1978 New Year Honours (New Zealand)

Knight Bachelor

• Alan Thomas Gandell – of Wellington. For services to the Order of St John.
• Thomas Wilfred Perry – of Christchurch. For services to commerce and the community.

  Order of the Bath

Companion (CB)

• Major General Ronald Douglas Patrick Hassett – Chief of General Staff.

  Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

Companion (CMG)

• The Most Reverend Allen Howard Johnston – Anglican Primate and Archbishop of New Zealand since 1972 and Bishop of Waikato since 1969.
• The Very Reverend John Spenser Somerville – of Dunedin. For services to the Presbyterian Church and the University of Otago.

  Order of the British Empire

Knight Commander (KBE)

• Harry Heaton Barker . For services to the City of Gisborne.
• James Clendon Tau Henare – of Moerewa. For services to the community, especially Māori affairs.

  Commander (CBE)

• Sydney James Robert Chatten – of Lower Hutt. For services to business management.
• Leverick Joseph Kenneth Putter – Secretary of Trade and Industry 1975–77.
• Esmond Allen Gibson – of Wellington. For services to civil aviation.
• Stanislaus Francis Hoskins – of Wellington. For charitable and educational work.
• Emeritus Professor William Parker Morrell – of Dunedin. For services to literature and historical research.
• John Lorraine Sullivan – of Wellington. For services to rugby.
• Miraka Szászy – of Auckland. For services to the community and Māori people.

• Brigadier Brian Matauru Poananga – Deputy Chief of General Staff.

  Officer (OBE)

• Heather Begg – of Sydney, Australia. For services to opera.
• William Bryan – of Auckland. For services to the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.
• The Reverend Canon Samuel Corney – of Motueka. For services to the community.
• Albert Roy Frethey – of Esher, Surrey, England. For services to New Zealand interests in the United Kingdom.
• Alicia Doreen Grant – of Christchurch. For services to the community.
• Sheila Marie Horton – of Auckland. For services to the community.
• Anthony Frederick Hunter – of Auckland. For services to medicine and the community.
• Charles Frederick Jones – of Northland. For services to the community and farming industry.
• Joan Stewart MacCormick – of Auckland. For services to the community.
• Dr Kingsley Edward Mortimer – of Auckland. For services to psychogeriatrics.
• Nancy Northcroft – of Christchurch. For services to town planning.
• Leslie George Piper – of Auckland. For services to the brewing industry and the community.
• Bartholomew Sheehan – of Rotorua. For services to Māori affairs.
• James Maxwell Somerville – of Te Kuiti. For services to local government.
• Edward Bickmore Ellison Taylor – of Christchurch. For public services.
• John Samuel Thorn – of Dunedin. For services to local government and the community.
• Herbert Lea Towers – of Auckland. For services to sport and education.

• Commander Christopher Richard Vennell – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Lieutenant Colonel Evan John Torrance – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Group Captain Stuart McIntyre – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Member (MBE)

• Ronald Morrison Barclay – of New Plymouth. For services to the community.
• Leonard Charles Barnes – of Nelson. For services to music and the arts.
• Richard Fenton De Latour – of Dunedin. For services to the Otago Harbour Board.
• Kenelm Hubert Digby – of Wellington, lately office solicitor, Department of Health.
• Ian James Drabble – of Christchurch. For services to the community.
• John Boys Drawbridge – of Wellington. For services to art.
• Laura Freda Elkins – of Wellington. For public services.
• Douglas Lauriston Fyfe – of Christchurch. For services to agricultural journalism.
• Peter Maxwell Gentry – detective chief inspector, New Zealand Police.
• Peter David Hensman Godfrey – of Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire, England. For services to music.
• Henry Coleridge Hitchcock – of Wellington; lately senior research engineer, head office, New Zealand Electricity Department.
• James Edward Knowling – of Auckland. For services to rugby league.
• William Trevor Martin – of Wellington. For services to cricket.
• Colin Quincey – of Auckland. For displaying a remarkable feat of endurance by becoming the first person to row the Tasman Sea single-handed from New Zealand to Australia.
• The Reverend Canon Rimu Hamiora Rangiihu – of Waipatu. For services to the Māori people.
• Arthur Wellesley Vivian Reeve – of Wellington. For services to scouting.
• William Sanders Sr. – of Te Awamutu. For services to the community and horse racing.
• Charles Kesteven Saxton – of Dunedin. For services to rugby.
• Henry Wood Year-Smith – of Auckland. For services to agriculture.
• Leonard Basil Swan – of Dunedin. For services to trade-union affairs.
• Henry Charles Allan Wards – of Lower Hutt. For services to the Young Farmers Clubs Federation.
• Squadron Leader Walter Sinclair Anthony Waterston – of Southland; commander, Southland No. 12, Air Training Corps Squadron, New Zealand Cadet Forces.
• Dr John Stuart Yeates – of Palmerston North. For services to horticulture.

• Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Neil Cameron – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Lieutenant Commander John Wilfred Jennings – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Major Anthony Leonard Birks – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Major Harry Roberts Burt – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Major and Quartermaster Girvan Ross Hornbrook – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Warrant Officer Class I Graham Nash – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Squadron Leader George Stephen Higgins – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Squadron Leader Thomas Michael Strang – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  British Empire Medal (BEM)

• Chief Radioman John Hamilton Bullock – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Control Electrical Mechanician First Class John Ingram Johnson – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Chief Engineering Mechanic Laurence Francis McGuire – Royal New Zealand Navy.
• Warrant Officer Class II Janice Marion Barlow – Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals.
• Warrant Officer Class II Robert Anthony Cowan – Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
• Staff Sergeant Ivan Graham Goile – Royal New Zealand Engineers.
• Corporal Nannette Grant – Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps.
• Staff Sergeant Peter Charles Sheppard – Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps.
• Flight Sergeant Murray Gordon Blakemore – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Warrant Officer Richard Norman Marshall – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Sergeant Raymond Murphy – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO)

For community service

• Florence Baber – of Palmerston North.
• Edward Browse Gilberd – of Stokes Valley.
• The Reverend Malcolm Leadbetter – of Christchurch.

  For public services

• Ivan Wilfred Apperley – of Wellington; Secretary of Māori Affairs and Māori Trustee 1975–77.
• Peter Norris George Blaxall – of Christchurch.
• Lieutenant Colonel the Right Honourable Sir Martin Michael Charles Charteris – Private Secretary to The Queen 1972–77.
• Dorothy Rita Fraser – of Dunedin.
• John Graham Hamilton – of Lower Hutt; lately parliamentary law draftsman.
• Charles Pierrepont Hutchinson – of Auckland.
• Henry Charles Kennedy – of Thames.
• George Austin O'Leary – of Wellington.
• Peter Roselli – of Westport.
• Geoffrey Fantham Sim – of Matamata.
• Ian Douglas Stevenson – of Wellington; chairman of the Metric Advisory Board.
• George Ernest Tiller – of Whangarei.
• Evan Graham Turbott – Director of the Auckland Institute and Museum.

  Queen's Service Medal (QSM)

For community service

• Christine Cairns Balloch – of Kaitangata.
• Violet Blease – of Auckland.
• Eleanor Mary Burgess – of Wanganui.
• Alice Maud Campbell – of Auckland.
• Jocelyn Ann Carlton – of South Canterbury.
• Frederick Charles John Chittock – of Auckland.
• Rosea Merle Crawford – of Hawera.
• Cyril Martin Croucher – of Taupo.
• Colin Henry Gilmour Curragh – of Christchurch.
• Elsie May De Mey – of Levin.
• Owen Cecil Finer – of New Plymouth.
• Ella Viola Fryer – of Dannevirke.
• Violet Patricia Harris – of Mount Maunganui.
• Gwendoline Lattey – of Palmerston North.
• Martha Iris McCurdy – of Southland,
• Ivy Elizabeth McGreevy – of Rotorua.
• Violet Adela Marie MacMillan – of Tauranga.
• Winifred Nora Mardon – of Palmerston North.
• Myra Isobel Mathewson – of Timaru.
• Dulcie Jessie Forrest Menzies – of Hamilton.
• The Reverend Father William Edward O'Donnell – of Petone.
• Roland Joshua Papps – of Nelson.
• Te Whairangi Kumeroa Ngoi Pewhairangi – of Tokomaru Bay.
• William Frank Ponder – of Lower Hutt.
• Elizabeth Colman Saunders – of Cambridge.
• Emily Shirley – of Nightcaps.
• Ralph Simpson – of Christchurch.
• Stuart Tichborne Campbell Sprott – of Wellington.
• Iris Myrtle Terry – of Palmerston North.
• Murray Thacker – of Banks Peninsula.
• Lily Elsie Walker – of Northland.
• Ronald Ernest Youngman – of Whangaparaoa.

  For public services

• John Bell Brotherston – of Wanganui.
• Dr Allan Lindsay Bryant – of Hokitika.
• Robert Burt Cleland – of Stratford.
• Eldred Ronald Comer – of Temuka.
• Arthur Rae Cox – of Northland.
• Ronald Donovan – of Duvauchelle.
• Huia Gray Gilpin – of Christchurch.
• Peter Edward Graham – of Levin.
• Oswald Bayly Hawken – of Wanganui.
• Charles William Hawkins – of Hawke's Bay.
• Thomas William Horgan – chief instructor, Christchurch Prison, Department of Justice.
• Myrtle Jessie Kay – of Dunedin.
• Gordon Robert Kear – of Palmerston North.
• Hector Berkley Lawry – of Tokoroa.
• Mary Catherine McNamara – principal nurse, Braemar Hospital, Nelson.
• Peter Forbes Orr – sergeant, New Zealand Police.
• Owen Stanley Priest – of South Canterbury.
• Ellesmere John Stalker – of Christchurch
• Harold Strode – of Naseby.
• Robert Frew Watson – of Southland.
• Frederick Charles Yule – of Greytown.

  Queen's Fire Services Medal (QFSM)

• Sidney Raymond Hide – senior station officer, Tauranga Fire Brigade.
• Leslie George Houston – volunteer station officer, New Plymouth Fire Brigade.
• Edwin Wallace Saunders – chief fire officer, Area Commander, 5D/1, Greymouth.

  Queen's Police Medal (QPM)

• Frederick Timothy Foley – lately constable, New Zealand Police.
• Anzac Thomas Paratene – constable, New Zealand Police.

  Royal Red Cross

Associate (ARRC)

• Lieutenant Colonel Lois Jones – Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps.

  Air Force Cross (AFC)

• Flight Lieutenant Nigel Albert Davey – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

  Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air

• Flight Lieutenant Bruce Reid Ferguson – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Lieutenant Gordon Lennox Wood – Royal New Zealand Air Force.