Published in the Dominion Post on of 25 January 2008

The death of Sir Edmund Hillary raises an important question - whom do we now admire, trust and respect the most?

Prime Minister Helen Clark got it right when she said that our greatest hero was gone. It's a prosaic and awkward question, but who is our next greatest hero after Sir Ed? And why?

There are not a lot of outstandingly obvious candidates, just as few, if any, rivaled Sir Ed's status when he was alive.

There are a group of aging sportspeople, mostly male, and almost all white. There's some ageing politicians, a few of whom may be on the verge of statesmanship status. And there is a collection of currently popular stars, and some quiet achievers. There is no one whose status is so high, whose reputation so strong that they can take the mantle of "Legend of New Zealand" that Sir Edmund put down.

What are the qualities that make up reputation in a New Zealand context? First, the person's achievements have to be significant in an activity of importance to New Zealanders. That puts a lot of sports people in the frame, but probably puts All Blacks, cricketers, and Silver Ferns above the rest, if sporting achievement alone is considered.

Secondly, they have to be decent people: that is proud but modest, and certainly not boastful or arrogant. They should not be too humble because that can also be seen as false. In short, they should be "one of us", but better. And we have to feel that we are able to talk to them, not just about them. Sir Peter Blake would have been in there, perhaps Michael King too.

Thirdly, "putting back", or contributing in some way after they have done the mighty deeds is a big plus. That thins out sporting achievers quite quickly.

The top four from sport would probably be Sir Peter Snell, Colin Meads. Sir Richard Hadlee and Sir Bob Charles. Sir Brian Lochore, Sir Wilson Whinerary, John Walker, Grant Dalton, Hamish Carter, Sarah Ulmer and Irene van Dyk all have claims too.

From the political area, former Prime Ministers Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Jim Bolger, and former governor-general can reasonably stake a claim to respect. But there are few in the business world who would attract much popular support - Sir Bob Jones aside - and his reputation is as much for being a personality as for his success in business. We are not well endowed with entrepreneurs who contribute to society through both the success of their businesses and their philanthropy.

In Maoridom, there's Sir Paul Reeves and Sir Tipene O'Regan, but the successors of the Maori Queen and Sir Hepi Te Heu Heu don't rate highly in the public mind.

And what about the quiet achievers? Super-scientist, Peter Gluckman, children's author Margaret Mahy, and the guys from Flight of the Conchords.

Respect is an interesting concept. If the list of people cited capture what we understand by respect, then good works aren't that important. Great deeds are more important, and being well known is the biggest factor, but obviously isn't enough on its own - otherwise, Suzanne Paul, John Banks and Michael Deaker would all be high up.

People who simply do good but are otherwise lacking visibility don't count. To be good is fine: to be respected you have to be visible as well.

A Readers Digest poll in 2007 put Sir Edmund clearly at the top on trust and respect followed by Margaret Mahy and Peter Snell. Ulmer, van Dyk and Hamish Carter were next but clearly separated from the top three. Judy Bailey was ninth.

The same poll showed Trevor Mallard, Ahmed Zaoui, Don Brash and Brian Tamaki as the four public figures for whom we had least regard. In the poll, politicians in general did badly, with Helen Clark best at 58th out of 75 places.

Sir Ed's death ironically also threw up another question in the trust and respect debate. If royalty's failure to attend the funeral re-energises the republican debate, then the question arises of who would be our head of state.

Assume that the position has no more powers than the present Governor General, and assume also the Head of State (President or some other title) is chosen by popular. The question of whom we trust and respect then becomes very relevant indeed.