MEMBERS OF THE NEW ZEALAND ORDER OF MERIT (MNZM)

DR LISA ARGILLA

Dunedin

For services to animal welfare and conservation.

Dunedin’s Wildlife Hospital founder and director Lisa Argilla is surprised and overwhelmed after receiving an MNZM for services to animal welfare and conservation.

‘‘I’ve always looked at the honours and the people who receive them every year, and thought these people are amazing with the things they’ve achieved and done.

‘‘I never considered I’d potentially be among these people, so I’m truly humbled.’’

Dr Argilla said founding the Wildlife Hospital in 2018 was her proudest achievement.

‘‘It was my concept and idea, but it was definitely not something I could have achieved alone.

‘‘I’ve had such an amazing group of people behind me, to help and support that.’’

Since opening, the hospital has treated more than 1300 animals across 63 different species, and more than 34% of patients were classified as nationally threatened.

Between 2011 and 2015, she was veterinary science manager at Wellington Zoo, where she played a pivotal role in establishing a worldclass native wildlife treatment facility and began her involvement with the Kea Conservation Trust.

She has volunteered with the kakapo and takahe recovery groups, the YellowEyed Penguin Trust and the Department of Conservation over the past 12 years.

She provided handrearing and veterinary support during the 2016 kakapo breeding season, and she is well known for her successful treatment of Happy Feet (the emperor penguin), which was stranded in New Zealand on its way back to the Antarctic in 2011.

For her services to the environment, she also won a Wellingtonian of the Year award in 2011.

DICK AND JILLIAN JARDINE Queenstown

For services to philanthropy and conservation

Remarkables Station owners Dick and Jillian Jardine have given a significant amount of land in the Wakatipu Basin for the purposes of education, conservation and recreation.

Last month, they announced they would give almost all of their landmark high country station — 900 hectares of freehold land — to the QEII

National Trust in 2022.

The handover date will coincide with the 100th anniversary of their family’s ownership of the land, which will be placed under a covenant in the coming months that will protect it in perpetuity.

It will be managed by the trust as a working farm.

‘‘Having QEII as the caretaker of this property gives us the comfort and assurance to proudly pass over this gift for all New Zealand to enjoy and appreciate,’’ Mr Jardine said at the ceremony to announce the gift.

The area to be given encompasses 9ha of land the couple gave to the trust in 2013. Known as the Jardine

Boulders, it is known for glacial boulders that are popular with rock climbers.

In 2016, the Jardines gave their former home and the 4ha lakefront site it sits on to the University of Otago, which is plans to develop the property as an academic research retreat.

That was not the couple’s first act of charity for the university; in 2012, they organised a fundraising event for a neurology chair.

They have also supported cultural activities in Queenstown, including making a significant contribution to the establishment and development of the Lakes Music School ‘‘Turn Up the Music’’.

The couple were unavailable for comment on their New Year Honours.

JAMES (JIM) KELLY Dunedin

For services to the trade union movement.

For more than 30 years, Jim Kelly has advocated for equitable treatment of workers in New Zealand, particularly in the rail industry.

Despite his many achievements and longterm commitment to the sector, he was very surprised when he learned he would receive an MNZM for services to the trade union movement.

‘‘I’m over the moon. It’s very humbling to get something like this. I’m in good company, absolutely.’’

Mr Kelly was president of the Combined Union of Railway Employees from 1990 until 1995, when it amalgamated into the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU).

He was then elected as national president of the

RMTU from 1990 until 2011.

During that time, he was involved in many changes that affected the industry, including wage, welfare and health and safety changes.

Mr Kelly was also vicechairman and advocate for workers whose unions were affiliates with the Council of Trade Unions, at regional and national levels.

He also represented New Zealand workers at international forums on workers’ welfare and safety.

In 2002, he led the development and establishment of a memorial in Dunedin for workers who were killed while at work.

In recognition of his efforts, he was made a life member of the RMTU.

More recently, Mr Kelly was a community leader in the 2012 and 2016 campaigns to save the Hillside workshops in South Dunedin.

He worked with local engineering businesses and the Otago Chamber of Commerce to negotiate with KiwiRail from a community perspective.

He has also organised an annual event to recognise New Zealand’s ongoing campaign to eliminate workplace fatalities.

JOSJE LELIJVELD Dunedin

For services to the deaf community and education

When Josephina (Josje) Lelijveld learned she was to become a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit it brought a tear to her eye.

The recently retired 65yearold said she was thankful for the acknowledgement of her advocacy for New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) nationally and regionally.

‘‘I’m proud of being deaf, I’m proud of being a strong woman,’’ Mrs Lelijveld said.

Mrs Lelijveld has supported the New Zealand Sign Language Teachers Association on many fronts.

She was instrumental in the development of Level 2 of the association’s teaching resource Teach Sign.

She has been NZSL senior tutor for the University of Canterbury postgraduate diploma specialist teaching programme.

She trained as one of the original evaluators and interviewers for the NZSL Proficiency Interview. She joined the NZSL Experts Advisory Group in 2013 and served on the NZSL board from 2015 to 2018.

She was vicepresident of the Deaf Society of Canterbury from 2005 to 2015 and helped secure a new clubroom building for the society after the Canterbury earthquakes.

She relocated from Christchurch to support the deaf community in Dunedin, where she established community classes through the University of Otago and worked to strengthen the relationship between the Otago Association of Deaf Children and the Otago Deaf Society.

She has served on several advisory groups and boards including the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme and the Christchurch City Council Disability Advisory Group.

Mrs Lelijveld has also worked with van Asch Deaf Education Centre, now known as Ko Taku Reo, Workbridge, Deaf Aotearoa, and New Zealand Relay.

All these achievements, she said, would not have been possible without the support of her husband Flip Leijten.

PAUL GERARD NORRIS Te Anau

For services to the tourism industry and conservation

Conservation has been the crux of Paul Gerard Norris’ 28yearlong career in tourism, during which he has introduced and overseen a variety of conservation support initiatives.

With one foot in tourism and the other in conservation, Mr Norris helped visitors ‘‘gain more and do more’’ in some of New

Zealand’s World Heritage sites.

Mr Norris had worked with the Department of conservation to facilitate expeditions where passengers carried out volunteer work in Fiordland.

In his efforts, he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various conservation projects.

Originally from Pukerua Bay, near Wellington, Mr Norris moved to Te Anau where he worked in the ski industry for five years before starting at Real Journeys, a major South Island tourism company known for its conservation values.

Although Mr Norris had always been interested in conservation, he became actively involved when starting at Real Journeys.

‘‘I’m fortunate to work for an organisation that wants to share these areas with people, but in such a way that continues to protect it for the next generation to enjoy,’’ he said.

His biggest satisfaction was the idea he helped influence ‘‘good decisions for the betterment of the community’’ and had connected people with conservation.

As Predator Free Rakiura chairman, Mr Norris only hoped the honour would help as he continued to work in conservation areas, not just at a local level but a national level too.

PAULINE SMITH

Southland

For services to Pacific arts and the community

For Pauline Smith, becoming a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit is recognition of not only her work, but that of an entire team.

Chairwoman of the Miharo Murihiku Trust, previously the Murihiku Maori and Pasifika Trust Cultural Trust, Mrs Smith was a founding member of the first Murihiku Polyfest in 2009.

This led to the establishment of the Murihiku Maori and Pasifika Cultural Trust in 2010, to make it an annual event.

It had since grown to a weeklong event including an annual art exhibition, community projects, art workshops for educators, youth and arts mentoring, with more than

7500 Pacific, Maori and youth of all ethnicities performing to 40,000 attendees.

She said while she was proud of the growth, she was more so of the grown appreciation of Maori and Pacifika culture.

‘‘Because its so visible in a really positive way, it becomes really valued.’’

While the award had her name on it, she said it carried the name of Miharo and the Polynesian Panthers.

In 2019, she supported

Fafine Niutao I Aotearoa, a group of elderly Tuvalu kolose (crochet) artists, to travel from Auckland to attend the festival in Invercargill.

She also authored the book

Dawn Raid in 2018 for Scholastic’s My New Zealand Story series, highlighting the controversial raids on alleged Pacific overstayers and the activist work of the Polynesian Panthers, along with an education package to accompany the book.

Dawn Raid won the Best First Book Award at the 2018 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

The book also led into the ‘‘Polynesian Panthers’’ exhibition, which Mrs Smith spearheaded and has toured several main centres in New Zealand.

DR TASILETA TEEVALE Dunedin

For services to Pacific education and public health research

For more than 20 years,

Tasileta Teevale has lent her talents to the public service sector and academia.

Her research has centred on Pacific youth health and education, sports, physical activity and public health in relation to Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.

Dr Teevale’s research has included a large schoolbased weight management intervention and the Youth2000 survey series, a national study of the health and wellbeing of New Zealand youth.

She played a pivotal role in the establishment of the University of Otago’s Pacific Development Office, of which she has been director since inception, and she has been responsible for monitoring and implementing the progress of the Pacific Strategic Framework 2013 to 2020 universitywide.

This work has led to the establishment of Associate Dean Pacific roles in each academic division, a Pacific leadership group, support for the student voice in university governance and the creation of Pacific student associations.

She led research into enablers and barriers to Pacific student achievement, which resulted in the development of a creditbearing university preparation programme for firstyear Pacific students. She is a founding member of the Universities New Zealand Pacific Komiti.

Dr Teevale has advised the public service sector on the Ministry of Education Summit, Ministry of Pacific Peoples Vision Summit and reviews of NCEA, Tomorrow’s Schools and NZQA.