Speech
Investiture for Sir Paul Holmes KNZM
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Welcome
Kia ora koutou, nga mihi māhana ki a koutou. Ladies and gentlemen, I extend a warm greeting to you all.
I specifically acknowledge: Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister, and Mr David Shearer, Leader of the Opposition - tēnā korua.
It is a great pleasure for Janine and me to welcome you all to this special investiture in the Hawke’s Bay for Sir Paul Holmes. More usually, we would be welcoming you at Government House, either in Wellington or Auckland. Today, by special arrangement we mark the occasion here, and in doing so thank Sir Paul and Lady Deborah Holmes for sharing their home for this ceremony.
Ladies and gentlemen, as Governor-General, I have the authority and privilege, on behalf of Her Majesty, The Queen of New Zealand, to hold an Investiture for her and to confer the honour of a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit on Paul Scott Holmes of Hastings.
Sir Paul, you have rendered exceptional service to New Zealand, and therefore to the Crown. Accordingly, it is appropriate that your contribution is recognised today.
Ladies and gentlemen, as Sir Paul is honoured, I invite you to join me in acknowledging, thanking and congratulating him for his service to our country.
Mr Niels Holm, Official Secretary at Government House, will now summons Sir Paul Holmes and read the citation for this investiture.
Citation:
To receive the honour of knighthood and the Insignia of a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
Sir Paul Scott Holmes, of Hastings, for services to broadcasting and the community.
Sir Paul is one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent broadcasters, and is among the most recognisable faces and voices in New Zealand television and radio.
He began his career on radio in Christchurch in 1972 on 3ZM, before heading overseas to work in radio in Australia and Europe for eight years. He returned to New Zealand in 1985, doing morning talk-back at Wellington’s 2ZB.
Two years later in 1987, he took over as breakfast host of 1ZB in Auckland, fronting a controversial change in format from community radio to news and talk-back. Ratings initially tumbled, but within two years the show gradually rose to be number one, establishing Sir Paul as an innovative broadcaster in this style of programme.
In 1989, Sir Paul became part of the younger, new-look revamp of Television New Zealand's prime-time news. A gifted interviewer, his nightly programme, simply entitled Holmes, analysed news items in depth and became a New Zealand television fixture. For the next 15 years, he worked in the morning at Newstalk ZB, and then on a series of current affairs television programmes in the evening, including a brief period with Prime Television. In 2009 he returned to TVNZ, hosting Q & A, a current affairs talk and comment programme, and reduced his commitment to talk-back radio to a weekly show.
Sir Paul has demonstrated many other talents. As a student at Victoria University and President of the University Drama Society he acted alongside Sam Neill, Ginette McDonald and John Clarke, and has appeared in several television dramas. In 2000 he released a CD of songs, and in 2006 he was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. He is a columnist for The New Zealand Herald, and an accomplished author, publishing his autobiography in 1999, and in 2011 his best-selling book on the 1979 Air New Zealand crash in Antarctica, Daughters of Erebus.
Sir Paul has used his high profile to support numerous charities. He has been a valued fundraiser and spokesman for many causes, including as Ambassador of the Stellar Trust and as Patron of Paralympics New Zealand.
Concluding remarks
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, the New Zealand Order of Merit was established by Royal Warrant in 1996 to recognise those “who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and the nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions, or other merits”.
Each year a few New Zealanders are made Dames or Knights Companion within the Order. The accolade is one of our nation’s highest honours, and is awarded those who have demonstrated a sustained commitment and are recognised by the Queen, and their peers, as having made a pre-eminent contribution at a national or international level. Those criteria are neatly summarised in the Māori motto of the Order: Tohu Hiranga - “the sign of excellence”.
Sir Paul, you join a small group of New Zealanders who have been recognised as having made a pre-eminent contribution to our country, and its people. You have achieved excellence in broadcasting and helped in your community, and you have done those things in your own very individual way. You once described yourself as a lifelong rebel against those who were frightened of openness, colour and expressions of passion and individuality.
Throughout your long and varied career that includes work on the stage, on television and radio, and in the printed word, you have celebrated the colourful, the passionate and the expressive side of our national psyche. You have asked hard questions of politicians, bureaucrats and celebrities. And you have told the stories of everyday New Zealanders as they celebrated the good times, and grieved in the sad times. As you said at the close of your nightly programme for 15 years: "Those were our people today, that's Holmes tonight."
Sir Paul, your achievements and commitment to your work as a broadcaster and supporter of community initiatives have brought us together here today. Your legacy to New Zealand broadcasting, as a pioneer - in talk-back radio, and in news and current affairs on television - is considerable. You are man of many talents, skills and endeavours whom we acknowledge and celebrate today.
On behalf of Her Majesty The Queen of New Zealand, and on behalf of all New Zealanders, I congratulate you on receiving this high honour. Kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui huihui tātou katoa.