New Year Honours: Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin says Queen's Service Medal belongs to the village that raised him

Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin QSM. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Wayne Calven Martin, Kawakawa
Queen's Service Medal for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin credits the village that raised him with the Queen's Service Medal he was awarded in today's New Year's Honours.

"It's pretty humbling. I don't know why I got it. I just do what I do," he said.

Martin started volunteering with Kawakawa Fire Brigade in 1992 and has been chief fire officer since 2006.

He was instrumental in setting up a cadet unit to bring young people on board, and his whānau approach has led to initiatives such as local kuia caring for the volunteers' tamariki (children) while they're attending callouts.

The brigade also has a team delivering fire safety education in people's homes.

Martin has also led the introduction of tikanga Māori (Māori customs) into the everyday work of the Fire Service, now Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz).

Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin dampens down the remains of Swimming Northland's archives in Kawakawa after an arson attack. Photo / Peter de Graaf

His use of tikanga at fatal accidents, for example, has since been adopted across Northland.

Martin mentors new fire chiefs through his role in Northland's Chief Fire Officer Leadership Group, and was a Fire Service iwi liaison officer from 2007-18. He is now an assistant fire commander for Northland and has led efforts to put out a number of major wildfires.

Alongside his work with Fenz, Martin remains Kawakawa's fire chief, a demanding but unpaid role. He also coaches the Ngāti Hine Moerewa-United Kawakawa rugby team.

Mother-in-law Emma Mathews places the family korowai on Wayne Martin's shoulders to mark 25 years' service as a volunteer firefighter. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Martin said credit for his award belonged to the people, many of whom had now passed on, who had helped raise him.

They included Paddy Whiu, a police iwi liaison officer and family friend who had helped steer him into his own iwi liaison role; kaumātua Wiremu Wiremu, who had introduced him to kaupapa waka at the age of 10; and many others in the Kawakawa-Moerewa community.

''There's a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. For me that village was Kawakawa and Moerewa. All those people developed me into what I am.''

His family and a desire to serve his community kept him motivated.

''Most of all I want to acknowledge whānau: my mum Gaylene and my late father Nuki, my wife Milly, and my children,'' he said.

In 2017 Martin was honoured for 25 years' volunteer service with the Kawakawa Fire Brigade.