Environment Court Commissioner, and now Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Kevin Prime at the family’s Te Pekanga ("Stop-off Place") in Moerewa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Environment Court Commissioner, and now Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Kevin Prime at the family’s Te Pekanga ("Stop-off Place") in Moerewa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Such is Kevin Prime’s humility, he didn’t realise he had received one of New Zealand’s highest honours until the Advocate came calling at the Moerewa hideaway where he does much of his work safeguarding the nation’s environment.
When he received the official notification he assumed it was just a change of an earlier honour, awarded in 2016, from Queen’s Honours to King’s Honours and thought little more of it.
In fact, Prime had been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for more than half a century of service to Māori, the environment and health.
The 79-year-old from Motatau, south of Kawakawa, was reluctant to accept his previous honour but bowed to the wishes of his whānau and Ngāti Hine, when they made it clear it was recognition not just for him but for all his iwi.
“So just like last time, I thought it was better to carry on with life... and accept it.
Prime attributed his achievements to the support he had received from many people over many years.
“You might have the big ideas on how to do something, but it’s really the people who come in, support it and make things happen.”
That went right back to his early days of holding meetings at the back of his tool shed at Motatau, when family members made sure there was kai for the attendees and helped write up the minutes, with the kids roped in to lick the stamps and send out letters.
Decades of service on school boards, health organisations and conservation committees culminated in his current work as an Environment Court Commissioner. Since 2021, he has also been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.
Environment Court Commissioner Kevin Prime, of Motatau, has been named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, one of New Zealand’s highest honours. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The reason he became involved in committees in the first place was simple, he said.
“I was probably the one who could speak and write English the best so I’d end up being the secretary. In most communities in those days, people spoke Māori most of the time. That’s long gone.”
Prime’s lifelong interest in the environment led to his appointment to Northland’s conservation board.
Among the stacks of scientific papers he had to read every week was one that really caught his attention - a report stating the kukupa, or native pigeon, was functionally extinct in Northland because the birds were being killed by predators faster than they could breed.
“So I thought I’d do something about it. I started a programme to bring them back, with research and intensive pest control.”
The change was immediate, with kukupa numbers increasing after just one year of pest control at Motatau. Where previously locals had seen two or three birds at a time, within a few years they were counting flocks of 30.
The latest honour would not change him, he said.
“These aren’t the sort of things you chase after. They just seem to happen. I’m still the same person as I was yesterday.”
Prime (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whatua, Tainui) was described by his iwi as “a true rangatira, humble, honourable, hard-working, wise, courageous and a servant of the people”. He was also a dedicated family man with 13 children and 35 mokopuna.
His official citation stated he had contributed to Māoridom for more than 50 years and has been a distinguished official for various Crown entities for 40 years.
Past honours included being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2016 and a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1991.
He was one of the original writers of the Resource Management Act (RMA) in 1991 and was appointed an expert panelist for the Government’s review of the RMA in 2019.
In the early 1990s he was the founding secretary of Ngāti Hine Health Trust, which is now one of Northland’s largest employers. He was made a life patron in 2019.
He has been a Commissioner of the Environment Court since 2003, is vice chairman of the conservation fund Ngā Whenua Rāhui, and is a past chairman and current kaumātua of Foundation North.
Since 2015 he has served on the board of the Bio Heritage National Science Challenge, an initiative seeking solutions to the kauri dieback disease threatening Northland’s native forests.
