New Year Honours: Farm girls at the Topp

Over the last few years Lynda and Jools Topp have transformed themselves from successful performers into veritable Kiwi icons.

And joining the ranks of Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit is the peak in a meteoric rise for two farm girls from the Waikato.

They grew up singing to the cows and in their early 20s moved to Auckland where they soon developed a cult following as buskers.

In the 1980s they were at the forefront of the anti-apartheid and nuclear-free movements, and championed Maori land rights and homosexual law reform.

As out lesbians since 1977, the Topps have been visible and proud of their sexual identity.

They are developing their first feature film.