Recognising Achievers 2008

Information on previous recognising achievers:

2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

Recognising Achievers 2008

We would like to celebrate the good work of people and organisations in promoting the inclusion, visibility and participation of disabled people in society. The Office has identified the following disabled people and people working in the disability sector who have been recognised this year.

If you know of other people who have been recognised, or examples of good practice and work that should be acknowledged, please let us know. This can include disabled persons, people and organisation in the community and disability sector, local and central government, and businesses. You can email us at: odi@msd.govt.nz.

New Zealand Honours are announced twice a year, at New Years and at Queen's Birthday. To find out how to nominate a person for a New Zealand Honour or about people who have been awarded Honours, contact the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Disabled people

  • Robert Martin (Wanganui): has been recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to people with disabilities. Mr Martin has led the self advocacy movement for people with learning and intellectual disabilities and represented the rights and interests of these people at a local, national, and international level for over 25 years. He was involved in the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 2003 to 2006. He was the inaugural leader of the local People First Group and has served as vice president, president, and spokesperson of the Central Regional People First Group. In addition, he led the development of the modern self advocacy movement within IHC (now IDEA services) and is currently the self advocacy co-ordinator for IDEA Services. He was also invited to be apart of Inclusion International and was appointed vice chairperson of the International Self Advocacy Committee, where he also helped write The Beliefs, Values, and Principles of Self Advocacy. He is also a member of many other international task forces, including the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee for the Convention on Disability, and has been a keynote speaker at many international conferences. Mr Martin has also been a member and office holder of many other local organisations, including the Gateway Club Wanganui, Citizens Advocacy Wanganui, and the Wanganui Special Olympics. He was also the captain of the New Zealand Special Olympics Soccer Team at the World Special Olympic Games in 1991 and has been involved with many local sport clubs for over 40 years.
  • Willaim Wrightson (Wellington): has been recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to people with disabilities. Mr Wrightson has worked to improve the lives of people with disabilities for over 25 years. He was the manager of national projects with NZCCS where he led a number of projects, including developing the Barrier Free Programme, the Operation Mobility Parking Concession Scheme, and the Murray Halberg Computer Trust Scheme. He established Wrightson Associates in 1988 to provide consultancy services on accessibility design and building for people with disabilities. Projects he has provided advice on include the Capital and Coast District Health Board Newtown Campus, Government House, and the rebuilding of the new Victoria University of Wellington Railway Campus and Easterfield Building redevelopment. Mr Wrightson is a member of the Disabled Persons Assembly. He was a member of a number of other organisations, including  the Building Industry Authority, the Access Advisory Panel of the Department of Building and Housing, and a number of Standards New Zealand (SNZ) advisory groups. He was also involved with the development of the SNZ access standard 4121 and has contributed a number of articles on disability access to international publications.
  • Alexander McNaughton (Hamilton): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to the community. Mr McNaughton has been involved in the Hamilton community for over 30. He has been a member of the Hamilton Hearing Association for 20 years and involved with the Newstape Trust, contributing towards the Talking Newspapers for the Blind.

Disability and community sector

  • Professor Peter Gluckman (Auckland): has been recognised as a Distinguished Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) for services to medicine. Professor Gluckman is one of New Zealand’s internationally recognised biomedical and medical scientists, whose interest is in the hormonal control of growth both before and after birth, infant brain injury resulting from oxygen deprivation, and intrauterine growth restriction. He has led a team in the discovery of several classes of drug for the treatment of neurological diseases in adulthood and holds over 15 classes of relevant patents.
  • Edwin Davidson (Auckland): has been recognised as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to special education. Mr Davidson has worked in the field of special education for over 25years. He has been the principal of Sir Keith Park School for children with intellectual disabilities since 1984. He was one of fifteen founding members of the New Zealand Association of Special Schools Principals in 1989, where he has held many offices and negotiated with the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Educational Institute to obtain formal recognition of the association. He was also treasurer of the Mangere Principals Association for 10 years, a member of the Mangere Principals Cluster of Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour, and has mentored new principals in mainstream and special schools. He established Mobility Opportunities Via Education (MOVE) in New Zealand, which has given New Zealand an international profile in special education, and he has also organised international workshops and training courses. Mr Davidson is a member of the MOVE International Professional Development Council and is the MOVE coordinator for the South Pacific Rim countries.
  • Micheal Frohlich (Tauranga): has been recognised as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to the community. Mr Frohlich has been a volunteer in the Wellington, Auckland, and Bay of Plenty regions for over 20 years. He was involved with the establishment of the Special Olympics in the 1980s, of which he co-ordinated and ran the first event, and the establishment of the Air Rescue Helicopter Services and consequently the Wellington Life Flight Trust.
  • Alan Hall (Wellington): has been recognised as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to people with disabilities and the community. Mr Hall has been involved with the development of the national prosthetic limb service to amputees for over 20 years, ensuring that the latest technology is applied in the manufacturing and management of artificial limbs. He has been a member of the New Zealand Artificial Limb Board since 1990, and chair since 1996. He has been a member of the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand since 2000 and deputy chair since 2003 and recently received honorary membership of the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists in recognition of many years service to their Ethics Committee. He has also been a member of the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics and the New Zealand Chiropractic Board.
  • Trevor Scott (Dunedin): has been recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to business and the community. Mr Scott has been involved with business and the community in Dunedin for many years. He helped establish the Otago Multiple Sclerosis Society and was the inaugural president of the New Zealand Multiple Sclerosis Society.
  • Dr Rosamund Vallings (Auckland): has been recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for to people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr Vallings has been an advocate for people with myalgic encephalopathy (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) throughout New Zealand and internationally for 35 years. In 1973, she was a co-researcher into ME at the Department of Rheumatology at the University of Auckland and established an education and support group which she ran until recently. She has been medical advisor to the Associated New Zealand Myalgic Encephalopathy Society (ANZMES) since 1980, was president for seven years, and continues to serve on the committee. She travels extensively attending conferences, giving lectures, participating in research, and producing comprehensive information for patients. She has published and presented papers at many international conferences and was elected to the editorial board of the US Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2001. She is the only general practitioner in New Zealand to specialise in ME/CFS patients and to date has treated over 3,000 of them.
  • Pauline Winter (Auckland): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to business and the Pacific Islands community. Ms Winter has
    been heavily involved in business and Pacific Island interests in the Auckland
    Community and nationally for many years. She was the Pacific Business Person
    of the Year in 1997 for her role as chief executive of Workbridge.
  • Sally Barrett (Wellington): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to education. Mrs Barrett has been a teacher at the junior department at Wadestown School for over 30 years and was appointed deputy principal in 1996. She is known for her enthusiasm and energy and has been instrumental in supporting and managing the provision of special education for several high needs children.
  • Joanna Bowden (Papua New Guinea): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to special education. Mrs Bowden has had a career in special education for over 20 years, focusing principally on the education of young children with profound and multiple disabilities. She was deputy principal at Carlson School for Children with Cerebral Palsy, the Sunnydene School for Children with disabilities, and Oaklynn School for Students with disabilities, where she was also a senior teacher. She was the senior manager at Te Aratika Centre for Students with disabilities at Green Bay High School and is now leading the Oaklynn Schools for Special Needs satellite classes at Green Bay High School and Avondale Intermediate School. She was also an itinerant teacher of students with special educational and behavioural needs at West Auckland Education Centre. She has worked alongside her husband in developing New Zealand community based rehabilitation and special education services in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and together they have co-authored many publications, including Some Babies and Young Children are Extra Special, The Road to School, and Please Understand What I am Trying to Say.
  • Warwick Bowden (Papua New Guinea): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to special education. Mr Bowden has been involved in special education for over 30 years, focusing on the education and rehabilitation of adolescents with disabilities. He was the Director of the Maclean Centre for Students with Disabilities at Mt Roskill Grammar School for over 15 years, and it is due to his leadership, that the Maclean Centre has become recognised throughout New Zealand as a centre of educational excellence for students with physical disabilities. Over the years, he has contributed significantly to the development of services for teenagers with physical disabilities and continues to play an important role at the centre as a rehabilitation specialist teacher. He has also worked alongside his wife in developing New Zealand community based rehabilitation and special education services in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and together they have co-authored many publications, including Some Babies and Young Children are Extra Special, The Road to School, and Please Understand What I am Trying to Say.
  • Dr Jill Calveley (Auckland): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to people with disabilities. Dr Calveley was instrumental in establishing the Ambury Park Centre for Riding Therapy for people with disabilities in Auckland, which was opened in 1983. She also implemented a research project to study the effects of riding on the sitting balance of people with disabilities, introduced full-time courses for school leavers with learning difficulties, and organised The Festival of the Horse in 1998 to raise funds for the Centre. She has also been involved with CCS, the Cerebral Palsy Society, and Ashley Cottage.
  • Sharon Devonshire (Palmerston North): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to people with disabilities. Mrs Devonshire has been an active advocate for people with disabilities in the Palmerston North community and nationally for over 15 years. She has fostered partnerships with organisations, actively campaigned for appropriate access to buildings, and established community resources for disabled people. She is the chair of the Audrey Green Disability Information Centre and is a member of the Disabled Persons Assembly New Zealand (DPA). She has held a number of positions on the DPA Palmerston North & Districts Regional Executive Committee, including president, and under her leadership, DPA has strengthened as an organisation. She has been a member of MidCentrals Disability Support Advisory Committee since 2001, is a board member and chairperson for the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation, and was the driving force behind the establishment of the DISInformation newspaper. She was instrumental in the establishment of the REK Centre Trust, which allows disabled people to participate in various activities together, and she received a Palmerston North City Council Civic Award in 2006.
  • Sheila House (Whangarei): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to the community. Mrs House has been involved in the Whangarei community for some 40 years. She set up and chaired the founding meeting of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of Whangarei and was involved in the creation of the Earnshaw Hands OnCommunity Service, which provides a support service and accommodation for ex-patients of the psychiatric ward at the hospital.
  • Georgy Inch (Dunedin): has been awarded the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for services to the community. Mr Inch started the Special Rigs for Special Kids day out for children who experience physical, mental, or emotional challenges in Dunedin in 1991. The day has grown from 40 to over 200 trucks, vintage cars, and World War II vehicles giving some 220 disadvantaged and disabled children rides and staging a parade. He has voluntarily organised all aspects of the annual event for the last 15 years, and the event was the supreme winner of the Trustpower Dunedin Community Awards in 2006.
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