'Sirs' go way of swords and armour

By JENNY FORSYTH

There is nothing like a dame - or so the musical says.

But for political respectability as well as medal ranking, the Order of New Zealand is the title to beat all others.

Only 20 living New Zealanders can hold it at one time, and while it ranks above the five New Zealand Orders of Merit, it dispenses with the "Sir" and "Dame" titles a knighthood brings.

In other words, it is the acceptable badge of honour for anyone who has objected to the traditional royalty and class-driven knighthood.

And as we enter the new millennium, there seem to be plenty of worthy Kiwis unwilling to be called "Sir" or "Dame."

The top honour, won this year by Mike Moore, ranks above the New Zealand Order of Merit (NZM). The merit order has five levels - Knights and Dames Grand Companions, Knights and Dames Companions, Companions, Officers and Members. The top two NZM levels carry the titles of "Sir" and "Dame" - but ONZ winners skip the honorific.

Mike Moore, who helped to initiate the purely New Zealand ONZ, is doubtless happier as "Mr" than he would be as "Sir." The same goes for retired unionist Ken Douglas, who happily uses ONZ on his business cards, having previously rejected other honours.

And there is Jim Bolger, another Order of New Zealand recipient, who wanted to scrap knighthoods altogether.

And, no, Prime Minister Helen Clark would not accept a damehood.

Indeed, as New Zealand enters a new millennium, she says the New Year's and Queen's Birthday Honours are on shaky ground.

"New Zealand honours are appropriate, but I'd be surprised if we have them in the current form in 20 years' time. I certainly wouldn't be happy to be a dame.

"I support a system of community recognition, but unfortunately the honours tend to be very hierarchical. People who have genuinely toiled at a community level are generally placed well down the list. Successful people tend to be at the top."

The argument over whether the "great" or the "good" should get the gong is ongoing.

So, too, is the debate, last rekindled in 1996, about whether New Zealanders need the royal stamp of approval.

Republican Philip Burdon, who chaired the honours committee for the Bolger Government, would like to have seen honorifics scrapped. He is another who would not accept a knighthood.

"I'm sure the honours are more broadly accepted now. Titles like OBE were seen to be a wee bit anachronistic.

"But nothing's set in concrete. It might be that New Zealand eventually follows Australia and Canada and scraps the titles. They don't sit easily with New Zealand's identity and uniqueness."

What New Zealanders eventually decided on after the 1996 debate was a halfway measure. The British orders - OBE, MBE and CBE - were scrapped along with British State Orders of Chivalry, such as the Order of the Bath and the Order of St Michael and St George.

The compromise was a relief to traditionalists like Sir Douglas Graham, Minister of Justice at the time, and Simon Upton, who was Minister for the Environment. Both had argued strongly for retention of titles.

"Despite the rather quaint, even obsolete terminology, the fact is it is a form of tradition in a young country rather light on tradition," said Sir Douglas, who must have taken his knighthood with a clear conscience last year.

"I doubt whether the Order of the Kakapo has the same impact as Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George."

Others, such as Auckland Regional Council chairman Phil Warren, argue that, snobbery issues aside, anything linked with royalty is good for business. Hence Mr Warren's work with Sir Patrick O'Dea to get the "royal" label for the New Zealand Ballet.

Phil O'Shea, the executive officer for honours, says that since the 1996 changes, the awards system has already become more of a community affair.

Pillars of the community, such as Sir Donald Llewellyn and Sir John Turei, have been knighted in the past two years, and only the Governor-General and Chief Justice are now automatically granted the same honour.

Much to their chagrin, retiring High Court judges and senior military personnel can no longer expect knighthoods. This, despite the submission of Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, who argued that salaries on the Bench were lower than those earned by leading barristers, and honours went some way towards compensating judges for loss of earnings.

Retiring politicians and captains of industry might also be put out if the honours criteria swung more towards merit than office, but recent names suggest they still have a good chance of making the list.

Last year Cheryll Sotheran won a damehood for services to museum administration, Doug Graham was knighted for services as a minister and businessman Selwyn Cushing also became a "Sir."

This year IT businessman Gilbert Simpson became a Knight Companion.

"If you don't pick a good honours list, you look bad politically, and politicians unashamedly use the honours list to make themselves look good," former Labour Prime Minister David Lange once said.

Although he heartily endorsed the Order of New Zealand when he announced it in 1987, he now appears to have become disenchanted with the honours system as a whole.

"I can't be bothered even reading the list," he said this week.

"A lot of people who don't deserve to get on a bus get awards. Some woman became a dame for running an entertainment parlour called Te Papa."

Cheryll Sotheran's title is not the only name to cause a stir. Former unionist Sir Tom Skinner's knighthood did not go down well in his circle.

"A lot of unionists were quite angry about that," says former colleague Mr Douglas. "I personally don't subscribe to the idea of titles in the sense of 'Sirs' and 'Dames.' But I don't think you can be critical about people exercising their legal and moral right to a title."

Likewise, the omission of names can cause a fuss. Peter Mahon did not get a knighthood, although the Erebus commissioner was nominated more than once.

Jim Anderton once tabled a bill (which was rejected) for recognition of Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone, hero of the battle for Chunuk Bair, at Gallipoli.

And Mike Moore? Well, he's a Labour man through and through, but his nomination was not party cronyism.

With nominations closing on August 1 and final decisions made in October, it was in fact the National Government that gave him top billing.

Helen Clark says that, while she signed the list, she "didn't tamper" with it.

"This Government hasn't really had to think about it yet, but I guess by March we'll have to start looking at the next list and thinking more about whether the system needs to change."