Born in 1952 and raised in rural Manaia which had 100 people, he reflected on the Roger Douglas era when he says the Government shifted its policies, to the detriment of his iwi - "taking the manaaki away from rural areas into the cities".
"It got to less than 50 people on a huge area of land. Our people were moving into the cities to get jobs in the lower socio-economic areas, education was missed for about three decades from the late 1950s to the late 1970s and early 80s.
"With the transfer of people from rural sectors into cities ... it's almost time now that we take those people out of the cities and bring them back again.
"But there's got to be resources to help those people."
Haere has owned many businesses and is a pioneer of the aquaculture industry, as one of the earliest mussel farmers in the Coromandel.
He represented the industry internationally and supported other organisations in the development of their businesses over 30 years.
He has been a director of Pare Hauraki Fishing Trust and a director of Aquaculture New Zealand since 2011.
Employing local people across the aquaculture and health sectors, including the first and only rest home and private hospital in the Coromandel, he seeks opportunities to put less fortunate people into a position in society where they feel they can contribute.
The Queen's Honour was a reflection of the many people that helped him along the way, and the village of Manaia and his parents and grandparents gave him a start to life that allows him to give back, he says.
"Many people have helped me to achieve the picking up of this tohu from the Crown, and that's how I see it. I'm picking it up on behalf of our people."
As a committee member and chairman of Manaia Marae, Mr Mikaere has been instrumental in the redevelopment of the marae and the local kura of Manaia.
His own parents and grandparents and the wider community of Manaia gave him the support he needed to achieve in life, from his simple upbringing.
"We grew big gardens and milked cows to sustain life and tried to make a prosperous future. Capitalism wasn't part of it, it was about keeping families healthy and I think we were better at doing that at that time."
Haere's whakapapa is with Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Kahungunu, chairing the Iwi Māori Council from 2007 to 2016 and iwi negotiator of Te Au Maaro from 2005.
"Life is simple. We need to be educated, with both matauranga Māori worlds and Western society, and we need to feed ourselves, clothe ourselves and house ourselves.
"The majority in New Zealand get this but one-third of our people struggle with this socio-economic variant, and we have them in our village."
Haere says this became his target as a businessman: "To see if I can achieve some of those changes and differences."
Fundamentally a family man, he said being an iwi leader in a Māori community at an international level gave an opportunity to transfer information across to help others achieve a better life in Aotearoa New Zealand.
"We're now looking at four generations of people who are never going to get there. If we continue to allow that in this country we're going to have eight generations by the time my great-grandchildren reach my age."
Haere is a director of Hauraki Māori Trust Board and chairs Pare Hauraki Assets Holdings, Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki, and Tikapa Moana Enterprise Ltd.
Chairman of Hauraki Primary Health Organisation, Tainui Waka Alliance, and Ngāti Pūkenga ki Manaia, he was previously on the Waikato District Health Board.
He was also director and chairman of the Asset Holding Trust of Ngāti Kahungunu.
