Four businesspeople from the transport, freight and vehicle distribution sectors have been recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours, announced on Monday.
Invercargill’s Scott O’Donnell is made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to business. O’Donnell is a director of the HW Richardson Group and was its managing director from 2006 to 2015. The privately owned Southland group runs 46 companies and employs around 2000 people across six sectors, including road freight and fuel distribution through businesses such as Allied Petroleum.
O’Donnell’s transport profile has lifted further over the past year. He was appointed to the KiwiRail board in mid-2025, a move Rail Minister Winston Peters said would bolster the state-owned enterprise’s freight expertise, though O’Donnell resigned from the role within months. In March this year the O’Donnell family bought into Australian Supercars team Walkinshaw TWG Racing, with O’Donnell joining as a director. Walkinshaw was already connected to HW Richardson through Allied Petroleum’s role as the Mobil 1 lubricants distributor in New Zealand.
Hamilton’s Geoff Maber is made an ONZM for services to agribusiness. Maber built the small Morrinsville dealer Maber Motors into Power Farming Group, one of New Zealand’s largest privately owned agricultural machinery distributors. The group operates about 20 outlets in New Zealand, employs around 350 people and is approaching $300 million in annual turnover, with businesses also in Australia and the United States, where it distributes Deutz-Fahr tractors. His sons Craig and Brett Maber hold leadership roles in the company.
Whakatāne’s Warwick Wilshier is made an ONZM for services to the road freight industry. Wilshier has been a log truck operator for more than 44 years, and has substantially increased the safety standards of log transport nationally through governance and advocacy.
Wilshire began as a one-truck operator in 1982 and went on to build one of New Zealand’s largest logging transport businesses, operating a fleet of more than 150 vehicles.
He joined the New Zealand Road Transport Association’s Region 2 committee in 1985 and was appointed the region’s representative on the Road Transport Forum in 2018.
Wilshire was a founding member of the New Zealand Log Transport Safety Council in 1996, which was established to improve the safety of log truck operations on New Zealand roads. During his 25 years as chair, the council advocated for increasing truck and trailer lengths to 22 metres, enabling lower payloads and improving vehicle safety. It also led the development of new vehicle designs and driver education initiatives.
When Wilshire stepped down as chair in 2025, log truck rollover rates had fallen from 2.4 per million kilometres to 0.3.
He was appointed chair of the Road Transport Forum and served as chair of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand from 2021 to 2024.
Wilshire was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2022.
Auckland company director Trevor Janes is also made an ONZM, for services to business and public sector governance. Janes completed his final term as chair of NZX Regulation Company (RegCo) in 2025, having served as the independent regulatory arm’s founding chair since its establishment in 2020.
He has been one of New Zealand’s most experienced public company directors, serving in governance roles since the 1990s. His appointments have included chair, deputy chair and director positions with KiwiRail, Move Logistics, Public Trust, ACC, Mighty River Power, Watercare, Housing New Zealand and the Auckland District Health Board.
As a member of the ACC Investment Committee from 1999 to 2002 and a specialist member from 2003 to 2010, Janes played a key role in overseeing the investment of nearly $50 billion in public funds and helping build the organisation’s reputation as a market leader in investment management.
He has received fellowships from several professional bodies, including the Institute of Financial Professionals, and was a Chartered Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors until 2022. He is also a Fellow and former chair of the New Zealand Society of Investment Analysis.
From 2016 to 2020, Janes chaired the Tokelau Islands Investment Fund on an unpaid basis.
