Mrs Melony O’Connor, MNZM, of Lower Hutt, for services to basketball
Melony O’Connor (Ngāti Porou) has contributed to basketball for 40 years, 20 of these refereeing in the Men’s National Basketball League (NBL). She is the first woman to officiate 400 NBL games. She has refereed nine NBL finals. She is the only Level One (highest attainment) female official on the National Referees Panel, officiating NBL and Women’s National League games. She has qualified as a Scoretable Official and Commissioner for FIBA (International Basketball Body). She is a Referee Development Manager with Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ). Mrs O’Connor is the BBNZ representative with Māori Basketball New Zealand and works with iwi to develop referees for their National Tournament.