Three from the Community on Honours List

Harshad Patel

Auckland December 31 Venkat Raman Three members of the Sub-Continent community have been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) by Queen Elizabeth II in her New Year’s Honours List announced in Wellington yesterday.

Among them are Harshadrai Khapabhai Patel (popularly known as ‘Harshadbhai’), Gurmeeta Singh (both of Indian origin) and Thevarajan Arumugam of Sri Lankan origin.

All of them reside in Auckland.

Harshadbhai, who received the honour for services to the Indian community, has a long record of involvement in community affairs. He has been associated with the Auckland Indian Association, the largest of its kind in the Indian community and is currently its President. He is also the Vice-President of the New Zealand Indian Central Association.

Gurmeeta Singh, who belongs to the Sikh community, has also been recognised for her services to the Indian community.

Thevarajan Arumugam receives the QSM for his services to the Tamil community in New Zealand.

Order of New Zealand

The Queen also appointed Sir Robert James Charles, KNZM, CBE, of Oxford to the Order of New Zealand, the nation’s highest honour, for his services to New Zealand. The Order is restricted to 20 living persons.

Knighted Personalities

The return of Knighthood last year has seen a number of prominent people featured in this honour. They include the following:

Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (GNZM)

Raymond John Avery (Auckland) as the for philanthropy.

Knights Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM)

James Henry Peter McNeish (Wellington) for literature

Richard Michael Hill (Arrowtown) for business and the arts

Professor Emeritus Tamati Muturangi Reedy (Wellington) for education

William David Baragwanath (Wellington) for services as a Judge of the Court of Appeal

William Murray Gallagher (Hamilton) for business

Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)

Christine Mary Fernyhough (Castle Hill) for community service

David John Hay (Auckland) for local body affairs and community service

Professor Ian James Warrington (Palmerston North) for science

Janet Mary Clews, (Auckland) for local body affairs and community service

Johannes La Grouw (Rotorua) for business and community service

Letitia June Clifford (Napier) for music and community service

Miriam Rose Dean QC (Auckland) for law and business

Murray Allan Sherwin (Wellington) for Agriculture and Forestry Ministry as Chief Executive

Peter George Bush (Wellington) for photography

Ricki Lloyd Herbert (Wellington) for football

Professor Emeritus Roy Patrick Kerr (Christchurch) for astrophysics

Semisi Ma’ia’i (Wellington) for Samoan community service

Yvette Winifred Corlett (Auckland) for athletics

Officers of the Order of New Zealand Merit (ONZM)

Andrew Forbes Davidson (Christchurch) for services timber industry

Dr Barbara Lynn Disley (Auckland) for health

Brian Francis Evans (Auckland) for women’s rugby

David William Mace (Auckland) for community service

Derek Andrew Anderson (Christchurch) for community service

Associate Professor Jean-Claude Theis (Dunedin) for medicine 

Jeanette Robyn Richardson (Opua) for community service

Associate Professor John Andrew Ormiston (Auckland) for medicine

John William Holdsworth (Wellington) for business and community service

Dr Keith Ian Desmond Maslen (Dunedin) for literature and bibliography

Professor Lesley Margaret Elizabeth McCowan (Auckland) for health

Professor Lewis Tudor Evans (Porirua) for education

Michael Francis Barnett (Auckland) for business

Nicolas Calavrias (Wellington) for business

Paul Anthony Honiss (Hamilton) for community service

Peter James Egan (Hamilton) for meat industry

Phillip John Leishman (Auckland) for media and community service

Rangimarie Naida Glavish (Auckland) for Maori and community service

Richard Arthur Long (Wellington) for journalism

Roger Morrison Sowry (Paraparaumu), Member of Parliament

Ryan Nelsen (Cheshire, UK) for football

Professor Samuel Stuart McNaughton (Auckland) for education

Thomas David Henshaw (Hamilton) for services as a cartoonist

Vicki Suzanne Reid (Nelson) for community service

Dr Warren Johnston Bell (Auckland) for forensic science

William Paul Studholme (Banks Peninsula) for forestry and community service