Investitures - Wednesday 2 September 2009

  • <span class="title">Police Officers recognised</span><br/><p> Four police officers were recognised by Governor-General, Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, for services to the New Zealand Police, at an investiture ceremony on 2 September.  They were, from left: Senior Constable Daniel O'Connell, Wellington; Senior Sergeant Ross Barnaby, North Shore; Detective Superintendent Malcolm Burgess, Christchurch; and Constable Bryan Ward, Auckland.   Mr O'Connell, who received the Insignia of an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit, has served with the Police for 38 years and has been a senior support officer with the Diplomatic Protection Squad for some 15 years.  He has also played a significant role in Search and Rescue  for more than 35 years.    Mr Barnaby, who received the Queen's Service Medal, established the first Sniper Observer Course and co-ordinated the annual New Zealand Police Sniper Concentration Course.  He was in charge of the Auckland Sniper Team during APEC in 1999 and was seconded to the New South Wales Police during the Sydney Olympic Games.  Mr Burgess, who received the Insignia of a Member of the NZ Order of Merit, has been involved in many  complex criminal investigations in a more than 30 year career.  He played a major role in the Police response and support to Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct.  Mr Ward, who received the Queen's Service Medal, has served a community constable, principally in Otahuhu.  He works with local residents, helping to improve community safety and increase the level of engagement in the community, and has developed a valuable rapport with youth in the area.  </p>
  • <span class="title">Monica Watson</span><br/>Monica Watson, of Hastings, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to Māori.  She was involved in the formation of the Rongomaiwahine Iwi Trust and was chairperson of the Te Mana Taiao O Rongomaiwahine Committee, which was formed to deal with resource consent applications concerning the Mahia community.  She has been involved with Marae in Flaxmere, Hastings, and Mahanga in all capacities for more than 30 years, particularly in the beautification of the Mahanga Marae grounds.  She has been a trustee of the Mahanga Marae for more than 25 years, where she has been secretary and chairperson and organises fundraising events for the marae.  She is a life member of the Māori Women's Welfare League. 
  • <span class="title">Julie Ranginui</span><br/>Julie Ranginui, of Wanganui, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to Māori.   She is a registered national Māori translator who worked on the establishment of kohanga reo and was a regional worker for the National Kohanga Reo Trust for a number of years.  She helped to set-up Te Rangakura; the first bilingual teacher training programme in New Zealand which started in Wanganui and has become a nation-wide programme.  She is a foundation member of the Whanganui River Māori Trust Board, with whom she advises on the cultural significance of the Whanganui River. 
  • <span class="title">Margaret Morton</span><br/>Margaret Morton, of Seddon, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to Girl Guiding.  Mrs Morton has been involved with Guiding for more than 50 years.  She has been a leader for all of this time and has been involved with all the different levels in the Canterbury, Waikato, Wellington, and Manawatu regions.  She is a Lones Leader in Marlborough (a leader for girl guides who live in rural areas) and has been involved in international Guiding events.  Mrs Morton has also achieved a range of outdoor and leadership qualifications including the Specialised Leadership Qualification and is well known for her adaptation of activities to suit Lone Guides.
  • <span class="title">Lewis Findlay</span><br/><p> Lewis Findlay, of Palmerston North, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community.  He established Street Van in 1995, which helps young people addicted to drugs.  He formed the Shepherds Rest Trust, which operates as a boarding house for the homeless and was the instigator and main coordinator of Ferguson House Recover Centre for youth addicted to drugs in Palmerston North.  He also established Shiloh Retreat Renewal Centre, a drug recovery centre in Feilding.  He was involved with the Audrey Green Disability Centre for 15 years as a fundraiser and started the organisation's newspaper Disinformation.  He has been the chairperson of the Community Safer Council and was the council representative to the Disabled Persons Assembly, of which he is the treasurer. </p>
  • <span class="title">John Dunlop</span><br/>John Dunlop, of Napier, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to astronomy. He is a founding member of the Hawke's Bay Astronomical Society which was formed in 1961 and established its first purpose built planetarium.  He was the driving force behind the establishment of the Holt Planetarium, which replaced the original planetarium after its closure.  He helps students studying Level 1 NCEA in Astronomy and has conducted astronomy classes for the Adult Community Education Programme at Napier Boys' High School.  He was the president of the Hawke's Bay Astronomical Society for more than 30 years and serves on the executive committee. 
  • <span class="title">John Morrison</span><br/>John Morrison, of Wellington, received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to cricket and the community. He made his debut for the Wellington Cricket Team in 1967 and represented New Zealand in cricket between 1973 and 1983.  He played in 17 tests and his greatest achievement was scoring 117 against Australia at Sydney in his second test match.  He has been involved in many different hosting, commentating, and interviewing roles with radio, television, and print media for some 30 years.  He is the vice president of Wellington Cricket and a trustee of the Basin Reserve and Westpac Stadium.  Mr Morrison has coached boys' and girls' cricket at all levels and has been active in encouraging and supporting community sport.  He is a Wellington City councillor.
  • <span class="title">Gareth Parry</span><br/>Professor Gareth Parry, of the Hopkins, Minnesota, United States, received the Insignia of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to neurology.  He is the medical director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit and medical director of the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of the University of Minnesota.  He has maintained links with colleagues in New Zealand, in particular the Guillain-Barre Syndrome New Zealand Support Group, and has returned to attend the organisation's annual conference.  He is a member of the American Guillain-Barre Foundation and has been on the board of a number of American societies, including the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and the American Board of Electro-diagnostic Medicine.  He has written two books on the subject and contributed scientific papers to numerous journals.
  • <span class="title">Roger Moses</span><br/>Roger Moses, of Wellington, received the Insignia of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education.  Mr Moses has been the headmaster at Wellington College for some 15 years and has contributed to the sporting and academic development of the students at the school through fostering sporting and cultural activities.  He has taught at a wide variety of schools, including Auckland Grammar School, MacLean's College, Mahurangi College, and Waihi College.  He has served on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Working Party and on the executive of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand.  Mr Moses is the national chairman of the Association of Boys' Schools, serves on the executive of the International Boys' Schools Coalition, and is a member of the board of the Bible Society.
  • <span class="title">Te Uira Graham Kerehoma</span><br/>Te Uira Graham Kerehoma, of Levin, received the Insignia of a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for services to Māori and the community.  She is the founder and has been the organiser of the National Christian Women's Conference for more than 50 years.  She was involved with the New Zealand Poroutawhao Every Girls Rally.  She served 10 years on two school boards and was pivotal in getting Māori parents involved with their children's education.  She was instrumental in the establishment of the Tu Tangata Programme, which supports Māori youth in the education system and was implemented in schools throughout the country.  She is an integral member of Te Kokiri; a community-based organisation supporting whānau development through various avenues.  She developed the Arohamai Aotearoa Literacy Programme, that helps local adults with literacy and numeracy skills. 
  • <span class="title">Jeff Tallon</span><br/>Dr Jeffery Tallon, of Lower Hutt, received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science. He is notable for his research into high temperature superconductivity, for which he won the Royal Society of New Zealand's Rutherford Medal in 2002.  He has discovered many novel high temperature superconductors (HTS), including one that works at minus 140 degrees Celsius.  This means electricity can travel without friction at higher temperatures compared with previous superconductors that worked at extremely low temperatures which were expensive to operate.  The new HTS means an electrical current can circulate indefinitely over a period of time, which means electric motors and power cables can be smaller and consequently produce power with greater efficiency and at a lower cost.  In addition, because HTS can be used to make magnetic images of the body's soft tissues, it can speed up the diagnosis of tumours and ease non-invasive surgery. 

The Governor-General, Hon Sir Anand Satyanand and Lady Susan Satyanand, hosted an investiture ceremony at Premier House in Wellington on 2 September 2009