Kevin Burgess, with wife Jane, has been honoured by the King.
From courts to classrooms, farms to playing fields, Waikato and King Country figures earn national recognition in the New Year’s Honours List, reports senior writer Mary Anne Gill.
Judge Coral Shaw flanked by Ōtorohanga Friendship Club president Trish Neal, left, and club secretary Catherine Short. Photo: Viv Posselt
Cambridge recipients are Kevin Burgess and Judith Hamilton
Judge Coral Shaw, who chaired what became the largest and most expensive inquiry in New Zealand’s history, has been made a Dame in the New Year’s Honours List.
Coral Shaw
Shaw, who lives in Pirongia, was honoured for her services to public service, the judiciary and the community. She chaired the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historical abuse in state care and in the care of faith-based institutions from 2019 to last year when its 139 recommendations were delivered to Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden.
She spoke to The News last year of being ‘haunted’ still by the face of a young woman who brought to the then new lawyer her own harrowing story of abuse in state care. Dame Coral reached out for information but couldn’t trace anything on the woman. The case faded away. It was her first brush with the mechanisms put in place to hide information and shield the perpetrators.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Dame Coral’s work was the culmination of a lifetime of service to the judiciary and the community.
See: Abuse ‘a stain on national character’
Ohinewai farmer Neil Bateup became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) to go with the Order of Merit he was awarded in 2018 for his services to the retail sector.
Among his contributions was work providing support for farmers through a number of adverse events from natural disasters to mycoplasma bovis, Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle. He has helped ensure farmers and growers nationwide have a dedicated, confidential and effective support network.
See: Help available as Covid drags on
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Tom Roa
Waikato University professor Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura) has also received a CNZM for his services to Māori language and education.
His contributions to Kaupapa Māori research, education governance and tikanga-based practice have helped institutions engage more meaningfully under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Roa is a founding figure and nationally recognised orator involved in the Māori language movement. He was a prominent leader in the 1972 Māori Language Petition, the subsequent recognition of te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand and the launch of Te Wiki o te reo Māori. He is a professor in Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao, The Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato. He is internationally recognised for his scholarship on translation theory, practice of Māori to English – English to Māori translation, and Māori linguistics, contributing to global conversations about indigenous language systems.
His contributions to Kaupapa Māori research, education governance and tikanga-based practice have helped institutions engage more meaningfully under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. His work highlights mātauranga Māori as an evolving and living knowledge system. He has served on the governance boards of Waikato-Tainui, Maniapoto and the Apakura Runanga Trust. In 2016, he became a Crown-appointed member of the Waitangi Tribunal. He has been on the Māori Heritage Council, the New Zealand Māori Tourism Board, and is a principal investigator with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and Te Pūnaha Matatini.
See: Dr Tom Roa shares Kīngitanga history
See: Roa backs tribunal changes
Morrinsville farmer Lloyd Downing becomes an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) after his voluntary leadership and governance roles with Waikato agricultural organisations. During his time as Fieldays president he facilitated the creation of what is now the New Zealand Business Centre which has resulted in international delegations to and from New Zealand.
Hamilton’s Tony Egan become an ONZM for his services to the agricultural industry and the community. He established the Greenlea Foundation Trust which supports many Waikato charities and helped advance research into Parkinson’s Disease at the Centre for Brain Research.
Judith Hamilton
Cambridge high performance director Judith Hamilton is an ONZM for her services to rowing.
She is an award-winning rower and ground-breaking leader who has been an integral part of New Zealand’s international rowing successes over the last 20 years.
Hamilton rowed successfully with Rowing New Zealand in the 1990s before becoming a coach, volunteering countless hours to coaching her medal-winning crews while also working full time. In 1995 she was appointed lead coach of the New Zealand Junior Rowing Team and attended the world championships in Poland, soon becoming Rowing New Zealand’s first female coach at an elite level.
In 2005 she became a regional coach at Bay of Plenty Rowing, providing opportunities for junior rowers and focusing on coach development and talent identification. She received the 2011 Prime Minister’s High-Performance Scholarship to study the United States Collegiate rowing system, leading to greater international educational opportunities for athletes. In 2018 she became the first female High-Performance Director at Rowing New Zealand, launching the three-year Career Coach development programme and ensuring that the programme was able to accommodate athletes who took time out to become parents.
Under her leadership, the Tokyo Olympic Games were Rowing New Zealand’s most successful Olympics ever, establishing the country as the world’s top ranking rowing nation.
Lorraine Moller
Sports hall of famer, Putāruru’s Lorraine Moller has an ONZM for her services to athletics.
Now living in the US, Moller competed internationally from 1973 to 1996 as a track, cross-country and marathon runner while advocating for women’s equity and professionalism in sport.
Moller was the world’s top women’s master road racer in 1995 and 1996 and, at 41, the oldest woman to compete in the 1996 Olympic marathon, uniquely completing all 20th-century Olympic marathons. Over her career, she won 16 international marathons including the Boston Marathon, an Olympic bronze medal, and Commonwealth Games silver and two bronzes. She holds an eight-marathon maiden win streak and remains undefeated as a masters runner. She still holds the New Zealand 50km record (1981) and the U20 800m record (1974).
From 1997 to 2005, she founded and coached the Wings of Mercury running team in Colorado. She was vice-president of the Japan-based Hearts of Gold Foundation, which founded the 1996 Angkor Wat Half Marathon, fundraising for prosthetics for land-mine victims. She spearheaded a programme reinstating physical education in Cambodian schools post-Pol Pot. In 1997, she established GoldQuest, a mental and social skills conference for New Zealand Olympic athletes. She co-founded the Lydiard Foundation in 2008, which promotes fitness through Arthur Lydiard’s running methods, serving as president since 2012 and creating coaching certification courses preserving the method globally. Moller has collaborated with KidsMarathon Foundation to enhance children’s fitness.
Kevin Burgess
Kevin Burgess becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM). He has been a prominent leader, contributor and advocate for Cambridge and the Waipā region for more than 30 years.
Burgess’ long-term contribution to his community has included business development, district promotion, affordable retirement community funding, strategic community investment, sports clubs, supporting athletes at all levels, assisting youth and philanthropic support.
He has been an instrumental figure in numerous organisations. He has been a trustee and chair of the Adastra Foundation and chair and founder of the Perago Sports Trust, organisations that have raised significant funds to provide opportunities for rangitahi and aspiring athletes.
He has been a director of The Grassroots Trust since 2005. For 15 years he has been involved with the Waipā and Waikato Secondary Sports awards. He has been instrumental in establishing the Cambridge Information Centre, the Cambridge Retailers Association and the Cambridge Community Fund. He has been a trustee with Cambridge Resthaven Trust since 2016. He facilitated a group of New Zealand pharmacists to fundraise for and provide tools for Nawaka School in Fiji including computers, books and air conditioning. He is a life member of the Hautapu Sports and Recreation Club. Burgess won Leader of the year at the 2018 Waipa Business Awards.
See: Change of pace for stalwarts
Gaye Poole of Hamilton has contributed to the arts sector in Waikato for more than 20 years and also becomes an MNZM for her services to performing arts and education. Until 2019, she mentored young creatives as part of Waikato University’s prestigious Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship Programme, which supports emerging talent across sport, the arts, academia, and leadership.
Hamilton Justice of the Peace Ravinder Singh was a driving force behind the establishment of New Zealand’s first Sikh Temple in the city and has served in several roles in the New Zealand Sikh Society. He has an MNZM for his services to ethnic communities. He has worked with Massey University’s religion department to compile information and holy scriptures on Sikhism.
Marjorie Carr
Hamilton disability advocate Helen Tuteao, who co-authored the chapter ‘Decolonizing Disability: Indigenous Māori Perspectives of Disability Research in the Modern Era’ in the ‘Springer Handbook of Disability’, has an MNZM for her services to people with disabilities and Māori. Four years ago, she was on the Community Steering Group which helped to establish the Ministry of Disabled People, later joining the Ministry’s Insights Alliance.
Ōtorohanga’s Marjorie Carr has the King’s Service Medal for her 60 years service to netball and the community. She is a life member and club patron and has held several committee roles, including president from 1988 to 1991. In 2006, Carr joined the Ōtorohanga Lyceum Club, holding three key positions, namely facilitating the Tea Circle, leading the Mah Jong Circle, and serving as president.
Bridging the gap: Kevin Burgess, left, and David Cooney standing on Victoria “High Level” bridge, in a statement of Cambridge coming together. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Kevin Burgess, pictured in 2023 with his wife Jane, has been recognised in the New Year honours.
