Three Southlanders have been awarded New Years honours.

Former Gore pharmacist Bernard (Bernie) McKone, now resident in Cromwell, has become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Invercargill businesswoman and director Jocelyn (Joc) O'Donnell and long time Stewart Island community leader Bruce Ford have both been made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Bernie McKone

McKone becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the pharmaceutical sector.

McKone has been contributing to the health and pharmaceutical sector in the lower South Island since 1990.

Appointed to the New Zealand College of Pharmacists Academic Advisory Board from 1990 to 1995, McKone was a Board Member of the New Zealand Pharmacy Education and Research Foundation from 1993 to 2004.

He was appointed a member of the Ministry of Health’s Registering Authority of Pharmacists and the Medicines Classification Committee between 1997 to 2003.

He led the Pharmacy Professions Governance implementation of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 and helped set up clinical pharmacist services in general practices in Gore and Invercargill.

He contributed to normalising conversation around men’s health by appearing on radio shows and discussing topics including prostate health and blood pressure, running men’s health stalls at events such as Field Days and created the Men’s Health Expert website.

He was a Board Member of Gore Hospital from 2002 to 2004, Chair of New Zealand College of Pharmacists from 2000 to 2013, and President of the Pharmaceutical Society from 2000 to 2005.

Within his wider community, Mr McKone has been President of Southland Football Referees Association, Chair of Southland Rugby Board and led many projects through Gore Rotary Club.

McKone was awarded the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand's Pharmacist of the Year award in 2015.

Joc O'Donnell

O'Donnell, an HW Richardson Ltd director, becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and community development.

She played a key role in the Invercargill Central Ltd initiative between Invercargill City Council and HW Richardson to re-energise Invercargill’s central business district.

O'Donnell chaired the Vibrant Urban Centres initiative for 12 months, which has led into the City Streets project for development around the inner-city.

She and her family’s businesses have established activities for national and international tourism in Southland, including opening Bill Richardson Transport World, the largest private automotive museum of its type in the world, Classic Motorcycle Mecca, the leading classic motorcycle museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and Dig This Invercargill, New Zealand’s only heavy-machinery playground.

O'Donnell has also been a member of the World Motor Museum Council, a founding director of Great South and a founder of the Invercargill Public Arts Trail Trust.

She was also a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council.

A keen supporter of the new Hawthorndale Dementia Care complex, O’Donnell and her husband Scott have donated $10 million towards its development.

Bruce Ford JP

Ford, who has been actively involved in the Stewart Island community since 1968, becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community.

Ford began as a Councillor in 1977, serving several terms as the Chair of the Stewart Island County Council and was elected to the Stewart Island Community Board in 1992.

He was elected as the Stewart Island ward member on the Southland District Council in 2007.

He has been involved with several community groups and organisations including the Halfmoon Bay School Committee, Toi Rakiura and Stewart Island Promotion Association.

He was a key driver in the reticulation power supply for the Island and the implementation of a visitor levy, helping the wellbeing of the Island and its ability to survive.

As a Trustee of the Rakiura Heritage Centre Trust, he contributed to the development and opening of the new Te Puka o Te Waka Rakiura Museum in 2020, valued at $4 million.

He has been a Justice of the Peace since 1977.

Ford has been the Chair of the Stewart Island Seniors Cottage Trust since 2017, advocating for the build of small, affordable housing for the senior citizens of Stewart Island.