Four Southlanders have been named Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit and three awarded with the Queen’s Service Medal in this years Queen’s Birthday Honours. 

The 2022 Honours hold special significance, as they coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne. 

New members of the New Zealand Order of Merit include Christopher Chilton of Invercargill, honoured for his services to music and journalism.  

Chilton was a journalist for 35 years, using his platform to bring wider interest to the arts and community issues in the Southland region. 

He has made also significant contributions to music and entertainment in his own right, which resulted in him being inducted into the Southland Music Hall of Fame in 2016 and being made a Life Member of the Southland Musicians’ Club

Chilton says he is overwhelmed and humbled to have been considered for the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

“It was completely unexpected. No one gets up in the morning expecting to receive something like this.”

“I thought the person who first called to tell me was winding me up . I thought it was a joke call, but they were quite persistent, and I realised that it was real.”

He says the honour is not just for him, but for the entire arts and music scene.

“It means even more because it’s not just an award for me, it’s something for the people I’ve been working with and promoting all these years.”

“I’ve done it because I love it. I have a huge respect for the quality and the incredibly talent we have here in Southland,” he says. 

Bluff resident Estelle Pera-Leask has also been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for her services to conservation and Māori. 

Estelle Pera-Leask (R) has been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for her services to conservation and Māori.

Pictured with Chris Rance of the Southland Community Nursery. Photo: Supplied

Pera-Leask is a member Te Rūnanga o Awarua in Bluff and a Senior Environmental Advisor for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

Since 2008, she has been Chairperson, Volunteer Coordinator and Te Korowai Whakahou Native Plant Nursery Coordinator for the Bluff Hill Motupōhue Environment Trust, and has led and supported on many other significant conservation projects throughout the region. 

“When I was first informed of it, I was extremely humbled and actually a wee bit nervous, I didn’t know whether I should accept it,” she says. 

“In the end I couldn’t say no, though. It’s not just about me, it’s about all the people that support me, my husband, and the whānau.”

Pera-Leask says her passion for conservation has stemmed from her upbringing in Bluff, and identity as Ngāi Tahu.

It was a obtaining a degree in Environmental Management that first set her up for a life dedicated to kaitiakitanga and conservation. 

“Being from Bluff, being Māori in the 1980s, I didn’t have much ambition other than to work in the fish factory. I also had a child and was a single parent very young, it was a struggle.”

“But went back to school, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu took me on straight out of it.” 

“My passion is kaitiakitanga, it’s what makes me happy, what makes me get up in the morning.” 

Pera-Leask says she is proud of the conservation project that she has championed at Motupōhue (Bluff Hill).

“We were seeing a silent forest because of predation, and now we have brought back the birdsong. We’ve really created an amazing mainland sanctuary. When people come, they are blown away.” 

“It takes a whole team, and I also need to acknowledge the amazing volunteers who have worked tirelessly.”

She is also thankful for the support she has received throughout her time working in conservation. 

“This acknowledgement is not just for me, it’s for all the people who enable be to do what I do. To my husband and to my whānau.”

“There are a lot of Ngāi Tahu who feel kaitiakitanga but can’t get involved because of their circumstances, so I don’t take it for granted.”

Mark Sutton of Te Anau has likewise been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to conservation.

Mark Sutton of Te Anau has been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to conservation.

Sutton has been at the forefront of fisheries and wildlife habitat enhancement in Southland, particularly the Waiau Catchment, since 1977, working with organisations including Southland Fish & Game, the Waiau Fisheries & Wildlife Trust and the QE II National Trust.

Sutton has championed the importance of environmental protection throughout his career, as well as the need to work collaboratively with landowners.

“If we want healthy rivers, lakes and streams then we need diverse landscapes. That includes wetland habitats for all fish and wildlife species to thrive. We also need productive farms. That’s the basis of our economy. That means working with, not against, landowners to get the best out of the land.”

Sutton says he is humbled to receive the Queen’s Birthday Honour. 

“I’m very humbled, when I received the email first, I couldn’t believe it.”

“I don’t know why they’ve chosen me. To me, I’ve just been doing what I do. The last 25 years of my career have been an amazing opportunity.”  

He says he has received ongoing support from his family and colleagues. 

“I have had great support from my wife Ann and our children Hollie and Steven, and my wider family members.”

“I have received lots of support and encouragement from many good people associated with the above organisations, Trustees and co-workers in particular.”

“Creating trusting friendships with many land owners and land managers along the way has been fantastic.”

Sandra Borland of Invercargill has also been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for her services to nursing and the Pacific community.

Mrs Sandy Borland has served the Pacific community in Southland through health for more than 30 years.

Mrs Borland has been a voluntary key leader for Miharo Murihiku Trust since 2009, an organisation focussed on arts, culture, education and youth, taking charge of catering at large-scale events at the annual Murihiku Poly-festival, subsequently becoming a mentor for young people.

She is heavily involved in the PACIFICA Invercargill organisation, holding several roles including as President between 2010 and 2011, Vice Secretary between 2011 and 2014 and currently as Vice President since 2014.

Through PACIFICA, she led a drive to support Samoa through the measles outbreak in 2019, communicating with nurses in Samoa to gather baby products, baby baths, Vaseline, disposable items and liaising with a local freight company for delivery.

She helped establish a Pacific Health Clinic in Murihiku which provides health services to the community in a culturally responsive manner.

Through the clinic, she supplies items to Pacific families in need including bedding, furniture, food parcels and home cooked meals.

She has been a member of several advisory boards including those relating to sexual health, asthma and vaccination.

Mrs Borland has been part of the Pacific Island Case Management Team of Southern District Health Board since 2004.

Her other awards include the Kiwibank, Local Hero Award, 2019 and a Nursing Excellence Award, 2010

Neil McDermott of Invercargill received the Queen's Service Medal for services to music promotion and the community,

Mr Neil McDermott has contributed to the Southland community, particularly through promotion of musicians and events for 50 years.

McDermott began managing a band at age 18, which was the supporting act for the Southland Cycling Association John Farnham Show. He was entertainment convenor of the Makarewa Country Club from 1985 to 1989.

In the 1990s he began a campaign to have Southland artists who achieved national or international success to be publicly recognised in Invercargill, resulting in the City Council establishing a Walk of Fame outside the Civic Theatre in 2004.

His 2003 initiative to celebrate Southland musician Dave Kennedy resulted in the formation of the Southland Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, with this event occurring annually until 2017.

He was the convenor and driving force behind the event, spending countless voluntary hours on organisation, promotion and negotiation.

He helped research the 2006 book ‘45 South: In Concert’ on Southland musicians, sourced funding and arranged a printing deal. He has also volunteered with Rugby Southland over 15 years, as match day staff, team/game liaison worker. He co-wrote articles in the 1970s on Southland Rugby.

Mr McDermott has supported the Invercargill Public Library with book donations and more recently helping transition the library to a community hub, where he has organised events.

He also was awarded the Southland Entertainment Awards, Special Achievement Award in both 2006 & 2013

Ann Robbie received a Queen's Service Medal for service to historical research.

Ann Robbie of Ryal Bush has for the last 30 years played a leading role in locating, recording, and in the preservation and restoration of war memorials from the First and Second World Wars across the Southland region.

She has identified and catalogued over 400 memorials, ranging from large public cenotaphs and gates to small memorial boards around the district.

The location of these war memorials has been compiled into Southland’s Kia Mate Toa database, an initiative to enable Southlanders to understand the service and sacrifice of Southland’s soldiers.

Mrs Robbie has provided her services as a bagpiper at ANZAC Day services and funerals in Southland for more than 45 years.

She has also tutored young pipers in the City of Invercargill Highland Pipe Band and played with the Winton and Districts and Waimatuku Pipe Bands.

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Winifred Solomon of Riverton received the Queen's Service Medal for services to Māori culture and heritage.

Mrs Wini Solomon (Te Arawa) has taught the art of raranga or flax weaving for more than 40 years, passing her knowledge through generations. 

Raranga is a plaiting technique using your fingers, brought to New Zealand by the first Pacific settlers and was used to make practical items for survival such as rope, fishing nets and baskets.

Mrs Solomon has been using this technique to create korowai (cloaks), piupiu (skirts), kete (baskets) and patterned wall panels called tukutuku, for the local marae.

To help with her raranga, she grows her own flax and is aware of the different varieties and which are better suited to each piece of work. She was a Tutor of Raranga with Te Wananga o Aotearoa, based at the Southland Institute of Technology for ten years. She has taught students at local marae, community centres, schools, and with children’s holiday programmes.

Alongside teaching raranga, she teaches the protocols of tikanga Māori practices associated with gathering, using and disposing of leftover flax and appropriate karakia and waiata.

With her husband, they set up retail shops to sell the Māori art to visiting tourists and New Zealanders and she taught anyone who took particular interest. Mrs Solomon received the Kaitiaki Tohu Pai Guardian Award at the Southland Community Environment awards in 2018 for raranga.

CLICK HERE to view the full list of Queen's Birthday Honours 2022.