Nine Southlanders have received New Years Honours.

Suzanne Prentice OBE has become a Companion for the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to music and the community.

Prentice’s music and television career has spanned 50 years, and highlights include performances with musical icons such as Julio Iglesias, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson., while also contributing to community initiatives.

She has featured on the New Zealand Music Charts and in numerous television shows in both New Zealand and Australia, and internationally.

Prentice has also served as the Events Coordinator for Southland Hospice, co-wrote and toured a series of shows called 'Kids for Kids' - giving thousands of New Zealand school children the opportunity to perform with her on stage while also raising $13.7 million in sponsorship for underprivileged children.

She was also an ambassador for World Vision for more than twenty years.

In 1997 Prentice was inducted into the Australia Hands of Fame. In 2015 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2016, the Wrest Point Entertainment Roll of Honour.

Prentice became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on Queen’s Birthday in 1995 and received a Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club NZ in 2016

Robert Campbell has become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to farming and governance.

Campbell has provided more than 40 years of service to his community through farming and governance.

He was founding Chair of the Sheep Council which established the Focus Farm programme, monitoring and lifting sheep productivity using new technologies.

In 1996 he served as inaugural Chair of the Sheep Research Foundation, where representatives from agricultural research, meat and wool industries took responsibility for prioritising the industries’ research needs.

As Chair he created a united voice upholding the industries’ case for research funding. He was a Board member of AgResearch, serving two terms, and was a founding Director of Ovita which managed funding to increase New Zealand’s sheep production using genomic technologies. He was a founding Director of Sheep Improvement Limited, the national animal performance recording programme.

In 2000 he was voted Agriculture Communicator of the Year.

He was Chair of Presbyterian Support Southland for nine years and served as National Chair, earning an Extra Mile Award for his contributions.

He served 40 years as a Justice of the Peace.

Mr Campbell has served as Chair of several other organisations including Venture Southland, Presbyterian Retirement Villages Limited, Waituna Partners wetland restoration project, and the Community Trust of Southland in 2012.

Sarah Rae has become a Member of the New Zealand of Merit for services to choral music.

Sarah Rae has been involved with the Invercargill Schools’ Sing Out for 33 years, initially with Waihopai Primary School Choir and from 1996 as Musical Director, leading around 700 students from 20 schools annually to prepare for the three-night festival.

Rae has directed the Southland Girls’ High school (SGHS) choir ‘Femme’ on a voluntary basis since 2006, concurrently with her role as Head of Performing Arts at SGHS. Femme is recognised as one of the top 20 secondary school choirs nationally and has been a frequent finalist of the Big Sing. She spearheads fundraising for the choir, organises workshops with national and international mentors, and organises community performance opportunities.

She was director of the Southland Youth Choir from 1995 to 2004 and is the director of the mixed voice choir The Ensemble which she established in 1995.

She has directed the Foveaux Harmony Chorus (FHC), part of the international Sweet Adelines organisation, since 1995.

She coordinates the FHC/Invercargill Licensing Trust scholarship for female singers aged 13 to 25.

She was a coach and educator with Young Women in Harmony, a national initiative providing musical education for women under 25.

Rae has been musical coordinator of the Invercargill Proms music event since 2016, which raises funds for local charities.

Roy Sloan has become a Member of the New Zealand of Merit for services to conservation and game hunting.

Mr Roy Sloan was President of the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF) from 2012 to 2022 and remains general manager, having been involved in various voluntary capacities since 2005.

The FWF manages the Fiordland wapiti (elk) herd to achieve a high quality, low quantity hunting resource and improve outcomes for native flora and fauna, through an agreement with the Department of Conservation (DOC). He was instrumental in working with DOC to establish the world class management system for the wapiti herd. The deer management, funded by hunters and ballot applications, partners and sponsors, has focused on removing red deer and hybrids, with more than 18,000 deer removed from the 175,000-hectare wapiti range to establish ecological threshold levels.

A further partnership was established between FWF and WithWild to provide venison to New Zealand restaurants, which helps fund a predator trapping network and backcountry hut maintenance. The FWF have been instrumental in preserving whio (blue duck) and other native birds through this programme. His leadership of FWF has provided a highly sought-after recreational hunting experience, improved conservation outcomes and a model for game animal management in New Zealand. He was instrumental in 18 tonnes of Fiordland Wapiti Venison being supplied to New Zealand foodbanks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Sloan was a New Zealand Game Animal Councillor from 2014 to 2016.

Melissa Vining has become a Member of the New Zealand of Merit for services to charitable fundraising and the community.

Melissa Vining (Ngāi Tahu) established the Southern Charity Hospital Trust in 2019, with the aim of constructing a charity hospital to provide colonoscopies, day surgeries and dentistry services, following her late husband’s cancer diagnosis and experiences with treatment delays.

Vining has been a driving force behind the project, raising awareness for the hospital and coordinating support from various sources.

She utilised her husband’s rugby connections to drive fundraising efforts, including a game with the All Blacks, ‘Buy a Brick’, and dinner events. She obtained support from the Invercargill Licensing Trust, who donated the land and building for the hospital. She has coordinated a range of specialists and nurses to donate their services.

Construction began on the project in 2021 and the hospital was completed in April 2024.

The Southern Charity Hospital is modelled on the Canterbury Charity Hospital and initially is providing colonoscopies to patients from the Southern zone.

Vining has been a Trustee on the Southern Charity Hospital Board since inception.

Toni Jarvis received the Kings Service Medal (KSM) for services to survivors of abuse in care.

Jarvis (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngā Puhi) has engaged with Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Social Development and other agencies to bring awareness to issues relating to abuse in care and has used his survivor experience to make submissions to relevant agencies.

Drawing on his personal experience at Cherry Farm, Hokio Beach School and Holdsworth Boys Home, Jarvis has provided evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions.

He has been contributing to the Crown Response Unit and been involved in other aspects of the inquiry’s work.

Jarvis has advocated to ensure the response to the inquiry accounts for the concerns and interests of all survivors, including survivors of abuse experienced in psychiatric hospitals.

Michael Buick received the Kings Service Medal (KSM) for services to the performing arts, particularly musical theatre.

Michael Buick is a leading figure in Southland’s performing arts community.

Since the early 1990s, Buick has contributed to the southern creative scene as a thespian, singer, teacher, mentor, musician and graphic designer, particularly through the Invercargill Musical Theatre (IMT) and Invercargill Repertory Society.

He has largely volunteered his time as a musical director, performer or musician in many IMT productions, and twice received an Otago Southland Theatre Award for best musical direction in 2015 and 2020. His contributions have helped to ensure the success of IMT’s productions and its reputation in the region. In his teaching career in Invercargill, he has been directly influential in the development of many emerging musicians and actors in Invercargill since 2000.

At New River Primary School, he developed a music programme that could be taught school-wide, empowering all teachers in a music-enrichment programme.

In the late 2000s, he was convenor of the ILT Sing Out festival, a massed choir event for Southland primary schools, helping to bring in a major sponsor to ensure the festival’s continued survival.

In 2022, Mr Buick was made a Life Member of Invercargill Musical Theatre.

Neville Gordon received the Kings Service Medal (KSM) for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and ice sports.

Neville Phillips has volunteered for more than 50 years with the Gore and Mataura Volunteer Fire Brigades.

Phillips is a Life Member of the Mataura Brigade and held several offices between 1993 and 2020, including Deputy Chief Fire Officer. He has been involved with waterway competitions for 50 years as a competitor, judge and coach. He has chaired the Mataura Brigade’s Centennial Committee. He was President of the Otago Southland Fire Brigade Association from 2000 to 2001 and was previously President of the Northern Southland Sub Association from 1995 to 1996.

He was a foundation member of the Gore and Districts Ice Skating Club (now Ice Sports Southland) in 1978 and remains involved as a current member. He spent 18 years on the Committee, with two years as President, and spent six years with the New Zealand Ice Skating Association, including as President from 1995 to 1996. He was delegate to the Otago Southland Ice Skating Sub Association for 10 years and has played and organised ice hockey in Gore. He was involved in the construction of three ice skating rinks in Gore, one of which remains today.

Phillips was a councillor on the Mataura Community Board from 2003 to 2013 and has served four terms on the Gore District Council since 2013.

Peter Swain received the Kings Service Medal (KSM) for services to the community

Mr Peter Swain has volunteered with the Southland Food Bank since 1991 and played an integral role in establishing and maintaining the Foodbank Charitable Trust as a valuable non-profit community asset.

Mr Swain was made a Life Member of the Otago Southland branch of the Meat Workers’ Union in 2007, having been Union Secretary for 27 years until retirement. While in the role of Meat Workers’ Union Secretary, he set up a food bank for workers during a 13-week strike.

He was elected as Chair of the Southland Foodbank Charitable Trust in 2007, holding the role until 2022. He remains a Trustee and active volunteer. He helped organise food drives for 12 years. He has performed numerous speaking engagements to promote the Southland Food Bank and receive food donations.

He was President of the Southland branch of the 60s Up movement from 2010 to 2020, having been a member of the Invercargill branch since 2007. He has organised bus trips and funding for 60s Up, as well as organising speakers for meetings and attending national conferences representing the branch. Mr Swain was made a Life Member of 60s Up New Zealand in 2021.

CLICK HERE to view the full list of 2025 New Years Honours.