Editorial: Honours list a way to say thank you

New Zealand author Joy Cowley. Photo / Weston Cowley

Joy Cowley has introduced generations of children to the pleasure of reading.

There is no better way to celebrate New Year than to honour those who add lustre to our national life or simply serve their community in often quiet, exemplary ways. Today our, and our readers' selection of a New Zealander of the Year coincides with the announcement of the official New Year Honours and all deserve recognition.

Women head both lists. Author Joy Cowley joins the select Order of New Zealand open to only 20 living notables at any time. The Herald's accolade goes to the Black Ferns, our Women's Rugby World Cup winners this year. For our "People's Choice" readers chose Steve Askin, the ex-SAS soldier killed while helping fight the scrub fire on Christchurch's Port Hills in February when his helicopter crashed.

All have enriched our lives.

Joy Cowley has introduced generations of children to the pleasure of reading. New Zealand produces particularly delightful children's books and Cowley's are read around the world. They are estimated to be in 70 per cent of American schools. Her output includes a remarkable 1100 works as well as 20 novels for children, seven for adults and two collections of short stories.

In our interview today she describes the news that she was to receive the country's highest honour as, "a lovely feeling. I just love this country". The affection is returned.

The country has taken the Black Ferns to its heart too. They are providing an exciting new dimension to rugby and they are doing so as unpaid national representatives who have to juggle regular jobs, and children in some cases, with all the training and dedication professional rugby demands. As Liam Napier's story on the previous pages explains, rugby's leaders have woken up to the need to make the game a paying proposition for these women.

Author Joy Cowley answers a question for one of dozens of young fans. Photo / Gerald Ford

For one thing, women are providing the game's growth at the grassroots. The number of young women playing rugby has risen by 30 per cent since 2012, the largest increase among girls under 13. Without them, participation in the game overall would be falling. The success and popularity of the Black Ferns will be one of the reasons girls want to play the game. Players such as Portia Woodman are becoming household names.

Rugby usually features in the national honours and this year one of its greatest players and personalities, Bryan "BG" Williams, becomes a Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Sir Bryan has been a stalwart of his Ponsonby Club as well as Auckland and New Zealand Rugby administrations since his playing days. He stands with the likes of Sir Brian Lochore and the late Sir Colin Meads as great players who graduated to become highly respected national figures.

Similar high honours have been awarded to Dame Annette King, a minister in two Labour Governments, former National minister Dame Georgina te Heuheu, fashion designer Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet, Maori leaders Dame Naida Glavish and Sir John Clarke, and former Appeal Court judge Sir Douglas White. All on the list will have been nominated by those who appreciated their work.

That is also true of Steven Askin. On hearing he was our People's Choice, his widow, Elizabeth, said he would have been surprised. "With Steve, it was like, I was just doing my job." Just doing a job saving people's homes from a raging fire. That is service people value and we honour them all.