The New Zealand Order of Merit: John Hawkesby

John Hawkesby. Photo / Paul Estcourt

A Queen's Birthday Honours investiture ceremony was held at Government House in Auckland yesterday. The Herald profiles five of the honourees.

JOHN HAWKESBY, MNZM

Try as he might, John Hawkesby couldn't contain his delight yesterday when he was presented with the insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to broadcasting and the community.

"It was quite emotional. I thought I'd be quite blasé. I'm used to formal occasions, and I thought this would be a walk in the park.

"It's very easy to be sarcastic about this kind of thing. And it's not the sort of thing you strive for ... but I was actually quite overcome," Hawkesby said.

After the ceremony, he said the fallout from his $5.2 million payout after his exit from TVNZ in 1999 felt distant.

"At the time you would have thought, that's it, I'm done. But you rise above all those things, and you just keep on keeping on."

Hawkesby's exit from TVNZ after a short-lived stint fronting One News with Judy Bailey saw his involvement with charities, often as a master of ceremonies, greatly increase.

"People think I'm unemployed, so they keep ringing," he joked.

But he said it had been a privilege to gain an understanding of the work such groups do, without which "the fabric of society would disintegrate".

"It's the little people. They're not high-profile, they're people from small communities who just do things quietly."

It was important to give something back - although he apologised for sounding like a "bleeding heart" or "wretched do-gooder".

"I've had a good run. I have good health, a lovely family ... and at the end of the day it's what you leave behind to grow, it's your flesh and blood, your community, it's people."