The latest New Year’s Honours list is out, saluting New Zealand’s great and good.
It is easy to be cynical about the honours system and its alphabet soup of gongs dished out to salute people for simply doing their job, being good at sport or for being mates with the country’s current administration.
However, in a fast-paced era when people are often all too focused on the next new thing, it is heartening that people who are uniquely talented, or who have lived lives of service to their community, are recognised at a national level.
Take away the ceremony and the royalist trappings, at its most basic the honours system is New Zealanders saying to each list of selected honorees good on ya mate, and that is as Kiwi as it gets.
The top of this year’s list naturally attracts the most interest - and the most opprobrium should a knighthood or damehood be dispensed to a politician.
Sir John Gallagher is another noted philanthropist, as is Sir Ted Manson, while Sir Peter Skelton has done much to shape New Zealand’s planning laws.
Locally, the honours list salutes the achievements of a diverse group of people from Otago and Southland. It is an inspiring list, and it says much for the many selfless people in this community that there are too many to mention in one editorial.
Invercargill’s favourite daughter, Suzanne Prentice, may no longer feature in the hit parades but her music has been much-loved for decades. Her charity work is perhaps less recognised, but she has raised millions to sponsor underprivileged children to chase their dreams, as well as having been a World Vision ambassador.
IHC chairman, Anthony Shaw of Wanaka, has devoted more than 40 years to making the lives of those with an intellectual disability better, steering an organisation which cares with dedication for some of the most vulnerable New Zealanders.
Otago health professionals Margot Skinner (physiotherapy), Louise Parr-Brownlie (neuroscience), Emeritus Prof Murray Thomson (oral health) and Emeritus Prof Murray William Tilyard (general practice) have excelled in their careers, and Melissa Vining is a worthy honoree for the efforts she has put into health advocacy in the South, and towards building Southland’s charity hospital.
It is also heartening to see the government recognise two people who feature among its sternest critics; former Dunedin resident Darryl Smith and Invercargill’s Toni Jarvis have been in the forefront of the battle to gain justice for those who suffered abuse while in the care of the State or of faith-based institutions.
For decades those in authority have not wanted to hear what they have to say, but now their voices are recognised as is their activism - each has much more work to do before New Zealand turns the page on this sorry chapter in our history.
One laudable aspect of the honours list is that while still recognising the prominent, there is still room for those who achieve at the grassroots level.
People like Dunedin sports club volunteer David Richmond, rural sector advocate Pat Macaulay, environmentalist Barb Simpson and former Oamaru man Barry de Geest, who has been a forthright advocate for the disabled, to name just four, may not be known by all, but they have made a difference to many.
Although it is individuals who have been honoured, almost every recipient will say that they could not have done it without the support of both family and the team with whom they work.
Standard fare it may be, but that does not lessen the fact that it is true. Behind the name are many others who can deservedly share some reflected glory.
