New Year 2025 Honours: Former South Taranaki Mayor Ross Dunlop made member of New Zealand Order of Merit

Former South Taranaki Mayor Ross Dunlop has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours.

Former South Taranaki Mayor Ross Dunlop has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours.

Dunlop has served as an elected official in the South Taranaki region for 33 years, and was Mayor of South Taranaki from 2007 to 2019.

“I was surprised and delighted to receive the honour,” Dunlop said.

“It wasn’t something that was on my radar, so it was a very nice surprise to get a letter from the Governor-General.”

He has been recognised as a leading advocate for services to local government, and for some of the transformative actions he carried out during his time as Mayor.

“I was quite young when I became a councillor, I was in my early 30s, and when you get on council at that age there’s more of a likelihood that you could be there a long time.”

As Mayor, he pushed for legislative change to ensure that all of South Taranaki could benefit from charitable funding provided by the Taranaki Saving Bank (TSB).

“Helping to get TSB funding into the Pātea and Waverley district was a really special one ... it seemed a real injustice that these communities that needed support were not able to get funding from the very successful TSB bank.

“Myself, Chester Borrows and others really pushed hard for that.”

He said he was proud to have overseen that progress for Waverley and Pātea.

Dunlop was a key part of the fundraising committee that raised more than $6 million for the TSB Hub sporting facility.

“I was fortunate enough to open that.”

Further local government action he took was to lead the return of several key council properties to Ngā Ruahine and Taranaki Iwi.

“I have always appreciated being involved in the community of South Taranaki, and I very much appreciate the support and aroha of my family and the good people of our district.”

He was also involved in the retention of strong community health services and advocated for maintaining hospital services in Hāwera as well as establishing the South Taranaki Health Forum.

“I’m just really pleased to receive the honour,” Dunlop said.

Other roles Dunlop held in the community were as a member of the establishment board of Te Pae Pae o Aotea, the new combined intermediate and high school in Hāwera; a member of the Taranaki Catchment Community committee that encourages sustainable farming; and the patron of the Eltham Historical Society.

He has also been a Justice of the Peace since 1999.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.