The music industry leads in the charge of those in the Aotearoa creative sector to pick up accolades in the latest King's Birthday Honour list.

There are also a number of those dedicating their careers to the visual arts, as well as a healthy dose of stage and screen standouts given a nod.

The highest ranking arts honouree is New Zealand Music Commission Chief Executive Cath Andersen (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) - made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to the music industry, an honour only topped by dame and knighthoods.

Since taking the role in its inception back in 2000, Andersen's leadership has been highlighted as pivotal to the growth and resilience of the industry in Aotearoa. Paramount to that has been driving New Zealand Music Month from its 2001 origins to the cultural cornerstone it is today, with local music more prevalent on the airwaves than ever. 

Her work with the Outward Sound programme has significantly enhanced New Zealand’s global music profile, enabling New Zealand artists to access international audiences. She has led the NZMC through a period of immense transformation in the music industry, including the rise of digital streaming, the Global Financial Crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Her collaborative responses to these challenges, and her ability to develop new and practical ways to support and strengthen the music industry, have helped safeguard the livelihoods of music professionals. 

The sector has undergone significant chance under Andersen's watch - from CDs to streaming, a pandemic to navigate for an industry so reliant on live performance - but has stayed the course with initiatives like the Outward Sound programme that helps NZ artists reach international audiences, Music Mentoring in Schools, and the music support and mental health charity MusicHelps.

Officers of the NZ Order of Merit

Another guiding light in the music award is among the eight creative sector stalwarts to be made an Officer fo the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM).

Suzy Cato needs little introduction to most of Aotearoa - honoured for services to music, television and education over a career that has brought so much positivity for over 35 years.

An omni-present feature on New Zealand televisions in the 1990s as she used song and storytelling to educate tamariki with her children's shows You and Me and Suzy's World, Cato has used her profile to promote literacy, mental health, and well-being for young people and their families.

An accomplished author and singer/song-writer, Cato has released several children’s books and albums, worked with the New Zealand Book Council, Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust and is a founding member and Chair of Kiwi Kids Music Trust, as well as a key figure in the annual New Zealand Children’s Music Awards.

Cato told The Big Idea "As anyone involved in the creation of content knows, it - generally - takes a team of talented people to make the content a success. That was certainly the case with all the many projects I’ve been a part of, especially You & Me, Suzy’s World, Bryan & Bobby and now the Suzy & Friends Radio Show and Podcast, and the likes of the collective Kiwi Kids Music (over 100 singer/songwriters creating content for kids, here in Aotearoa). 

"So, I was thrilled accepted this incredible honour on behalf of all those I’ve worked with and continue to work with.  May these four wee letters allow us to shine a light on kids, family, community and local content, in all its many forms.”

Like Cato, ONZM addition Jude Dobson will be hugely familiar to national TV audiences after helming half a dozen prime-time shows through the 1990s. She also has added more strings to her bow with an extraordinary career to see her honoured for services to the community, broadcasting and historical preservation.

Dobson has been a high achiever through her own production company, where she has been a show runner, producer, director, writer, and researcher. As well as the driving force behind the parenting website Raising Children, Dobson has self-funded in part several documentaries and publications relating to the First and Second World Wars and playing a role in establishing Te Arawhata - the New Zealand Liberation Museum in Le Quesnoy, France. 

Among her highlights, the opportunity to write WWII veteran Pippa Latour’s best-selling memoir The Last Secret Agent, for which Dobson is working on a screenplay.  

She told The Big Idea "I am extremely humbled by the ONZM bestowment acknowledging my love of community, broadcasting, and historical preservation. As a producer I have tried to shine a light on supporting parenting with expert led information based on child development. Parenting is a hugely important job. 

"In the past few years, I have turned my attention to the human stories of those who fought in WWI and WWII. These stories are hard to get funded, and I am immensely grateful to those people I have convinced over the years to get behind them so they can see the light of day. Human stories connect with other humans. 

"The New Zealand Liberation Museum - Te Arawhata, our WWI museum, has also been a great journey, working with Wētā Workshop to shape the visitor experience there. And Pippa – well, she was extraordinary, and it was quite the responsibility to help her tell her story when she asked me to help her. I feel incredibly privileged to have taken that journey with her."

Also on the ONZM list, Peter de Blois has been contributing to the NZ music community since the 1980s - going from a singer and funding member of the Dunedin Youth Choir to a number of roles as a music director (including at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland), an adjudicator for The Big Sing competition and now teaching.

"When I received the email advising me I was to receive a Royal NZ Honour, I was completely astounded," He told The Big Idea. "This is what people get for devoting their entire lives to a sport, music or whatever. It seems I've now slipped into that bracket...not quite sure how I managed that as I'm just doing what I've always loved doing. 

"For most of my career I've worked in the world of choirs, especially Anglican cathedral choirs. For the last 12 years I've been a secondary school music teacher in a wide range of schools such as Scots College, Porirua College, two schools in the UK, and now Southland Girls' High School. It's quite daunting and humbling to think that I'm representing the creative community and the music sector on the 2025 King's Birthday Honours List." 

Wellington creative cornerstone Sue Elliott joins the ONZM list for services to the arts and governance, having helped to raise millions of dollars for the sector.

A founding Trustee of the Wellington Museums Trust, a 12-year servant on the board of the Wellington International Festival of the Arts, a Trustee of Wellington Sculpture Trust since 2002 and its Chair since 2013 - Elliott's has her fingers on the capital's cultural pulse for decades, leaving her own imprint away from the glare of the spotlight. 

Her commercial nous has placed an important part in the fundraising and installation of six permanent sculptures, eight 4 Plinths Sculpture Awards and instigating Wellington’s annual PARKing Day. In 2018, she co-founded Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand to document, promote and protect New Zealand’s twentieth-century public art works and preserve a unique facet of the country’s history and identity. 

Elliott told The Big Idea "The nice thing, since being told about 4 weeks ago,  has been having the time to quietly think about all the people I have had the privilege to work with in the creative sector.  

"Nothing happens without the dedication of a community of individuals who work unbelievably hard to make things happen – often on the smell of an oily rag.  I have worked with incredible teams, artists, donors and arts administrators and feel like a standard bearer for them. I’m humbled to be momentarily holding the pennant." 

Dai Henwood's efforts in the entertainment sector alone would be enough to quantify his new ONZM status, but his efforts for charitable fundraising - using his profile and heartbreaking diagnosis to make a difference - has also been acknowledged.

A Billy T and Fred Award winner at the NZ Comedy Fest, a seven-time winner of Best Male Comedian at the annual New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards and household name for his starring role in 7 Days and hosting Dancing With the Stars - there's nothing he hasn't achieved on the local comedy front. 

Since becoming an unwitting poster boy for bowel cancer in Aotearoa, Henwood has done much to raise awareness and funds, including the more than $250,000 through televised fundraising show ‘The Comedy Treatment’.

Henwood told The Big Idea “In what has been a tough 5 years since my stage 4 cancer diagnosis, I feel so thrilled to be honored with the ONZM. It has given me pause to reflect on a comedy career that has seen me spend more than half my life making people laugh around the country and abroad. 

Recently I have written a book and produced a documentary series around my cancer journey that has become a resource for people living with or supporting people with cancer. These projects are the things I am most proud of. 

"I could not of done any of this without the support of my Mum and Dad alongside my wife, who has been an anchor for me in stormy seas. All my love goes to my kids and friends as well who keep the smile on my face."
 

Gecko Press founder Julia Marshall's ONZM ascension is for services to children's literature.

Since its inception, Marshall has received numerous awards including New Zealand Thorpe-Bowker Publisher of the Year 2008, 2013 Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in Oceania at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, 2017 Publisher of the Year at the New Zealand Book Industry Awards, and the Margaret Mahy Medal in 2021. 

She has served the Publishers Association of New Zealand as President and been on the Board of READ NZ Te Pou Muramura.

Marshall told The Big Idea "It is an unexpected honour to be recognised for this award, which I accept on behalf of my peers in the creative book community; and for everyone who works hard to give every child in Aotearoa the right to love to read – giving us a country full of curious, articulate, confident children."

A whirlwind period of success and accolades keeps coming for New Zealand's representative at next year's Venice Biennale, Fiona Pardington.

Currently having her works presented at the Met in New York, she's now promoted to ONZM for services to photography. 

Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Ngāti Kahungunu) told The Big Idea from New York "It’s quite overwhelming to be acknowledged by the people of our country. I’m grateful to our country for the opportunities I have been given, to my iwi, to my whānau, my friends, my children. I’m a fortunate woman indeed.

"So many good things are coalescing at this time."

An internationally acclaimed photographer active since the 1980s, Pardington has already represented New Zealand at the London Art Fair and Art Basel Hong Kong, participated in the 2018 major international exhibition ‘Oceania’ at London’s Royal Academy of the Arts, and was the first New Zealander invited to participate in the Sharjah Biennial 16 in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. 

An Arts Laureate, Pardington has also become a funder for the Arts Foundation via emerging artists platform, the Springboard award for emerging artists - as well as sourcing historical bird remains, including Huia parts, from overseas auctions and donated them to Canterbury Museum. 

"I feel like I’m sitting on a cloud! Indeed, a very intense year, a flurry of activity… the goodwill expressed towards me in regard to my work for Venice and now an ONZM. It’s a surprise! This recognition will certainly help me with raising money for rare and endangered manu." 

Jenny Wake has gained ONZM status for services to theatre and television - with encouraging children and young people in theatre her chief focus through her company Calico Theatre. 

Whether it's creating works for children to perform or for adults to perform to children, Wake has rolled up her sleeves. This includes being part of ASSITEJ (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) since 1996, on the Performing Arts and Young People of Aotearoa (PAYPA) board and a Creative Napier Board member.

Throw in a TV career that includes writing, directing and producing across children institutions Play School, What Now and Bumble - it's clear Wake is a tireless advocate. 

"I was shocked to learn I was being honoured in this way and it is taking quite a bit of getting used to!" she told The Big Idea. "But I’m completely chuffed at the recognition for theatre for young audiences. It’s wonderful to know that the work our sector does is valued - it doesn’t always seem so.

"Aotearoa's Performing Arts and Young People sector is largely made up of independent practitioners. They're passionate, dedicated and extraordinary artists. With scant funding support and a wish to keep ticket prices affordable for young audiences, they conjure magic from the proverbial smell of an oily rag. They draw on all their talent, expertise and resilience to make work that delights, moves and inspires. 

"In my travels over the years, I've seen some of the finest work being done for young audiences anywhere in the world, and New Zealand work ranks with the best - Trick of the Light’s exquisite show The Bookbinder; Tim Bray’s sector-leading work in accessible theatre; the dynamic productions of Java Dance Theatre, Red Leap Theatre and Massive Theatre Company; the late Peter Wilson’s moving Duck, Death and the Tulip; Up and Away, Cubbin Theatre Company’s gentle show for babies; and EBKM’s raw, insightful Yes Yes Yes, to name just a few.

"Young New Zealanders demand and deserve our very best work. They're discerning, honest and empathetic as an audience and they are joyful collaborators. For me, it's a joy to make theatre for and with young people; I feel privileged to be able to support teachers to provide performance opportunities for their students, and honoured to play a role in supporting the wider Performing Arts and Young People sector through PAYPA (Performing Arts & Young People Aotearoa)." 

Members of the NZ Order of Merit

Half a dozen creatives also feature in the Member of the NZ Order of Merit (MNZM) list.

Award-winning freelance documentary producer, journalist and oral historian Anna Cottrell has received recognition for services to documentary filmmaking and migrant communities.

 As well as documentaries on major events like the Christchurch earthquakes and ‘The Wahine' Disaster - and covering the legacy of Katherine Mansfield -Cottrell is co-founder of the ‘Migrating Kitchen’ Trust (with exhibitions at Pataka Museum from 2007 to 2023), recorded oral histories with media women, war veterans, politicians and refugees for the National Library and co-directed Getting to Our Place (1999), establishing Te Papa Tongarewa. 

Cottrell - who has been a Board member of Women In Film and Television - told The Big Idea "Any acknowledgement of our work in the media and the creative sector is a boost for all of us, not just me. At this time of austerity a functioning media and a focus on the creative sector is vital to our understanding of the world and our country, Aotearoa.

"I work with a team...films crews, editors, graphic designers, musicians who chase the story with me. I have been so privileged in my long years of working for TV to be able to keep doing what I love...helping people tell their stories. There have been wonderful trips to China, South Africa (during the apartheid years,) Sri Lanka, Iran... reporting on the lives of others. Such a privilege.

"From years as a news reporter, current affairs director and later making documentaries - it is the story and people that matter. And I couldn't do any of it without the team.

"I am distressed by cuts to RNZ's budget, the loss of Newshub and news programmes and current affairs on TVNZ and the haemorrhaging of wonderful investigative journalists who do a vital job in any democracy.

"This honour is not just for me. It is for the teams I work with and the wonderful brave people, interviewees many from diverse ethnic backgrounds, who let us into their lives." 

One of New Zealand's most successful ex-pat contemporary artists is also now a MNZM - with Simon Denny rewarded for services to art.

Based in Germany, Denny's a busy man - preparing two shows and a conference in the next three weeks. One in Berlin with brand new work from a series he will show at Michael Lett Gallery in September, and another in Brussels with Nicolaus Schafhausen - who opened the door to his German career after seeing his work at the Govett Brewster in 2006.

His career has been a stellar one - selected both for the main curated exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2013) and for the NZ Pavilion (2015), with his Secret Power project then acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and for New Zealand’s national collection at Te Papa. 

The Baloise Prize winner from the 2012 Art Basel festival has work displayed in collections across New Zealand, Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom.

"I think the irony of the honour is that it reminds me of how collective the art community - and the making of art is," Denny told The Big Idea. 

"Although it is in my name, to me it makes me think of all those who have been part of the discursive life of art that I have worked alongside - from my family to my artist peers, galleries and gallerists, publishing and journalists, museums, curators and directors, schools, programs and institutions."

Janet Lilo's MNZM is for the same purpose - services to the arts.

Lilo (Te Rarawa) is another globe-trotting, award-winning artist, educator and advocate for Pacific and rainbow arts and communities. 

She's held arts residencies in Japan, China, New Caledonia, France, Hawaii and Aotearoa - and her work has been shown at Auckland Art Gallery, Te Papa and Christchurch Art Gallery as well as in Asia, Europe, the United States and across the Pacific. 

As well as a creative, she's a leader within the community - having served on and chaired the Board of Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, being founding director of interdisciplinary arts organisation Whau the People, leading All Goods community gallery in Avondale and nurturing the next generation of artists.

The former Creative NZ Contemporary Pacific Arts Award winner told The Big Idea "Receiving an honour at a time where resilience has been a huge struggle is very humbling. The creative communities work tirelessly to exist and I feel very lucky to represent even a sliver of that praise deserving of the arts sector in Aotearoa."

Morrin Rout has been a passionate advocate for the sector for more than 30 years - and now has a MNZM to celebrate her service to the arts, particularly literature.

Rout help establish the Christchurch Writers Festival from its inception in 1997 until 2012 as a co-programme director, helped set up and worked as Director for the Hagley Writers' Institute, was a Judge for the Montana Book Awards, and was part of Creative NZ's Literary Assessment and Prime Minister’s Literary Awards panels. Rout also was a founding member of the Lombardy Trust which ran a biennial ‘Sculpture on the Peninsula’ festival for 20 years.

Her broadcasting skills have been just as impactful - working on Plains FM and RNZ to review books and champion both established and emerging writers, poets and playwrights. 

Rout told The Big Idea "It’s been such a privilege spending my time reading books and talking with writers. They are really the ones who deserve to be celebrated. They not only tell our stories in so many diverse ways but they help us find our place in this unsettled and unsettling world."

There's little in the broadcasting world Louise Wallace hasn't done - paving the way to her MNZM for services to the entertainment industry.

From an award-winning news presenter to game show host, actress, radio host and reality TV star - Wallace has been prolific since entering the sector in 1989.

She's also taken on producing and directing roles, working on a total of 42 television shows and films. 

Wallace also co-founded Tadpole Theatre Productions in 2012 to provide opportunities for Auckland’s actors and mentoring young talent for live theatre. Tadpole produces two plays annually at Takapuna's Pumphouse Theatre  -reaching a cumulative audience of around 34,000, with Wallace providing financial support to ensure productions were staged.

"Well, I’m blown away of course and - for once - full of humility," Wallace told The Big Idea. 

"But as we know, an award like this comes from working with amazing, supportive people and I’ve been so lucky in that regard. Add to that two things: My career has never been a chore but a joy; as a huge fan of the Monarchy, it’s a wonderful privilege to receive a Kings Honour. 

"All those in the creative community know that choosing a career in this field involves passion not payment, but without the arts - a community is soulless."

Designer Trish Gregory is soaking in her MNZM for services to the fashion industry.

It's been a decorated career, starting with a small boutique in Timaru and going on to collect four New Zealand Fashion Design Awards in the early 70s, becoming the first New Zealand fashion designer to receive a prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Award, a place at the Royal College of Art then interning at Vogue Magazine.

Gregory's most noted impact was her ‘High Fashion in a Kitset’ concept that made high-end fashion accessible to women across NZ and Australia, allowing sewers to craft professionally designed pre-cut garments at home. 

It earned her the New Zealand Industrial Design Council's Designmark Award - the first clothing manufacturer to do so - and saw her business become the largest all-women company in the country in 1985.

Gregory - whose garments are displayed at Te Papa - told The Big Idea "I’m absolutely delighted to have received this honour, which I will wear with pride. For me, it also reflects on the great team that stood by me as I set out on my journey as an aspiring entrepreneur.

"My story is ultimately about vision realised through persistent innovation, and this recognition in the King's Birthday Honours reflects not just personal achievement but an acknowledgment of design's potential to serve broader social purposes.

"In an industry often criticised for superficiality, my career demonstrates that design can be simultaneously beautiful, accessible, sustainable, and meaningful. These are principles that remain deeply relevant for today's contemporary designers as they face the challenges of the modern business world."

King's Service Medal

As well those achieving nationally and internationally - the honours think local too. The King's Service Medal (KSM) spotlights those doing great work in their region.

Eddie Eeles is recognised for services to pipe bands after an award-winning career dating back to 1953 - having led the Auckland and District Pipe Band. He led the band to eight wins at the New Zealand Championships, and as President of the Auckland Police Pipe Band, Eeles has led them on numerous overseas tours for Military Tattoos and World Championships.

Zora Feilo's KSM comes for services to the Niue community and the arts as a founding member of the Tupumaiaga a Niue Trust, which provides contemporary arts programmes to the community. Among the published author and curator's many accolades; the CNZ Heritage Arts Award for the group she co-founded, Fisipua Niue and Pacific Dance's Artist in Residence Award. 

Butch Green's (Ngāti Porou) services to music earned him his KSM nod - more than three decades as a musician and swing band leader in Christchurch. The musical director of multi-generational Sideline Swing since 1994, Green's also a founding member of the Christchurch Big Band Festival.

A KSM for services to the arts and the Taranaki community to Heidi Griffin as well. A former chair of the Taranaki Arts Trail, Griffin set up and runs the Gover Street Gallery, a non-profit community art gallery that hosts events from poetry nights to book launches, workshops and fundraising auctions.

Audrey Mattinson has received the KSM for services to Scottish Country Dancing and the Rangiora community for more than 30 years. Tutoring three clubs in the Canterbury region, Mattinson is a Life Member of the Rangiora Scottish Country Dance Club and a member of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society NZ branch for more than 50 years. 

Services to Māori art and music is cited for Clem Mellish's (Ngāpuhi) KSM - he has Māori traditional instruments. The 2016 Marlborough Living Cultural Treasure Award winner, Mellish has worked as an expert stone carver since the 1980s, specialising in the creation of taonga pūoro. He's a founding member of the group Haumanu  and his carvings are exhibited at the likes of the British Museum, London, and Te Papa. 

Alison Perrin KSM is being celebrated for services to the community and music. A qualified piano teacher and Trustee for the New Zealand Aria Trust, she is involved locally with the Institute of Registered Music Teachers’ Association and has been the Convenor of Trinity College Music Exams in Rotorua for over 30 years.

And Jackie Watson has been recognised for services to the community and the arts. A member of the Waimakariri Community Arts Council, a founding member of the Kaiapoi Art Expo and Chair of the Waimakariri Public Arts Trust - Watson's heavily involved in ensuring creativity is promoted, including publicly available at Art on the Quay.

Creative adjacent honours

A number of those who contribute to the creative community in Aotearoa have been honoured - but largely for their efforts in other elements of society.

New Dame Ranjna Patel - receiving her honour for services to ethnic communities, health and family violence prevention - also has a connection to the arts world, as the Chair of Indian Ink Theatre Company - and freshly minted Knight Sir Brendan Lindsay (for services to business and philanthropy) is a foundation partner of The Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata in Le Quesnoy. 

Bill Nathan - CNZM for services to Māori - has co-led Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club for the past six decades, cited for facilitated participation of Māori cultural groups in various international cultural festivals.

Wayne Wright joins his late wife Chloe on ONZM status for services to education and philanthropy, with the Wright Family Foundation contributing to many arts causes that involve rangatahi.

Meleua Ikiua was made a MZNM for services to Vagahau Niue language and education, including her role in Niue’s participation in the Polyfest cultural festival and establishing the Tokiofa Arts Academy - the world’s first Niue Performing Arts Academy, offering a platform for Tagata Niue to experience and celebrate their culture through music, dance, and theatre. 

Suzanne McFadden (Tainui, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Pū) has mentored many young journalists through her storied career and is recognised with a MNZM for services to sports journalism and women. 

Allyson Hamblett's KSM for services to people with disabilities and the transgender community has been involved with Māpura Studio since 2002 - which provides creative programmes to marginalised and diverse peoples - first an exhibited artist and now its Disability Advisor.

Fergus More (KSM for services to the community and the law) has served on the board of the Invercargill Musical Theatre Society among his many accomplishments.

And Yuanyong Yang's KSM for services to bonsai and the Chinese community has included fundraising for the Whau Art Festival and founding the Auckland Bonsai/Penjing Art Centre Trust, which has promoted bonsai art and organised numerous exhibitions, events, and workshops.