Editorial: A country happy to do the honours

The New Year Honours are increasingly, and commendably, becoming a snapshot of our society. No longer do those who have made valuable contributions wait years for recognition, as was often the case under the traditional honours system.

The latest list rewards those who played prominent roles in tsunami relief operations, just as it contains the likes of rugby league's Stacey Jones and rugby's Andrew Mehrtens, both of whom have just concluded distinguished careers in New Zealand. Golfer Michael Campbell's victory in the 2005 United States Open is also recognised immediately. He becomes a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

But that snapshot also reflects the changing face of society. In particular, it charts new priorities. Of these, none has been talked about as much in the past few years as the concept of a knowledge economy. Therefore, it is highly appropriate that the biggest accolade goes to Professor Paul Callaghan, who becomes a principal companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, the periodically appointed and supposed equivalent of a knighthood.

If there is a knowledge economy pin-up boy, it is Professor Callaghan. A nuclear physicist, he has won world renown after making a conscious decision to work as a scientist in this country. Among other things, he became, in 2004, the first non-European to win the Ampere Prize, an award given for notable strides in magnetic resonance.

Professor Callaghan has also been at the forefront of efforts to achieve a better environment for scientists in New Zealand, an environment in which it is possible to produce world-class work. His success suggests scientists need no longer, as a matter of course, follow the path overseas trodden by the likes of Rutherford, Pickering and MacDiarmid. Indeed, in Professor Callaghan's area of endeavour, there has already been a reverse of the brain drain. Foreign students queue to work under him at Victoria University.

There is also a noteworthy inclusion in the list of those named distinguished companions of the order, the other award said to be comparable to a knighthood. Ralph Norris is rewarded for a business career that culminated in this country with the rescue of the financially stricken Air New Zealand. His naming is a riposte, even if overdue, to those who say that New Zealand, and particularly the Government, is slow to recognise the importance of successful businessmen and women.

The likes of artists, athletes, politicians and bureaucrats are, so the criticism goes, rated more highly than those who create wealth. Especially when, like Mr Norris, they have been harsh critics of Government policies. It might have helped in his case, of course, that the very same Government was a major beneficiary of his expertise.

Part of the fascination of the New Year Honours lies in the familiarity of the names on the list. As usual, there are those who, across a wide range of activities, are well known to most people. The likes of Wellington businessman Alan Martin, famed for his quirky television advertising, cartoonist and writer Tom Scott, former All Black and sports administrator Matthew Cooper, cricketer Emily Drumm, rock musician Midge Marsden and singer Bic Runga.

But there are also those recognised by being made companions of the Queen's Service Order or given the Queen's Service Medal whose names resonate only in the communities they serve. These are the people who, in working selflessly for others, comprise the nuts and bolts of society. They, quite deservedly, remain a constant even as, at the other end of the spectrum, the list is a barometer of a changing New Zealand.