Queen's birthday honours
03 Jun 2008
One of the founders of bungy jumping, New Zealand entrepreneur Henry van Asch has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday awards for his services to tourism.
Paul Henry Drury van Asch of Wakatipu in the South Island, becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In the 1980s van Asch and AJ Hackett started the world’s first commercial bungy operation with a jump from the 43 metre Kawarau Bridge near the South Island resort of Queenstown. They developed the extreme adventure experience having been inspired by a Vanuatu ritual involving tribesman leaping off structures with vines attached to their ankles.
Other New Zealanders rewarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours include Olympic hero Sir Murray Halberg who becomes one of just 18 members of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ). The 74 year old joins other Kiwi legends like Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, author Dame Margaret Mahy and All Black Sir Brian Lochore.
Halberg’s history
It’s now 48 years since Halberg won gold in the 5000 metres at the Rome Olympics. In his distinctive, ungainly running style with his badly injured left arm hanging limp at his side, Halberg stepped out from the pack and began his finishing sprint with four laps to go.
Sir Murray was awarded the MBE in 1961 and was knighted in 1988. His inclusion in the Queen's Birthday honours list makes him the first new member of the ONZ since the death of Sir Edmund Hillary in January.
As the highest national honour, the ONZ is restricted to 20 living New Zealanders.
Sir Murray heads 78 women and 100 men on this year’s Queen's Birthday honours list, with a further 11 Defence Force awards.
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