King’s Birthday Honours 2026: All the Bay of Plenty honourees

Dr Reuben Tuwhakahekeao Collier MNZM, Rotorua, for services to Māori and education.

Collier (Horouta, Mātaatua, Te Arawa, Tainui) is a nationally recognised custodian of Māori war commemoration.

He has provided strategic guidance to iwi, the New Zealand Defence Force, Crown institutions and international partners on taonga and legacies of national importance, and is regularly sought for his expertise for the staging of nationally significant events.

He has represented New Zealand internationally as a cultural and historical authority through engagement with international archives.His academic contributions include developing how indigenous research, creative scholarship and mātauranga Māori operate within tertiary education.

Collier was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2017 for his services to the television industry and Māori.

He was awarded the Pou Aronui Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2025 for his contributions to the humanities.

Russell George Lowe, Te Puke, for services to horticulture and the kiwifruit industry.

Lowe pioneered significant innovations in the kiwifruit industry during his more than 51 years working with the Department of Scientific Industrial Research and Crown Research Institutes.

Lowe was integral to the selection of the Hort16A vine and its polleniser cultivars, which would create the first Zespri Gold kiwifruit.

The strain has garnered more than $3 billion in export earnings during its lifetime.

He led the creation of the cultivar known as Zespri SunGold after commercial crops of Hort16A were wiped out by the disease Psa in 2010. He was involved in the selection of the rootstocks which allowed SunGold to grow in a wider range of places.

Zespri SunGold now accounts for 60% of all kiwifruit orchards in New Zealand, with 127.6 million trays exported in 2025, earning $2.2 billion annually.

He also led the development of Zespri RubyRed, which was approved for commercial release in 2019.

More than two out of every three kiwifruit exported in New Zealand come from Lowe’s cultivars.

Industry recognition of his work included the Hayward Medal in 2012.

Dr Mark Robert Fraundorfer, Mount Maunganui, for services to health, particularly men’s health.

Fraundorfer, head of the urology department at Tauranga Hospital, has substantially contributed to urology and men’s health.

He has advanced surgical practice in urology by pioneering minimally invasive techniques that have now become standard practice in New Zealand and worldwide.

He has advocated for the reduction of stigma around men’s health issues and promoted early detection of many men’s health conditions.

He has voluntarily run education seminars, held free men’s health clinics, and has contributed to public policy discussions aiming to reduce health inequities.

He is a dive instructor and developed the first commercial dive training school in Tauranga.

Fraundorfer was the medical adviser to the New Zealand Underwater Association, and investigated more than 120 fatalities as its accident investigator.

He instigated and led the development and funding of the independent radiation oncology service Kathleen Kilgour Centre in Tauranga.

Janice Kuka, Welcome Bay, for services to Māori health.

Kuka (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) has been a leading figure and advocate for Māori healthcare in New Zealand for more than 40 years.

She was involved in the kohanga reo movement and, through her role as a social worker in Tauranga Hospital, contributed to the establishment of kaupapa Māori services within the hospital in 1989.

Her contributions in this area led to the creation of Māori nursing wards and mental health services.

In 2010, she became managing director of Māori Primary Health Organisation (PHO) Ngā Mataapuna Oranga, which provides healthcare, social services, and cultural support to about 30,000 people and operates four GP clinics with more than 12,500 enrolled patients.

She expanded access to care by developing mobile clinics to deliver health services across the Western Bay of Plenty.

She is a member ofthe Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, and chairs Turuki Health Care, Te Manu Toroa, and Pirirākau Hauora, where she advocates for Māori-led health services and self-determination to improve Māori health outcomes.

Kuka has contributed to Waitangi Tribunal inquiries, representing Māori PHOs and advocating for Māori-led healthcare.

Warwick Kenneth Wilshier, Whakatāne, for services to the road freight industry.

Wilshier has been a log truck operator for more than 44 yers, and has increased the safety standards of log transport nationally through governance and advocacy.

From one truck in 1982, he grew his operation into one of New Zealand’s largest log truck fleets, with more than 150 vehicles.

In 1985, he joined the New Zealand Road Transport Association and was appointed the Region 2 representative on the Road Transport Forum in 2018.

He was a founding member of the New Zealand Log Transport Safety Council in 1996.

He advocated for increasing log truck trailer lengths to 22 metres, allowing for lower loads and much safer vehicles.

He led the development of new vehicle designs and driver education.

When his 25 years as chairman of the council ended in 2025, log truck rollovers had reduced from 2.4 per million kilometres to 0.3.

He was appointed chairman of the Road Transport Forum, and was chairman of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand from 2021 to 2024.

Wilshier was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2022.

Ian John Blunt, Ōmokoroa, for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.

Ōmokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Ian Blunt has contributed more than 40 years to community service and leadership.

Blunt joined the brigade in 1984 and was made chief fire officer in 2002.

He has played a key role in regional emergency preparedness and inter-agency co-operation by forging effective partnerships between Fire and Emergency, St John, Coastguard, and Bay of Plenty organisations.

In 2015, he pioneered the establishment of New Zealand’s first dedicated Medical First Response Unit staffed solely by medical responders, separate from the firefighting team.

Blunt is a long-time member, chairman and course superintendent of the Ōmokoroa Golf Club, and has used his own equipment and time to improve club facilities.

He has been involved with the Ōmokoroa Boat Club since the early 1980s, serving as commodore and ensuring ongoing emergency response collaboration.

Blunt has been involved in Ōmokoroa Point School fundraisers as a member of the Parent Teacher Association.

Kathleen Margaret (Kathy) Webb, Tauranga, for services to the community.

Webb has contributed substantially to community service organisations locally in Tauranga and nationally.

In 1988, Webb was part of the group that chartered the Tauranga Zonta Club.

In 2012, she co-founded SociaLink, an organisation that supports the community sector with training, development and advocacy.

During her decade with SociaLink, she grew the organisation into one of the largest regional bodies of its kind in New Zealand.

She was trustee and board chairwoman of Alzheimer’s Tauranga, and was awarded honorary life membership in 2017. In 2018, she became a board member for Alzheimer’s New Zealand.

She was a board member for the Graeme Dingle Foundation from 2012 to 2016.

She joined the Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise in 2011 and is currently secretary.

Webb is also the chairwoman of Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support, leading a network of 14,500 homes.