Wellington, June 5, 2017
Queens Birthday Honours List: Highlights: John Key get the Grand Knighthood, Lyn Provost becomes a Companion, Wallace Haumaha and Robert Khan appointed respectively Officer and Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Kulwinder Singh Jhamat and Prabha Ravi to receive Queens Service Medal
Queen Elizabeth II has appointed former Prime Minister John Key as the Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, the highest civilian honour bestowed on New Zealanders. Mr Key leads a number of others feature in various categories of citations and awards announced this morning as Queens Birthday Honours List.
All recipients of various honours and citations are well known to Indian Newslink but we have pleasure in following the notes accompanying each of the recipients issues by the office of the New Zealand Governor General Patsy Reddy.
Knight Grand Companion
John Key for services to the State.
The Right Honourable John Key (henceforth known as the RT Hon Sir John Key) was New Zealands 38th Prime Minister, holding the office from November 2008 until stepping down in December 2016.
Mr Key was the Member of Parliament for Helensville from his election in 2002 until April 2017. He was leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016, and was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2008. As Prime Minister, he led the government response to the global financial crisis, and to a series of major disasters, including the devastating February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Under Mr Keys leadership, the National-led government embarked on a range of economic, social and environmental reforms, successfully concluded a significant number of Treaty settlements, and undertook a range of initiatives focused on enhancing New Zealands sense of nationhood.
In foreign relations, he supported closer relations with the United States, oversaw the withdrawal of New Zealand troops from Afghanistan in 2013, and focused on strengthening trade relationships in the Asia-Pacific region.
He launched New Zealands campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2009, with New Zealand securing a seat on the Council for 2015-2016. In addition to the Prime Ministerial portfolio, he was also Minister of Tourism from 2008 to 2016.
As Minister of Tourism. Mr Key was instrumental in securing $50 million for initial construction work on the National Cycleway Project.
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Lyn Provost for services to the State.
Lyn Provost was Controller and Auditor-General from October 2009 until 2017, responsible for giving independent assurance to Parliament and the public about the performance and accountability of public organisations.
Under her leadership, the Office of the Auditor-General received the highest score for Transparency International New Zealands 2013 National Integrity Systems Assessment.
She has increased the visibility and understanding of the Auditor-General through developing and reporting on annual themes of issues facing the public sector.
She has improved New Zealands accounting and auditing reputation internationally and has been instrumental in improving the standard of auditing and government accounting in developing nations, especially in the Pacific.
She was on the governing board of International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions and was Secretary-General of Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions.
She contributed to the development of international public sector accounting standards and implemented them in New Zealand.
From 2001 to 2009, she was the first female and civilian Deputy Commissioner of New Zealand Police (Resource Management), responsible for six police districts as well as leading human resources, finance, information technology and strategy and policy in New Zealand Police.
Ms Provost was previously acting Chief Executive at Archives New Zealand and was involved in the establishment of that organisation.
Editors Note: Lyn Provost will be the Guest Speaker at the Seventh Annual Indian Newslink Sir Anand Satyanand Lecture scheduled to be held on Monday, August 7, 2017 at Alexandra Park, Greenlane, Auckland. The theme of her speech will be,
The Black-Tie event will commence with Cocktails and Networking at 630 pm followed by initial speeches, Dinner, the Lecture, Questions & Answers and Discussion.
Medtech Global Limited Executive Chairman Vino Ramayah will be the Master of Ceremonies, while Nirvana Health Group and Bank of Baroda Director Ranjna Patel will provide her Perspectives of the Topic and Former Member of Parliament and Commonwealth Secretary Generals Special Envoy to Lesotho Dr Rajen Prasad will reflect on the Lecture and render his concluding remarks.
For tickets and other information, please call 021-836528 or email venkat
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Wallace Haumaha for services to the New Zealand Police and Maori, Pacific and ethnic communities
Assistant Commissioner Wallace Haumaha has been at the forefront of leading and building the cross-cultural capacity of the New Zealand Police to facilitate operations in culturally complex situations since 1996.
His work in facilitating partnerships within New Zealands ethnically diverse communities has been recognised both locally and internationally. His understanding of the social, cultural and economic context of Maori saw him make a key contribution to the partnership launch of Turning of the Tide, a ground-breaking Whanau Ora Crime and Crash Prevention Strategy endeavouring to reduce the incarceration rates of Maori.
He established the first Memorandum of Understanding between Police and 14 major Iwi groups in the Bay of Plenty District, marking the beginning of a long-standing partnership model to work with Police.
He was instrumental in establishing the first MOU with Te Wananga o Aotearoa to launch a Police Career Preparation Programme for Maori, Pacific and ethnic people.
Assistant Commissioner Haumaha was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Maori in 2014 and has supported the Commissioner of Police on the development of crime prevention advice to reduce the over-representation of Mori in the criminal justice system.
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Robert Khan for services to broadcasting and the Indian community
Robert Khan is the Founder and Chief Executive of New Zealands first commercial Indian radio station, Radio Tarana, which, over 20 years has become one of the largest successful independent brands in New Zealand radio.
Mr Khan created the first revenue joint venture between Media Works Radio and an independent ethnic radio broadcaster. His success with the Tarana model is used to champion the cause of ethnic media, which has resulted in revenue increases for ethnic media throughout the country.
He created the first ethnic radio partnership with New Zealand Media and Entertainment on their I Heart platform in 2014. He is an elected member of the New Zealand Radio Broadcasters Association and was instrumental in the development and implementation in 2016 of a new New Zealand Radio Research Model. He has been a member of MBIEs Small Business Advisory Group for four years. He is the founder and organiser of South Auckland Festival of Lights (Manukau Diwali) and is also the founder of Festival of India showcasing Indian culture.
In 2002, he led the organisation of the inaugural New Zealand Police and Immigration Department workshops for the Indian community. As a former Waitemata District Health Board member Mr Khan helped launch New Zealands first Asian Health Unit and Pacific Health Unit.
Editors Note: A separate tribute to Robert Khan appears under Latest Stories in our web edition (www.indiannewslink.co.nz)
Queens Service Medal
Kulwinder Singh Jhamat for services to the Indian community.
Kulwinder Jhamat was involved with the establishment of New Zealand Guru Ravidas Sabha Inc, also known as the Bombay Temple, and has contributed to its development over the past 23 years.
Mr Jhamat has held the Board positions of President, Vice Chairman and General Secretary and is a Life Member of the organisation.
He has also provided support to the Hastings branch of New Zealand Guru Ravidas Sabha. He has been an active member of Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) since 2007 and is currently Vice President of the Pukekohe branch.
He has been made a Life Member of Ambedkar Sports and Cultural Club, of which he was a foundation member in 1997. He is currently the clubs auditor.
He has coached young people in football, volleyball and the Punjabi game of Kabaddi. Mr Jhamat has been active with the Auckland City Multi-Ethnic Council as a Councillor for four years and is currently Assistant Treasurer.
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Prabha Ravi for services to ethnic communities and dance.
Prabha Ravi has dedicated many years to promoting Indian art and culture in New Zealand.
She founded the Natraj School of Dance in Wellington to teach Indian Classical Dance. The school specialises in teaching Bharatanatyam, which is a classical dance from South India. A number of its students have performed at community events in Wellington.
She has performed in Canada, Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand.
Over the past 17 years, she has also supported a number of community organisations including the Filipino community, the Multicultural Council of Wellington, the Wellington Tamil Society, the Upper Hutt Multicultural Council, the Wellington Malayalee Association, Wellington Malaysian Association, Asia New Zealand Diwali Festival and ethnic celebrations hosted at New Zealand Parliament and for New Zealand Police.
She has made an ongoing contribution to Wellington Mutamizh Sangam, a non-political, not-for-profit organisation which promotes the South Indian culture through language, music and drama.
She founded Namasankeerthanam, a voluntary group in 2010.
Ms Ravi was a recipient of Civic Honour Award by Hutt City Council in 2012 and a Cultural award by Upper Hutt Multicultural Society in 2013.
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