KEY POINTS:
When Alister Martin went to Buckingham Palace last month to receive his MBE, he was but one in a crowd of almost 100. But his was a rare honour, as the decoration for Member of the Order of the British Empire is no longer conferred in New Zealand. In 1996, it was replaced by the NZ Order of Merit honours.
Martin has been the Honorary Consul-General for Papua New Guinea in Auckland for 17 years. Because his is an imperial decoration, Papua New Guinea had to seek permission from the Government for the award to be made.
Martin's wife Teddy recalls the investiture with some amusement.
"It was sort of like a school prize-giving," she said. "I was sitting on the end of a row, and I could see up to the dais where there was a chair. I thought, 'Oh good, I'll be able to see the Queen and everything that's going on'. And then I found out that the chair was for the Queen's handbag."
Martin's appointment was circuitous. In 1980, he visited Papua New Guinea to try to drum up business for Bradbury Wilkinson, a banknote-printing plant in Whangarei. He then acted as attache for the PNG team at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990. The following year he was made Honorary Consul-General.
The 80-year-old says the job is not too demanding. Just as well, as it brings no monetary reward.
