Wairarapa in the honours

Masterton artist Robin White heads the Wairarapa Queen’s Birthday honours list, one of only four people in the country to be made Distinguished Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit. She is currently attending a Bahai’i convention in Tuvalu in the Pacific Islands. White moved to Masterton in 1999 with her husband and children after living on Kiribati for 17 years.

Former Masterton district councillor and Justice of the Peace Kenneth Wilton was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his work for the community. Mr Wilton, a retired chartered accountant, was active in local body politics for about 10 years, served as a Justice of the Peace for 17 years and has had a long involvement in swimming clubs, both in Masterton and at a national level.

Masterton army Major Tony Downey has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his work in East Timor. Major Downey served with the NZ Army Logistics regiment and spent part of last year supervising the winding-up of the New Zealand Defence Forces role in East Timor.
Top of the honours list were former prime minister David Lange – currently recovering from an infection linked to a rare blood disorder – and scientist William Pickering who have joined the elite list of members of the order of New Zealand.

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