For services to the National Party...

Its Queens Birthday, which means the traditional honours list, which means another opportunity for the government to corruptly reward its donors, supporters, and former hacks. And this year we have some stunning examples:

• John Banks - former National Party Cabinet minister and failed mayor of Auckland;
• Roger Kerr - head of the Business Roundtable
• Judy Kirk - former National Party President
• Kerry Prendergast - National Party member, former mayor of Wellington

And that's not even getting into who's a donor, a list which apparently includes Horton, Graham, Wallace, and Ford. (I'd be interested in more information on this, BTW)

And this is the problem with our honours system: while a lot of important community work is recognised at the lower end, the top end gets used for patronage and reward by the government of the day. In the process, they debase the entire system, and bring all recipients into contempt.