Royters readers voted overwhelmingly (40% of the vote) for Margaret Heaney as New Zealader of the year. Margaret came in ahead of six other very worthy candidates, all of whom have contributed significantly to New Zealand in 2009. They are all to be commended for their contributions.

Congratulations to Margaret for her selfless contribution to making New Zealand a better place. To many Margaret’s name will be unknown, but in June 2009 she won New Zealand Lotto’s biggest ever single prize - $36.9 million. The prize was in fact won by a syndicate of four unassuming women from the Wairarapa. In a syndicate they dubbed “Irish Luck”, Margaret Heaney, her two daughters and one granddaughter are reported to have talked about how and where they would donate their winnings from the moment they walked into the Wellington New Zealand Lotteries Office.

In December 2009 they proved true to their word when they bought a new ambulance and donated it to the Wairarapa Ambulance Service. Mrs Heaney and her daughter Fiona Wilton were on hand for the blessing and official commissioning of the state of the art ambulance – which features two four-leaf clovers on the back doors as a permanent reminder of the windfall – though they have made it clear that being the centre of attention is not a position anyone in the syndicate relishes.

Mrs Heaney chose also to donate money to the Wairarapa DHB as a way to thank the community that has served her family so well over the decades. Coming away with over $9 million apiece the members of Mrs Heaney’s family have not made any major lifestyle changes - one of her daughters still works in a local bakery – deciding instead to help out family and sick friends and to place the majority of their winnings into a trust, the beneficiaries of which are Starship Hospital, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, and Ronald McDonald House.

They exemplify the kind of selfless philanthropy, whether through time or, in this case, money, which I believe makes Margaret, as mother or the family who has clearly passed on her values to her daughters and granddaughter, New Zealander of the Year.