Wellington: A campaigner for prostitutes and a former conservative prime minister. They're among the latest figures picked by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to receive New Zealand's highest honours.
Named in the country's twice-year allotment of knighthoods on Monday is life-long advocate and founding member of the nation's prostitutes' collective, Catherine Healy, who has been made a dame companion for her services to the rights of sex workers.
Catherine Healy becomes a dame companion for her advocacy of sex workers.
Photo: Joe Armao"I really am quite emotional about it," she said. "People like us don't normally get these sort of things."
While working as a school teacher in the '80s, Dame Catherine signed up for a receptionist job at a brothel to earn extra money for travel. She was the collective's national coordinator by the end of the decade.
She built the group into an internationally-recognised organisation, becoming the country's leading voice for sex worker rights, health and education and eventually organised the charge towards decriminalisation of prostitution in 2003.