Knights and Dames: Will they accept or decline?

Top: Colin Meads, Pauline O'Regan, Russell Coutts. Bottom: Jenny Shipley, Sam Neill, George Fistonich. Photos / Herald on Sunday, Chch Star, Paul Estcourt, Kenny Rodger

Eighty-five eminent New Zealanders now have the choice of accepting or rejecting the title of Sir or Dame, after the Government reinstated titular honours.

Most of those contacted were undecided, but some were leaning towards yes, while one was adamant - no.

Team New Zealand may find itself racing Sir Russell Coutts and children may soon be reading books by Dame Lynley Dodd.

But before he decides whether he will become Sir Colin, rugby great Colin Meads needs to discuss it with his wife.

All these people will have the option of becoming an instant Sir or Dame after Prime Minister John Key announced yesterday he would scrap changes made by Labour to the New Zealand honours system.

Most of those spoken to by the Herald were coy about whether they would accept a title.

Meads said: "My wife [Verna] is in hospital and we will have to discuss it ... it's come out of the blue.

"We are New Zealanders, but the people who have been recognised have included some marvellous people."

In 2000, the then Labour Government dropped the titles of Knight and Dame Grand Companion (GNZM) and Knight and Dame Companion (KNZM/DNZM) and began naming people Principal and Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit instead.

Mr Key said that to be fair to those honoured under Labour's system - a group that includes Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall, Fonterra chairman Henry Van Der Heyden, former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and Maori author Patricia Grace - each would have the choice of keeping their existing honour or taking up a title.

"In effect the New Zealand honours system will revert to the system that was in place between 1996 and 2000," he said.

Those recipients who have since passed away, however, will not be eligible to receive their title.

Instead, a recipient's widow will have the option of accepting the given title: lady.

Mr Key said the Queen had given her informal approval to the change when he met her late last year.

But Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, and at least one of those who are in line for a title, said the Government should be focusing its attention on the economic crisis.

"We should celebrate outstanding New Zealanders as New Zealanders rather than as part of an outgrown relationship with the British Empire," Ms Fitzsimons said. "We're surprised at the priority this topic has received when the country faces an economic and environmental crisis."

She was not alone. Sister Pauline O'Regan, the 86-year-old former principal of Christchurch's prestigious Villa Maria College, said she would be refusing the offer for a new title when the letter arrived in June.

"My first reaction was I can't believe the Government is tinkering around with this kind of thing when the world's teetering on the verge of economic collapse. It just blows me away, to be honest," she said.

Sister O'Regan became a distinguished companion of the NZ Order of Merit in 2001 for her services to education and the community.

Reacting to the criticism from Ms Fitzsimons, a spokeswoman for Mr Key said the Government was focused on the economic situation but that did not mean it could not do other things.

He denied the return to titles would take New Zealand back to its colonial past. "It's my view that it's inevitable that one day New Zealand will become a republic but it's not something on the work programme of this Government.

"The Government is making these changes because it believes reinstatement of knighthoods and damehoods are a visible sign of celebrating success for a lifetime of service and achievement."

Mr Key is encouraging people honoured under Labour's system to say yes or no to a title in time for the Queen's Birthday honours in June, when the new system takes effect. The Order of New Zealand, a separate honour limited to 20 living New Zealanders which doesn't come with a title, will not be affected.

The right of using the title Sir or Dame will only extend to the living, but the families of two deceased Distinguished Companions believe the titles should still be given.

Olive Hutchins, widow of Fiordland conservationist and tourism pioneer Leslie Hutchins, said: "I know that he would've loved it. We would love to see it on his tombstone.

"He earned it - Sir. I wouldn't like the lady bit, but I know how hard he worked and he really did deserve it."

Mrs Hutchins will be allowed to use the title Lady.

The son of aviation pioneer Oswald George James said his father would have "been rapt about it".

Grant James said: "He would've loved it. It was something he was quite angry about under the Labour Government. He would've been happy as hell.

"He had a poor upbringing and worked hard for it [the Sir title] but didn't get it - he was robbed of it."

Several recipients suggested the recognition would help New Zealand's image abroad. Professor Peter Gluckman, founding director of the Liggins Institute and one of New Zealand's best-known scientists, pointed out that a title was of value in terms of gaining recognition when working overseas.

"I do a lot of work in Asia, Europe, the States ... and there is no doubt that overt evidence of competency is to New Zealand's advantage."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Lincoln Tan, Wayne Thompson, Vaimoana Tapaleao