Joan Harnett-Kindley is one of three Wanaka people to be honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Albert Town based Joan Harnett-Kindley has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to netball and the real estate industry. 

Joan said the honour was “fantastic” news to receive, and for now at least the person who nominated her remains a mystery.

Her success in both netball and real estate earned Joan many accolades over many years, but Joan says her overall goal in both industries was championing women. 

Among Joan’s netball accolades are representing Canterbury in netball from 1960 to 1974, including six years as captain, and playing more than 100 matches for the Silver Ferns netball team between 1963 and 1974, including 26 matches across three World Cups. 

She was also named as the Player of the Tournament at the 1967 Netball World Cup in Australia and as New Zealand’s ‘dream player of 75 years of netball’ in 2000, and an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Joan Harnett-Kindley

A personal highlight for Joan was winning the World Cup in 1967, which at the time, she said, “went virtually unrecognised”.

“In those days of course women got very little acclaim and rugby got all the attention. My goal was to put netball on the map and get women recognised in sport. I think we paved the way.”

Joan said the recognition netball gets now is excellent, and “right up there with everyone else”.

While she is no longer directly involved in the sport Joan said she is still an avid watcher of netball - “I can’t help myself”.

Sport and real estate turned out to have its similarities. Joan started her own real estate firm after leaving netball. 

“When I went into real estate it was a man’s world,” Joan said. “It was another goal of mine to champion women in real estate and another area where women could break through.”

And she did: Joan was a member of the Canterbury-Westland District Real Estate Executive Committee for 12 years, president of the Canterbury-Westland and Otago District’s Committees for two years each, the first woman appointed to the Real Estate Council, and the first woman awarded both a fellowship and life membership to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. 

Joan was an inaugural member of the Real Estate Authority for six years. She was a national judge of Master Builders House of the Year from 2000 to 2004 and is a current patron of the New Zealand Masters Games.

“I’ve had a great life,” Joan said. “I’ve loved both my sport and my business. I’ve been very fortunate to get to achieve what I have - not everyone gets the opportunity.”