The service of two Waitakians has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List, released on December 31.

Waitaki District deputy mayor, and Ōamaru Pacific Island Community Group (OPICG) manager Hana Halalele; and longtime Ōmārama Search and Rescue member Maurice Cowie, have both been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for their contributions to their communities.

Hana, who became the first Pasifika Waitaki District Councillor in 2019, was recognised for services to Pacific health, after supporting the Pacific Island community through the Covid-19 pandemic.

She created a frontline team with the OPICG to share information, and advocated for resources and support from the Southern District Health Board and Well South to run a vaccination clinic, targeting the Pasifika community.

She led her team to create its own community outreach vaccination workforce, and deliver drive-through testing stations and vaccination clinics across the Waitaki District. 

She worked with community groups and volunteers to promote vaccination efforts amongst the wider community and, with her team, also provided welfare responses including food parcels, food vouchers, health navigation support and advocacy for digital devices during lockdown and Covid isolation periods.

Hana has also been an influential advocate at regional and national forums for the diverse needs of her community, and was the establishment chairwoman for Talanga ‘a Waitaki - facilitating a community-led initiative for Pacific parents to deliver the Talanoa Ako education programme.

Maurice Cowie has been a member of Ōmārama Search and Rescue (SAR) since 1998 and played a key role in revitalising the organisation by recruiting new members to the then team of two, and organising sponsorship and regular training.

During his time with SAR, Maurice has been a field member, team leader and incident management team member. He is the first point of contact for local police in a SAR operation, due to his experience.

Maurice was part of the Ōmārama group that received the LandSAR Supreme Award in 2012 for a significant operation in Ahuriri Valley, which led to the recovery of the body of a tramper who had been missing for 14 days. 

He has also volunteered for searches in other regions including Owaka, Lawrence and Dunedin. 

He contributed his time and donated materials to the renovation of the Omarama SAR base, and constructed a stretcher trailer for towing behind an all-terrain vehicle to rescue injured cyclists from the Alps to Ocean trail. 

Maurice is also a member of a local work group, in place of a Civil Defence group, for Omarama in the case of a natural disaster, and has been involved with rural and urban fire brigades for 50 years.