Taylor honoured with Mad Butcher

Six knights and a dame, including a Mad Butcher, an All Blacks legend and an Oscar-winning film-maker, have joined New Zealand's honoured elite.

Richard Taylor, Peter Leitch, Fred Allen, David Levene, Graeme Douglas, Justice John Williams and Temuranga (June) Jackson have topped the Queen's Birthday honours announced today. In all, 172 people have received honours, including a rugby referee, a marching girl, a poet and a politician.

Weta Workshop director Sir Richard is promoted to a knighthood after being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003. He has been involved in making some of the world's most successful movies including the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Avatar. His latest award "probably" surpassed his five Oscars, he said.

"It's very hard to judge, to be honest. Oscars are recognition from your industry peers for work on a specific project, while a knighthood is recognition from the country in which you live. They both mean a great deal to me. It's all very overwhelming."

He has been involved in the movie business for about 25 years, but doesn't plan to slow down. "I still have the same passion – that's one thing I can absolutely say.

"Somehow I have managed to turn a hobby into a career, which has opened the door to a wonderful array of cool jobs with some really cool people."

Sir Peter, a loud and proud high-profile Wellington-born butcher, says his knighthood is not just for him. It is also for everyone that had supported him. Just don't call him sir.

"Mate, mate, don't be stupid. Do you think I have me head up me arse, mate? I won't be using it, it's just there," said the man who started the Mad Butcher chain more than 40 years ago in Mangere, South Auckland.

Former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. She was first elected to Parliament in 1996 and is believed to have been the first Green candidate in the world to win an electorate seat when she won Coromandel in 1999.

Her Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act was the first Green legislation passed in New Zealand. She left Parliament in February and is currently in Britain.

Poet Sam Hunt and Kathmandu outdoor chain founder Jan Cameron were also made Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and Dominion Post photographer John Selkirk is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

- © Fairfax NZ News