"Didymo Dave", Dave Cade, talks to youngsters about the threat posed by pest fish. Now, he has been awarded a King's Service Medal.
Waikato community stalwarts have gained royal attention; at least 15 residents are recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.
Overall, 176 Kiwis have been recognised, the majority located in the Auckland and Wellington areas.
In the Waikato, the Waipā District is home to the most honours recipients, with five recognised.
The highest honour awarded to a Waikato local is the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).
Champion of the rural community Vincent Ashworth, of Morrinsville, received the honour for his services to agriculture.
Ashworth has contributed to agriculture in New Zealand and internationally since 1970. As a senior agriculturalist with the World Bank, he led missions to help farmers with food production in more than 30 developing countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen and Ethiopia. In 1960, he established Ashworth and Associates, a farm management consultancy practice, the first of its kind in New Zealand. Following his consultancy success, he launched the New Zealand Society of Farm Management in 1969. Ashworth is a published author of six books since 2009 and a life member of the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management and the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science.
There are four new Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the region.
Andrea Blair, of Taupō, received the honour for her services to the geothermal industry and women.
Blair co-founded the geothermal consultancy, research and innovation company Upflow in 2017, which provides expert knowledge and solutions to the global industry. From 2016 to 20234 she held senior positions with the International Geothermal Association (Netherlands) which advocates and promotes sustainable utilisation and development of geothermal resources worldwide. She represented the organisation globally, including at COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. In 2013 she co-founded Women in Geothermal (WING), an international movement to empower women in the industry. She oversaw the organisation’s growth from 83 members to more than 3400 worldwide, making it the single largest geothermal association in the world.
Stephen Cox, of Ōhaupō, received the honour for his services to cycling.
Cox has contributed to cycling since 1968. He competed for New Zealand between 1976 and 1988 in numerous international events, including the 1984 Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games. He won almost every major road event in New Zealand, 32 New Zealand Championship medals, and competed in 49 major tours finishing in the top three on 27 occasions. He was National Women’s Road Cycling Coach in 1990/1991 and has organised more than 220 major cycling events at regional, national and international levels since 1986. He was instrumental in bringing a round of the Women’s UCI World Cup road races to Hamilton in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Between 1990 and 2009 he organised events and was race director on top of fulltime employment. Through his cycling events company, Dynamo Cycling Club, he has organised multi-day tours and race series, the Elite Road Championships from 2020 to 2023 and Age Group National Championships for Cycling New Zealand from 2014 to 2017.
Tere Ngawai Gilbert, of Hamilton, received the honour for services to early childhood and Māori language education.
Gilbert (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Hauiti) has helped drive the normalisation of te reo Māori across the early learning sector, having been involved with the Kōhanga Reo movement for more than 30 years. She was a kaiako and subsequently tumuaki/manager of Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka at the University of Waikato from 1994 to 2015. Puna Reo are Māori immersion early learning centres established for tamariki and their whānau to support retention and enhancement of te reo Māori and provide a kaupapa Māori immersion learning experience for tamariki up to age 6. Since establishment in 2015, she has lead Te Kōhao Health’s first puna reo, Te Kōhao Kōhungahunga, in Hamilton. The popularity of Te Kōhao Kōhungahunga led to a second puna reo, Te Puna Reo o Te Kōhao, being established in 2017. She was responsible in 2021 for bringing together many puna reo in New Zealand culminating in the establishment of the collective group, Ngā Puna Reo o Aotearoa, which she has chaired since inception. She represents the organisation on the Minister of Education’s Early Childhood Advisory Committee. Gilbert has contributed to publications, alongside indigenous Australian and First Nations American and Canadian voices, on the value of indigenous language revitalisation for children in their first years of learning.
Dr Howell Round, of Hamilton, received the honour for his services to medical physics and biomedical engineering.
Round is internationally respected in the fields of medical physics and biomedical engineering. Over four decades, Round has presented at numerous conferences, consulted on expert panels and advised the Government on a wide range of policy issues. He has chaired the University of Waikato’s Department of Physics and Electronic Engineering, transforming the department through various initiatives into an innovative, internationally respected team. At Waikato University, his research has focused on medical ultrasonics, radiation therapy, exercise science and EEG analysis. He has volunteered with the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) since the 1980s and held almost every position at Branch and Australasian level including ACPSEM President. Round has served terms as Secretary-General of the Asia-Oceania Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics and the International Union of Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine.
There are three Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) from the Waikato.
Leigh Hopper, of Whitianga, received the honour for services to property development and philanthropy.
Hopper has been managing director of the residential development company Hopper Developments since 1987. He has led Hopper Developments from a small family operation to a business employing more than 200 people. While developing unique high-amenity residential communities with integrated commercial and retail services including retirement villages, his developments focus on the long-term public and private good they will bring. Through this work, he has donated land or supported the building of public facilities such as sports fields, concert parks, boat ramps, marinas, and beaches. Hoppers Maygrove retirement village in Orewa received a Best Retirement Village Award in 2019 from Aged Advisor. He sponsored the Mercury Bay Area School’s aircraft building programme and is a regular contributor to and supporter of local charities and events, including the annual summer concert in Whitianga.
Sam Lewis, of Te Awamutu, received the honour for his services to business and the community.
Lewis has been involved with farming and community organisations in the Waikato/King Country since the 1970s. Lewis owns a dry-stock farm in the Waikato and previously in the King Country. He was treasurer of Waikato Federated Framers for nine years, coinciding with economic reforms ushered in during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. During this time, he acted as a key support person and mentor for several vulnerable farmers, assisting them in successfully restructuring their business activities and ensuring their mental wellbeing needs were supported. He has chaired Affco New Zealand Ltd since 1999, a leading meat processor with 12 plants around New Zealand, exporting products to more than 80 countries. He is director of Open Country New Zealand and a former director of FMG Insurance. He was instrumental in fundraising $2 million for a building project for Gracelands Community Trust (now Enrich+), which supports and enables young people and adults with disabilities to engage in employment or contribute to their communities. Lewis has supported Commsafe, a charitable trust based in Te Awamutu, through Affco and Open Country Sponsorship to support people working together to build a safer and healthier community.
Tony McGovern, of Cambridge, received the honour for his services to the racing industry.
McGovern had a 50-year career in the thoroughbred racing industry as a chief starter in New Zealand and Hong Kong. He started his career in the New Zealand horse racing industry in 1972 initially as a starting gates barrier attendant. As chief starter for the Upper North Island, he officiated all race meetings, including the New Zealand Derby, Auckland Cup, and the Karaka Millions 7. In 2003, he was appointed chief starter by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where for the next 13 years until his retirement in 2016, he oversaw all their race days, at two courses. Since 2020 he has provided advisory services to New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and mentored a new generation of industry participants. McGovern is a member of Cambridge Jockey Club.
Aliya Danzeisen, of Hamilton, has been made an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to the Muslim community and women.
Danzeisen is a teacher, mentor, community leader, spokesperson and advocate for New Zealand’s Muslim community. She has been the national coordinator of the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) since 2020, having been an active member for more than 10 years. She helped found and has been co-ordinator of the Women’s Organisation of the Waikato Muslim Association (Wowma) since 2008. She established a programme for Muslim girls and women aged 14 to 25 to help them integrate into New Zealand society and culture, while preserving their identity and faith. She organised activities including camps, sports, outdoor adventures, and educational sessions and initiated a leadership group for the girls to run the programme themselves. She provided support to the community after the 2019 Christchurch mosque terror attacks. She has represented New Zealand and Muslim women at global events including the United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism and the Global Summit of Women 2023.
There are two Companions of the King’s Service Order (KSO) in the Waikato.
Josephine Anderson, of Te Kūiti, received the honour for her services to Māori.
Anderson has been involved in the cultural and historical preservation of land, language and tikanga in the Waitomo area for more than 40 years. She is the main kuia for Waitomo Caves village and continues as kai karanga and waiata tautoko at Tokikapu Marae. She was the first person to directly negotiate with the Crown for a Treaty settlement and had an integral role in the Ruapuha Uekaha hapū settlement process. Her involvement began with governance roles from the mid-1980s with Ruapuha Uekaha Hapu Trust and Tanetinorau Opataia Whānau Trust and she remains a current kuia adviser. She has been a member of the Waitomo Caves Management Committee since 1990. She is a past trustee and kuia adviser for the Waitomo Caves Museum. She continues to act as a kuia adviser for Waitomo Glowworm Caves, Waitomo Caves School, Waitomo Caves Water Catchment Group, and Tourism Group Holdings.
Karen Morrison-Hume, of Raglan, received the honour for her services to the community.
Morrison-Hume has been CEO and missioner of Mahi Mihinare Anglican Action in Hamilton since 1996, overseeing the growth of its services, staff and resources. She was instrumental in establishing Te Ara Hou Social Services Village in Hamilton, an initiative incorporating multiple social service agencies. She has been committed to providing vital services to at-risk individuals, providing intensive support programmes including residential support for young mothers and babies, residential reintegration for prisoners transitioning back into the community, and youth justice mentoring. She advocated for the groundbreaking youth justice initiative Te Hurihanga in 2007 and led a community campaign opposing the sale of Hamilton City Council’s pensioner housing in 2014. She was a founder and trustee of the Hamilton Combined Christian Foodbank from 1999 to 2009 and of the Combined Housing Action Research Group from 1997 to 2015. In 2018, she was awarded the Hamilton City Council Freedom Holder of the City award.
Four Waikato locals are recipients of the King’s Service Medal (KSM).
David Cade, also known as Didymo Dave, of Taupō, received the honour for his services to conservation and biosecurity awareness.
Cade has been a leading advocate for protecting New Zealand’s biodiversity and environment for more than 20 years, particularly against didymo infestation, initially as a Department of Conservation Freshwater Pests Ranger and subsequently on a voluntary basis. He has been at the forefront of the Check, Clean and Dry campaign to prevent and contain the freshwater pest didymo, first in the Taupō fishery and subsequently throughout the North Island. He thoughtfully engages freshwater users on correct biosecurity prevention methods and conservation practices to ensure the protection of the region’s waterways and surrounding environments. He visits schools, community organisations and fishing clubs to spread his conservation message. He also worked extensively with local iwi, actively mentoring young Māori and involving them in aquatic biosecurity advocacy work, weed control and predator trapping, which has developed pathways for positive life outcomes for many vulnerable young people.
Ian Campbell, of Te Awamutu, received the honour for his services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and taekwon-do.
Campbell has been a member of Te Awamutu Volunteer Fire Brigade since 1982 and Te Awamutu Taekwon-Do Club for 27 years. He held officer ranks and managed brigade training and development for 15 years. Since 2007, he has been chief fire officer of the brigade, overseeing the busiest volunteer brigade in the Waikato with more than 400 callouts annually and more than 40 volunteer members. He has worked to transition the brigade to become more modern and dynamic and formalised volunteer pathways within the brigade. He led several fundraising efforts and led a team to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with St John to assist with medical emergencies with a purpose-built vehicle. He became the head instructor of Te Awamutu Taekwon-Do Club and has grown the club to offer further self-defence training, senior training, black belt camps, sparring and seminars. He is one of 13 7th Dan masters in New Zealand.
Robert Feisst, of Cambridge, received the honour for his services to the community.
Unfortunately, Feisst died on May 21, a day after his Majesty’s approval of the award took effect. For more than 40 years, he contributed to several community organisations in Cambridge. He was involved with the Cambridge Rackets Club for 40 years, including as tennis chairperson from 1978 to 1983. He has been a trustee of the Cambridge Health and Community Trust since 1996 and deputy chairperson of the Cambridge Town Hall Trust since 2018, involved with reinvigorating the town hall and earthquake-strengthening work. Feisst was a member of the Cambridge Community Board from 1992 to 2010, with 12 years as chairperson. In 2010, he received the Waipa District Council Community Service Award.
Fraser Lake, of Tūrangi, received the honour for his services to the community.
Lake has been a St John First Responder since 2006, providing assistance to the Omori, Kuratau, Whareroa, Pukawa, Turangi and the Western Bays, becoming a member of the St John Area Committee in 2011. He was the driving force behind acquiring land to build a new St John Ambulance station in Tūrangi and key in procuring funding and undertook much of the project management of the build itself. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Omori/Western Lake Taupō First Response Charitable Trust in 2011, to raise money for a Four-Wheel Drive First Response Vehicle to reach farms and bays and a Lifepac 15, an advanced device for assessing patients’ conditions. Lake was a member and deputy chief of Omori Volunteer Fire Brigade between 2007 and 2014.
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