English: David Middleton, of Wellington, received the Insignia of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Earthquake Commission. Mr Middleton was the chief executive of the Commission from 1993 to 2010, one of the longest-serving executives in the public service. When he initially became general manger, he instituted and managed the state’s residential catastrophe insurance scheme. As chief executive he negotiated the Commission’s support for the $80 million Geonet Project, run in collaboration with the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. Mr Middleton also successfully managed the placement of the Commission’s $1.5 billion investments in international equities.