Investitures - Thursday 3 September 2009

  • <span class="title">Firefighters honoured</span><br/>Four volunteer firefighters received the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community or the New Zealand Fire Service.  Pictured after the investiture ceremony were, from left: Paul Sampson, Rotorua; Russell Mackereth, Orewa; Hon Nathan Guy, Minister of Internal Affairs; Governor-General, Hon Sir Anand Satyanand and Lady Satyanand; Mike Hall, National Commander of the New Zealand Fire Service; Thomas Hutchinson, Kaikohe; Bob Robertson, Queenstown.  
  • <span class="title">Wanda Tate</span><br/>Wanda Tate, Porirua, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to conservation.  She has been involved with the Pauatahanui Reserve Management Committee for all of this time and manages the nursery work and planting of some 5,000 plants every year.  She is involved in environmental education, notably in helping primary school groups to use the Pauatahanui Reserve as an educational resource and encouraging community groups to use it for recreation.  She is a foundation member of the Pauatahanui Inlet Community Trust; which works with other agencies to halt the decline of the water quality and ecology of the inlet.  Mrs Tate is also involved with a number of other restoration projects, including the Mana Island Kiwi Conservation and the Queen Elizabeth II Park.
  • <span class="title">Kevyn Moore</span><br/>Kevyn Moore, Napier, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to business and the community.   He is a member of the Rotary Club of Taradale and has organised many fundraising events for charitable trusts, in particular the Child Cancer Foundation and the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Education Trust.  He was instrumental in establishing the Oliver Smales Memorial Trust to provide specialised training for nurses and therapists in the field of children's health and was a board member of Healthcare Hawke's Bay.  He has been involved in the wine industry for 20 years.  He is a past president of the New Zealand Grape Growers Council and established the Romeo Bragato Conference and the Bragato Wine Awards in 1995.  In 2003, Mr Moore established the Bragato Student Exchange between the Eastern Institute of Technology Hawke's Bay and the Viticulture College of Conegliano, Italy, for students studying wine and viticulture and is chair of the Bragato Trust.
  • <span class="title">Carl Lutz</span><br/>Carl Lutz, Otaki, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community.    He is involved with the support of flood prevention on the Otaki River and has worked with catchment boards and local councils to mitigate flooding problems, with the river and donating 12 hectares of his land to the Kapiti Coast District Council to allow stop bank work.  He is an inaugural member of the Friends of the Otaki River.  He has been an active member with the Rotary Club of Otaki for 40 years.  He was the vice-president of the Otaki Surf Lifesaving Club for some 30 years.  He established the Horowhenua Vintage Machinery Club 10 years ago and a Ford Tractor Museum on his land.  He was also involved with the Otaki Branch of Federated Farmers.  Mr Lutz was also significantly involved in raising funds for the Otaki community swimming pool and a gymnasium for Otaki College and was responsible for the voluntary construction of the Waitohu School swimming pool.
  • <span class="title">James Eyers</span><br/>James Eyers, Wanganui, received the Queen's Service Medal for services to music and the community.  Mr Eyers has contributed to music in the Wanganui/Manawatu region for more than 50 years.  He has been involved in brass bands for all this time; playing principally with the Wanganui Garrison Band.  He was a member of the National Band of New Zealand in 1953 and a member of the National Māori Band in 1990.  He was a founding member of the National Male Choir of New Zealand in 1999.  He has been involved with the St Andrew's Church Choir for more than 50 years, of which he was the conductor and musical director for many years.  He has been involved with the Wanganui Lyric Singers for more than 30 years.  He is involved with the Rotary Reading Programme, and is involved with the Matarawa Probus Club.  Mr Eyers has also been an Elder of St James Presbyterian Church at Wanganui East for more than 50 years and has been involved in all the church's musical activities.
  • <span class="title">Te Whetu Tipiwai</span><br/>Te Whetu Tipiwai, Napier, received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and rugby.    He has been the chairperson of Ngāti Hineutu Iwi Incorporated for 18 years and is a member of the Ahuriri Māori Executive Committee and is a trustee of a number of Māori land trusts.  He is also a member of the Takitimu Regional Council and is the Pou Kura Taiao manager with the Department of Conservation at the East Coast-Hawke's Bay Conservancy, where he has been the convenor between the department and the local elders of Ngāti Pahauwera of Mohaka, Ngāti Tu of Tangoio, and Ngāti Hineuru of Te Haroto, ensuring the approval and translocation of native birds in the area.  Mr Tipiwai has been the chairperson of the Hawke's Bay Māori Rugby Board for 30 years, chairperson of the Central Region Board for 10 years, a member of the New Zealand Māori Rugby Board for some 15 years, and kaumātua for the New Zealand Māori Rugby Team for more than 10 years.
  • <span class="title">Ian Symonds</span><br/>Ian Symonds, Waikanae, received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community.   He was a member and former chairman of the Scots College Board of Governors and is a member of the Scots College Foundation.  He has also been on the Queen Margaret College's Board of Governors and was a representative on the Independent Schools Council.  He was a New Zealand representative on the International Medical Informatics Association Executive for 30 years.  He has also been active in his services as a Justice of the Peace.  Mr Symonds has been the president of the Wellington Justices of the Peace Association and more recently, he has acted as a visiting justice to prisons and held the position of relief coroner.
  • <span class="title">Margaret Hiha</span><br/>Margaret Hiha, Napier, received the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport.   She was a Hawke's Bay and New Zealand Māori Tennis representative, an Auckland Softball representative, and a New Zealand Hockey representative.  She has coached the New Zealand National and University Women's Hockey teams.  She has organised fundraising for the Hawke's Bay Women's Hockey Team and served as an executive member of the Hawke's Bay Hockey Association and the Hawke's Bay Indoor Hockey Association.  She is the kuia to the New Zealand Māori Hockey Committee and the New Zealand Māori Women's Hockey Team.  She initiated the inaugural National Māori Hockey Tournament.  She is involved with the Hawke's Bay Basketball Association.  Mrs Hiha has served on national sports initiatives, including the Hillary Commission's Women in Sport Initiative. 
  • <span class="title">Stephen Levine</span><br/>Professor Stephen Levine, Wellington, received the Insignia of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education and the Jewish community.  He has contributed to the knowledge of New Zealand's government, elections and the political process for more than 30 years.  In 2000, he established the parliamentary internship programme for honours students at Victoria University; allowing students to undertake part of their studies at Parliament.  He has carried out survey research into New Zealanders' voting behaviour since 1975 and has written and edited a substantial number of publications. He is the founding co-editor of the Royal Society of New Zealand's online social science journal, Kotuitui, and was the co-editor of Political Science.  He was a co-founder of two professional associations: the New Zealand Political Studies Association and the Pacific Islands Political Studies Association.  Professor Levine has also contributed to developing a greater understanding of the Jewish community within New Zealand and overseas.  He published A Standard for the People and the The New Zealand Jewish Community.
  • <span class="title">Jane Kominik</span><br/><p> Jane Kominik, Wellington, received the Insignia of a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.  Ms Kominik worked in the public sector in a variety of capacities, principally in the development of arts, culture, and heritage policy for more than 30 years.  She served with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the New Zealand High Commission in London, with the State Services Commission and the Department of Internal Affairs.  During the 1980s, she served as a departmental representative on the New Zealand Film Commission, the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, and the board of trustees of the National Art Gallery and the National Museum and War Memorial.  She was appointed the deputy chief executive and senior policy manager at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage  when it was established in 1991.  During her time at the ministry, she was involved in major cultural policy development, including legislation relating to arts, heritage, and broadcasting.  She was instrumental in raising New Zealand’s perspective on international cultural treaties.  <br />   </p> <p> &nbsp; </p>
  • <span class="title">John Todd</span><br/>John Todd, Wellington, received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the community.  Mr Todd, who is chairman of the Todd Corporation, one of New Zealand's largest companies, has served on the boards of a number of high profile companies.  He also served as a member of the Overseas Investment Commission and is a past president of the Wellington Manufacturers' Association.  He is the chairman of the Todd Foundation and a number of private charitable trusts.  He is a supporter of the arts.  He is a founding trustee of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand and has served as a trustee of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council.  He has chaired the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board General Committee, the New Zealand School of Dance Trust, the New Zealand Ballet Foundation, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award New Zealand Foundation. 

The Governor-General, Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, and Lady Satyanand, hosted an investiture ceremony at Premier House in Wellington on 3 September 2009.