To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DIXON, Mr Scott Ronald Glyndwr, CNZM
For services to motorsport
Mr Scott Dixon is New Zealand’s most successful modern motorsport champion and has continued to compete since his appointment as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019.
Mr Dixon has competed for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) since 2001, the longest tenure for a driver in the team’s history. He claimed his sixth IndyCar Series championship and his fourth 24 Hours of Daytona victory with Wayne Taylor Racing, both in 2020. Of currently active IndyCar drivers, he holds the distinction of having the most wins with 59 victories, and following his second-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile 250s in 2024, he took the record of most career IndyCar podiums with 142. Notably, earlier in his career he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2008, the largest one-day sporting event in the world. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in March 2024. Outside of motorsport, he is a regular supporter of various charities in New Zealand and internationally, particularly fundraising for children’s charities. Mr Dixon is an ambassador for CanTeen, St Jude and Teen Cancer America.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2019
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2009
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DRURY, Mr Rodney Kenneth (Rod)
For services to business, the technology industry and philanthropy
Mr Rod Drury (Ngāi Tahu) has been at the forefront of entrepreneurship in New Zealand, most notably founding Xero, the global small business accounting platform.
Mr Drury’s earlier career included establishing the successful tech companies Glazier Systems and AfterMail. Established in 2006, he was Chief Executive Officer of Xero until 2018. Xero has grown to become New Zealand’s second largest tech exporter, generating thousands of jobs across more than 25 locations, supporting more than four million customers worldwide. Xero has been recognised as a global leader in diversity and mental health, setting a benchmark in the tech industry, and he established the Xero Staff Welfare Trust to support staff in times of need. He helped drive digitisation initiatives such as online GST and the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN). Since 2020, he has focused on public-good infrastructure and philanthropy projects. He has supported initiatives regionally, particularly around Queenstown Lakes District, and nationally, spanning education, conservation and regeneration, renewable energy, retail payments architecture reform, electricity market disruption, and public policy advocacy. Notable initiatives have included environmental restoration through Mana Tāhuna and Project Tohu, funding equipment and facilities for Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, and support for Ngāi Tahu students and artists. He established Southern Infrastructure to support Queenstown public infrastructure projects and Tāhuna Ride and Conservation Trust, combining world-class mountain biking with regenerative planting. Since 2006, Mr Drury has received numerous entrepreneurial and national business awards.
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LE GROS, Professor Graham Stephen, CNZM
For services to medical science
Professor Graham Le Gros was Director of the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research from 1994 to 2024.
Professor Le Gros became Deputy Chair of Malaghan Institute in 2025. While Director from 2014, he more than doubled the size of the Institute to more than 130 staff and grew its operating budget from $7.5 million to more than $30 million in 2024. His leadership in the securing of significant funding and maintenance of long-term partnerships nationally and internationally has enabled the Institute to lead nationally significant research programmes with global relevance to improve human health. Since 2014, the Institute has developed major new programmes in cancer immunotherapy, vaccine development, inflammatory disease and RNA technologies, and a focus on translational science from laboratory to clinic. His leadership in bringing CAR T-cell therapy to New Zealand to build the Institute’s cancer immunotherapy expertise and capability has been a defining achievement of this period. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a key role in driving the development of domestic vaccine capability, and under his leadership the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand was established. He has remained an active and respected research scientist internationally, leading a research programme in allergic and parasitic diseases. Professor Le Gros has supported regional equity and capability, guiding emerging research organisations, and has helped shape a new generation of scientific leadership in New Zealand.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2014
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PARKIN, Mr Christopher Wilton (Chris), CNZM
For services to philanthropy and the arts
Mr Christopher Parkin has contributed as an entrepreneur, art patron, to local government and to the hospitality industry and was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011 for these contributions.
Since 2011, Mr Parkin has continued his support for the arts and his philanthropic endeavours. In 2013 he established the Parkin Drawing Prize, a national art competition which has since awarded more than $300,000 in prize money, mostly to emerging artists. He is the principal financial supporter of the arts funding website ‘Boosted’, which has to date raised in excess of $16 million to fund more than 2,000 creative projects across all arts genres. He has sat on several arts associated bodies and boards and was a Board member of Tourism New Zealand from 2014 to 2018. As an art collector, more than 150 of his pieces are displayed at the QT Hotel Wellington, which he previously owned as the Museum Art Hotel. Mr Parkin received the 2020 Philanthropy Showcase award at the 2021 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards and was named a Distinguished Alumni of Victoria University of Wellington in 2021.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2011