KEY POINTS:
By CHRIS DANIELS
Lifetimes of work in aviation, music, tourism and agriculture dominate the business leaders recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
An aviation pioneer, Oswald "Ossie" James, has been made a distinguished companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
In 1936 James went along to the Air Force office
in Gisborne, where he was told he was not smart enough to fly.
He formed his first company, the aerial topdressing company James Aviation in 1949, with two Tiger Moth aircraft.
He eventually went on to build a business empire controlling 23 companies in Australia and New Zealand.
He introduced the first helicopters into New Zealand in 1949 and converted wartime DC3 aircraft into topdressing planes.
Companion of the NZ Order of Merit
* William McArthur, for his services to business, education and the community.
He established the MacArthur Group of companies in 1966 and had built up a significant employer group in the Waikato.
He has spent five years on the Waikato Technology Foundation and the Business to Hamilton Foundation.
Officer of the NZ Order of Merit
* Wally Stone, chairman of the Tourism Board and chief executive of Whale Watch Kaikoura since 1993. Stone helped establish Kaikoura as one of the country's most popular tourist destinations and was deputy chairman of Ngai Tahu Development Corporation.
* Brian Lynch, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association from 1992 to 2003. Lynch was a diplomat for most of his career, with roles including the Deputy High Commissioner to Singapore and the UK, and Deputy Secretary for Transport in the 1980s.
* Queenstown man Morris Walker, for his services to aviation and industry. He is credited with establishing Omarama as an international gliding centre and also established and ran a large engineering business.
* Tauranga businessman Robert Jeffrey, for services to agriculture and exports. Jeffrey has been involved in both the pork and dairy sectors over the past 50 years.
Jeffrey spent 12 years on the Pork Industry Board and has encouraged commercial opportunities for Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty, particularly in Asia.
Member of the NZ Order of Merit
* One of the instrumental promoters of the large-scale development of farming on the East Coast honoured this weekend is John Bayly, chairman of rural services company Williams & Kettle.
* Auckland man Eldred Stebbing, founder of Stebbing Recording Studios. Stebbing helped establish some of New Zealand's great entertainers, such as Ray Columbus, Ray Woolf and Sir Howard Morrison.
Herald Feature: Honoured New Zealanders