward to "winding back a little".
"We've a crib down the Catlins. I'm ready for a bit of hunting and fishing. It's paradise."
