And the nominees are . . .

could have saved Emily had her friends known what to look for. He has also spoken at White Ribbon and police events and his story is being used to educate frontline officers about the impact of family violence.

Longley has channelled the agony and the anger to try to prevent others dying like Emily and other families suffering as he does. Andrew Judd was an unlikely man to lead a hikoi to Parliament to help champion Maori inclusion.

The 51- year- old never saw his very white upbringing as a barrier to adopting firms ideas about Maori failings.

But he came to see his prejudice as a mistake and — although he suffered enough abuse to prevent his standing for the New Plymouth mayoralty for a second time — today he calls himself a “recovering racist”.

“The views I had held seemed natural,” he said in an interview with the Herald in October. “Oh yeah, land stolen, move on. I started to read what actually happened and how it happened. And I wondered why I hadn’t been taught this. I felt lied to. It was a convenient telling of history.”

Almost 1000 people joined his peace march and, though Judd won’t stand for mayor again, he has left a legacy of inclusion to be proud of. With Taika Waititi at the helm and Sam Neill and Rhys Darby starring, Hunt for the Wilderpeople was surely destined for triumph. But it was the virtually unknown 12- year- old Julian Dennison who stole the movie and propelled it to the most successful in New Zealand history.

Off screen he’s won international fans for his sense of humour and even managed to steal the limelight as he handed out a gong at the Vodafone Music Awards. Now 14, Dennison has taken his new- found fame in his stride — always happy to talk and display his comic timing on the international talk- show circuit.