New Year Honours: Katie Murray now a Member of the NZ Order of Merit

Katie Murray MNZM, QSM, has a mission to change as many lives as she can and that work has seen her recognised again in the Queen's New Year's honours.

Katie Murray's mission is to change the lives of as many people as she can, very much for the better.

And the Far North woman's dedication to that cause has been recognised with a second royal honour.

Murray, who received the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community in 2003, is now also a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to Māori and the community.

She has run the family-focused social service organisation the Waitomo Papa-kainga Development Trust in Kaitaia for 30 years, chaired and served as a trustee of Te Hiku Iwi Development Trust for three years, including membership of Te Hiku Accord, and in 2013 initiated the bringing together of iwi/Maori social service providers in Te Hiku to form Te Kahu Oranga Whanau.

She drove the establishment of a partnership between Te Kahu Oranga Whanau and Oranga Tamariki, and last year was lead organiser of the Safe and Effective Justice hui in Rotorua.

In her efforts to reduce family violence in Kaitaia, she also helped to initiate Whiria te Muka, the collaborative partnership between the police and iwi/Māori providers in Te Hiku, while last year she set up a shelter for the homeless and to provide meals on Sundays for families experiencing financial hardship.

She has been a member of key advisory bodies for Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development, was deputy chair of Te Runanga o Te Rarawa for eight years, and has connected with Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata people of Winnipeg, Canada, to share knowledge of working with indigenous peoples.

None of that, however, was achieved in isolation. Then officer in charge of the Kaitaia police, Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan, then Northland District Commander Superintendent Russell le Prou, Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi, Shona Hobson and others had all been strong advocates of Whiria te Muka, which she and others formally presented to police at Wellington's National Headquarters, where the concept was warmly received.

Many had also been involved in forming the partnership with Oranga Tamariki, which had taken three or four years to establish, but had now been in place for 12 months and was working well. The focus there was on putting an end to the uplifting of children from the care of their families, which was now at the lowest rate it had ever been in hers community.

And while it was very gratifying to be recognised, her honour was one to be shared with all who had helped her get to where she was today. Many of those people were still living in Kaitaia, while others had died, "wonderful women who looked after me, mentored and supported me".