Mr Patrick O’Connor, of Christchurch, MNZM, for services to migrant communities and education
Patrick O’Connor helped found the Pasifika Education and Employment Training Organisation (PEETO) and has been its director for the past 28 years. He currently leads the PEETO Multi-Cultural Trust. He helps to organise and operate numerous English language classes for new Christchurch arrivals. He has also sat on a number of national and regional advisory groups, including the Christchurch Mayor’s Working Group for the development of the Christchurch Multicultural Strategy 2017, the Christchurch Refugee and Migrant Board, the New Zealand Ethnic Council, the Advisory Group on Adult ESOL Strategy, and the Ministerial Advisory Group on Refugees and Resettlement. Mr O’Connor helped establish the Christchurch Intercultural Assembly.