Parker’s knighthood will cheer sick dad
The man who led Christchurch through its life- changing earthquakes has been knighted.
Former Christchurch mayor Bob Parker is the highest- honoured Cantabrian in the 2014 New Year Honours for his services to local body affairs and the community.
It is a bittersweet moment for him, as his father, Bob, is gravely ill. ‘‘ My dad is very unwell and I know this will mean a great deal to him.’’
Sir Bob joins two Waikato men from very different walks of life – a man of the cloth and a horse breeder – a Maori educator with 45 years’ service in the sector from primary school to tertiary level, one of the brightest lights in the country’s fashion firmament and a businesswoman who has enjoyed a fourdecade career as a director, in re- ceiving our.
Former archbishop of Waikato David Moxon was singled out for his services to the Anglican Church.
Tamahere horse breeder Peter Vela received his knighthood for services to the thoroughbred industry.
Sir Toby Curtis, whose outstanding service to Maori education has earned him a knighthood, said too many Maori children were failing at school and more work needed to be done.
Sir Toby said he was humbled by the knighthood and said Maori education had made significant steps.
‘‘ When I started off, everything in terms of Maori aspirations had to fit into a Pakeha framework, now everything we want fits into a Maori
the
country’s
highest
hon- framework to the point that, in order for us to get proper success, Maori language is central to that development.’’
Dame Trelise Cooper might be best known for her fashion label but it is also her spirit of giving back that has seen her awarded one of the country’s highest honours. Made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, she is one of three New Zealand fashion designers – the others are Karen Walker and World’s Francis Hooper – who have been honoured.
Dame Trelise said she was ‘‘ shocked and disbelieving’’ when she received the letter informing her of the honour.
‘‘ I am honoured and quite humbled by it.’’
Dame Trelise, one
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Zea- land’s most successful designers, has more than 200 stockists across Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East and Australasia.
She also has a strong history of volunteer work, including for Women’s Refuge and the St James Mission Food Bank and Crisis Centre.
She is a patron of the Breast Cancer Research Trust and the Auckland RSA, has a strong involvement with Habitat for Humanity, and sponsors Tomorrow’s Foundation, a charity in India that works to end the cycle of poverty.
Alison Paterson, a leading New Zealand corporate director, is made Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in the New Year Honours, having previously been named a
of
the
order ( CNZM) companion 2010.
Meanwhile, the new star of Kiwi literature is among the arts figures given awards in this year’s New Year honours list.
Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton crowned a year in which she became the youngest person to win the literary prize, by becoming a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. At 28, she became only the second Kiwi to win the Booker for her epic novel The Luminaries, set on the West Coast during the 19thcentury gold rushes.
Wellington film director Geoff Murphy, best known for his classic trio of New Zealand films – Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth – becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
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