A Rotorua man who has been integral in the Rural Fire Service for the last decade has been appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Paul Wright has been the Principal Rural Fire Office of Pumicelands Rural Fire District for 11 years before he retired in March this year.

His appointment to the Order of Merit is for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the forestry industry.

The 71-year-old decided it was time to let someone else have a turn and to put his feet up after a 53 year career in forestry then fire.

'I feel very honoured to be to be recognised for the work that I've done and at the same time I feel very humbled because you don't get to where you are on your own and you've been supported by a lot of people to get there.”

He says the support of his wife, Tups, and the people he has worked with have been integral to his career.

'My wife supported me through a lot of this because we have shifted a lot but without her, I probably wouldn't have achieved, what I have.

'She's given me the motivation and encouragement to do the things that we have done.

'It's been very much teamwork, so she deserves as much acknowledgement as I do.”

Paul has been integral in the formation of the Pumicelands Rural Fire District, it is an amalgamation of 14 rural fire districts.

‘It took some time but I think that's quite an achievement because you're dealing with people from executives of forestry companies, district councillors down to volunteers and everybody in between.

'Quite a variety of personnel and to try and get them all singing from the same song sheet took a bit of work to achieve at times, but we got there and it's something that I'm quite proud of.”

He has also had a forestry career spanning 42 years where he worked all over New Zealand as well as Fiji and Queensland, Australia.

As Principal of the Fiji Forestry Training Centre Paul provided vital support to Fiji's growing forestry industry.

In 1991 he moved back to Rotorua and took a senior management role in the forestry industry,

'One of my greatest achievements in forestry and the thing that I am most proud of was I was forestry manager of Kaingaroa when it was the combined estates of 320,000 hectares.

'I feel pretty blessed on the career that I've had if I look back at my time I don't think I would, want it to be anything else.”

Paul and Tups now plan on spending their retirement traveling and avoiding New Zealand's winter.

'We're aiming to speed every winter overseas for probably about four or five years. We spent winter this year in Europe.”

Another Rotorua man on the New Year Honours list is Sergeant Lehi Hohaia who recvieves a Queen's Service medal for services to the New Zealand Police and Māori.

Lehi Hohaia. Image New Zealand Police.

Lehi is an Iwi Liaison Officer in Rotorua and has the lead responsibility for maintaining positive and productive relationships with iwi, enabling other police staff to navigate Māori communities with confidence.

'I still can't believe I'm receiving this award. I keep asking myself if this is for real. I'm gobsmacked to get something like this for doing a job which I love. This is for all my people, especially the old people, the kuia and kaumatua as they are the backbone of all that I do,” Lehi says.

He helped to develop and run the Rotorua Area Alcohol Impairment Education programme that has seen 540 recidivist drink drivers participate, resulting in a 96 per cent success rate of non-reoffending. He conducts these programmes on the marae and includes a tikanga Māori element throughout the course.

'Instead of racking up fines, losing their car through impounds or risking custodial sentences, programmes helping people to get their licence make such a difference. I tell people to think of their licence and their car as a taonga.”

Lehi assisted in developing and currently leads the Tū Taua Drug Harm Reduction programme around Te Arawa Marae that helps iwi and whanau join together to speak out against illicit drugs in their communities.

'Simple and practical solutions to problems can be found when police, Iwi and NGOs all work together,” he says.

He has worked on creating and delivering E Tū Matua, a family harm reduction programme to work with Māori perpetrators. Paul has been a Trustee on the Taharangi Marae Board of Trustees for the past three years.