Tufuga Lagatule
Tufuga Lagatule, of Christchurch, received the Insignia of an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services the Pacific Island community and women, on 4 September 2008. She is an elder of the New Zealand Presbyterian Pacific Island Council, a member of the Board of the Pacific Trust Canterbury, and was instrumental in forming the Pacific Reference Group for the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and the Strong Pasifika Families Project. She has also been a cultural advisor to the Ministry of Social Development and Child, Youth and Family on issues faced by the Pacific Islands community. Mrs Lagatule was the Pacific Representative on the District Parole Board for 17 years and the Pacific Liaison Officer for the Canterbury region for Statistics New Zealand.