Mr David Higgins, ONZM of Palmerston, for services to Māori.
Mr Higgins is Upoko Runanga for Moeraki and the former Moeraki representative on Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu. As the Arowhenua Board member of the Ngai Tahu Māori Trust Board, he gathered and presented much of the fisheries evidence presented to the Waitangi Tribunal as part of the Ngai Tahu claim. He helped lead the Ngai Tahu Fishing Company, was Pou Kura Taiao for the Department of Conservation’s Canterbury Conservancy, and helped establish the Ngai Tahu Cultural Mapping project. He is a member of the Ngai Tahu Fund Komiti, is a past member of the Ngai Tahu Contracts Review Komiti, and was a Trustee and Chair of the historic Kaiapoi Pa Trust. Mr Higgins is a member of the Runanga Education Komiti and an education advisor to North Otago schools.