Residents Recognised with New Year’s Honours

Five members of the Thames Coromandel and Hauraki districts have been honoured in this year’s New Years Honours list.

Hikutaia farmer Keith Trembath has received the New Zealand Order of Merit for public service which also crossed over with services to agriculture and education.

A Kings Service Order went for Paora Moyle of Thames for services to survivors of abuse in care, while Kings Service Medals went to Graeme Pearce of Thames, for services to heritage preservation and the community, and Whangamata’s Peter Priest and his wife Sue was honoured for services to Māori, conservation and their communities.

Mr Trembath was involved with farm training from 1978 to 1998 as a Board member and Chairman of Auckland Federated Farmers Cadet Scheme and later as Chair of the Waikato Agricultural Industry Training Organisation (ITO).

Mr Trembath was an Agriculture ITO director from 1994 to 2000, overseeing growth in the numbers of young people completing the programmes, and was a member of the Fencing, Wools of New Zealand and Field Days sub-committees. He was on the National Council of Federated Farmers from 1987 to 1992 and Deputy Chair of Federated Farmers for Hauraki Coromandel from 2004 to 2014. He was a Hauraki District Councillor from 2002 to 2007 for the Paeroa Ward, serving time as Deputy Chair and involved with committees including civil defence, Hauraki Rail Trail Scoping Group, Waste, Water and Roading. He has been a Trustee since 2004 of Waikato East Life Education Trust and Chair since 2010, during which time he was involved with the amalgamation of the East Waikato and Hauraki/Coromandel branches. As Chair, he has overseen the Trust raise close to $1 million and employ a full-time teacher working with 60 local schools. Mr Trembath was Deputy Chair of St John Paeroa Area Committee from 2004 to 2019, with responsibilities for welfare, establishing the Op-Shop and funding a new ambulance.

Mrs Sue Priest, together with her husband Peter Priest, have served their communities of Whangamatā and Waitara for 25 years, often in the roles of Treasurer and Chair respectively for various organisations.

Mrs Priest is Treasurer on the Ngāti Rāhiri Hapu o Ātiawa management committee, helping the hapū to grow from a position of financial and administrative difficulty to secure assets, financial stability and a strategic plan for its future. Mr and Mrs Priest have made significant contributions to estuary care in Whangamatā since 2003, both in hands-on and governance roles and coordinating volunteers. They helped prepare a business case to secure land for the establishment of a community marae in Whangamatā, with land allocated in February 2024. She has been a Trustee and Treasurer of the Whangamatā Community Marae Trust since 2019. Mr and Mrs Priest have led development of Māori language, culture and tikanga in Whangamatā, including community te reo lessons and helping organise the community’s first Matariki celebrations.

Mr Priest has chaired the Ngāti Rāhiri Hapu o Ātiawa (Taranaki) management committee since 2018, helping the hapū to grow from a position of financial and administrative difficulty to secure assets, financial stability and a strategic plan for its future. Mr and Mrs Priest have made significant contributions to estuary care in Whangamatā since 2003, both in hands-on and governance roles and coordinating volunteers. He is a Co-Chair of the Whangamatā Community Marae and Well-being Hub (Governance Group). He has been a Trustee of the Whangamatā Community Marae Trust from 2019. He helped prepare the business case to secure land for the establishment of a community marae in Whangamatā, with land allocated in February 2024.

Mr Graeme Pearce has maintained historic cemeteries in Thames as volunteer caretaker and at his own expense since 2000.

Mr Pearce regularly visits the Shortland Cemetery, Tararu Cemetery and the urupā at Pārāwai, where he undertakes lawn mowing, line trimming, weed clearing and cleaning tombstones for these ‘closed’ cemeteries that receive only limited council maintenance. His efforts have helped uncover lost graves and plots, with his research helping correct and enhance cemetery records. He has helped family researchers find graves and has volunteered his time to Find A Grave since 2014, photographing and documenting 1,100 grave sites for online searching. He has volunteered with The Treasury Research and Archive Centre since 2010. Within the wider community, he was a player and coach with Hui Mai Rugby Club in the 1960s and volunteered with Thames Search and Rescue from 1978 to 2000. He was involved with running Thames Athletic Club and Thames Harriers Club events in the 1970s and 1980s, including as a committee member and coordinator of the Paeroa to Thames road event for many years. Mr Pearce has undertaken maintenance and general tasks for the Thames Pensioner Housing Trust since 2010, such as installation of underfloor insulation.

Mx Paora Moyle (Ngāti Porou ki Wharekāhika) has used their personal experience to serve as a social worker for more than 30 years, advocating for children who have been removed from their families and placed in state and faith-based care.

Mx Moyle was a member of Te Ara Takatū Reference Group, a group of Māori-led survivors, Kaupapa Māori advocates and academics who met regularly with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions. They researched ‘Haha uri, Haha tea, Māori involvement in State Care 1950-1999’ (2022), commissioned by the Crown and used as a source for the inquiry’s report. They also researched ‘Voices of Takatāpui, Rainbow and MVPFAFF+ Survivors’, an independent research report provided to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission. They were the lead claimant in the Waitangi Tribunal’s Oranga Tamariki Inquiry and have provided their experience of abuse to the inquiry and the Crown Response Unit. They were awarded the Wāhine Ora Award in 2020 by Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga and Hine Kahukura, and in 2011, the prestigious Apa Marēikura Award by the Ministry of Health. Mx Moyle has advocated to ensure the response to the inquiry accounts for concerns and interests of all survivors, including survivors of abuse in care who are members of the LGBTQ+ community.