 In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) the first CE of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to have been recognised in this way.In 2013, he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of the Earthquake Commission, a provider of natural disaster insurance for residential property, administering the Natural Disaster Fund, and funding research and education on natural disasters and ways of reducing their impact.In 2018, he resigned as chairman and from the board of the Earthquake Commission, having lost the confidence of the minister responsible.