The Origins of the NZCO & the Tui Logo
“The gestation of the College was on the roof-top of a lodge in Kathmandu when Leon Garner, Maurice Yap and I were slurping a beer under the tropical stars and chatting about the state of the world and the profession of optometry! Maurice was very much of the opinion that the way to advance the science side of optometry in New Zealand was to form a link between the Dept. of Optometry and interested optometrists at the work face. It was envisaged that the College would be the science arm of the profession whereas the NZAO was the political arm. During the founding member’s meetings Roger Apperley presented the idea that the College have a NZ motive on its letterhead and he suggested the Tui be incorporated as it is the bird of knowledge.”
Bob Kinnear

Founders of the NZCO
Roger Apperley, Kerry Atkinson, Colin Beckwith, Chris Earnshaw, Victoria Elias, Michael Frith, Leon Garner, David Haydon, Brian Henderson, Rob Jacobs, Bob Kinnear, Heather Laird, Steve Macredie, Helen Owens, Peter Skeates, Grant Watters, Maurice Yap