Ms Helen Whittaker, QSM, of Whangārei, for services to art and the community
Helen Whittaker has been a dedicated volunteer with the Hundertwasser Arts Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery in Whangārei for five years. Together with her husband, she began fundraising efforts to help the Whangārei and Northland community, beginning with co-ordinating the raising of $22.5 million for the building of the Hundertwasser Art Centre and painting a mural along the front fence of the Whangārei Primary School. She raised more than $500,000 to restore Hundertwasser’s former 1,000-acre property in the Bay of Islands. With a background in law, Ms Whittaker has helped several organisations with fundraising efforts and legal advice.