The 1946 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by King George VI on the advice of the New Zealand government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginning of 1946. They were announced on 1 January 1946."No. 37407". The London Gazette (supplement). 1 January 1946. p. 1.

The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.

Privy Councillor William Joseph Jordan – high commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom. The Honourable Walter Nash – minister of finance and customs.

Knight Bachelor The Honourable Archibald William Blair – senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court. James Fletcher – of Wellington. For public services. The Honourable William Perry – member of the War Cabinet and of the War Council.

Order of the Bath

Knight Commander (KCB) Military division Lieutenant-General (temporary) Edward Puttick – New Zealand Military Forces.

Companion (CB) Military division Brigadier (temporary) Leonard George Goss – New Zealand Military Forces.

Order of St Michael and St George

Knight Commander (KCMG) Carl August Berendsen – New Zealand Minister to the United States of America, formerly permanent head of the Prime Minister's Department, Secretary of External Affairs and Secretary to the War Cabinet.

Companion (CMG) Bernard Carl Ashwin – Secretary to the Treasury. John Henry Boyes – Public Service Commissioner. Cyril George Collins – formerly Controller and Auditor-General. Ernest Marsden – Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Francis Raymond Picot – Commissioner of Supply.

Order of the British Empire

Knight Commander (KBE) Civil division Alfred Clarke Turnbull – Administrator of the Mandated Territory of Western Samoa.

Military division Major-General (temporary) Fred Thompson Bowerbank – New Zealand Medical Corps. Air Vice-Marshal Leonard Monk Isitt – Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Commander (CBE) Civil division Andrew Henson Allen. For patriotic, and social welfare services during his period of office as mayor of Dunedin. John Andrew Charles Allum – mayor of Auckland. For patriotic and social welfare services. Ernest Herbert Andrews – mayor of Christchurch. For social welfare and patriotic services. Eugene Casey – formerly general manager, Railways Department. Denis Joseph Cummings – Commissioner of Police. George Andrew Duncan – director, Export Division, Marketing Department. David Emmet Fouhy – official secretary to the Governor-General. George Arthur Hayden – secretary, National Patriotic Fund Board. James Stanley Hunter – Director of National Service and of the Organisation for National Development. William Marshall. For services to industry and commerce. Frederick Millett Sherwood – private secretary to the Minister of Defence. The Honourable Vincent Aubrey Ward – a Member of the Legislative Council. For patriotic and social welfare services. John George Young – formerly Director-General, Post and Telegraph Department.

Military division Group Captain Trevor Watts White – Royal New Zealand Air Force. Acting Group Captain Gordon Hamish Martin Pirie – Royal Air Force.

Officer (OBE) Civil division Annie Constance Affleck – inspector, Office of the Public Service Commissioner. Lillian Banks – matron, Palmerston North Public Hospital, and president of the Registered Nurses Association. Mary Jane Bentley – of Wellington. For services in organising women's war movements. John Balmain Brooke. For services in connection with the production of munitions. Cyril Blake Burdekin – a member of the staff of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London. For services to the New Zealand prisoners of war organisation. Colonel Frederick William Burton – field secretary, and secretary of the War Services Committee of the Salvation Army. Ronald Alan Candy – a member of the National Council of Primary Production. Hector Christie. For patriotic and social welfare services in connection with the organisation of the Boy Scouts movement. The Right Reverend Monsignor Thomas Frederick Connolly – chairman of the Catholic Services War Fund Board. Robert Darroch – secretary, Navy League War Council. David Alexander Ewen – a member of the Supply Council. Charles Stuart Falconer – chairman, War Services Committee, Young Men's Christian Association. Clarence Richard Charles Gardiner. For patriotic and social welfare work on behalf of members of the New Zealand Armed Forces in India during the war. Elizabeth May Knox-Gilmer – of Wellington; chairwoman of the Lady Galway Patriotic Guild. Everard Robert Cranston Gilmour – chairman of the New Plymouth Patriotic Council. Israel Joseph Goldstine – of Auckland. For patriotic and social welfare services. Len Joseph Greenberg – of the National Service Department. James Norman Greenland – a member of the Supply Council. Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Campbell Hemphill. For valuable public service in relation to the Māori war effort. Thomas William Hercock – chairman of the Hawkes Bay Provincial Patriotic Council. Ailsa Craig Dalhousie Hislop – of Wellington. For services in connection with social welfare movements for women in the armed forces and industry. Alfred Joseph Hutchinson – of Auckland. For services to the blind. George Henry Jackson – a member of the Supply Council. Bertram Joseph Jacobs – president of the New Zealand Returned Services Association. For valuable services in connection with the welfare of servicemen. Alexander Howat Johnstone . For services in relation to the war effort. Arthur Selwyn Kempthorne – secretary of the Church of England Military Affairs Committee. John Craigie Kirkness – mayor of Oamaru. For patriotic and social welfare services. Augustus Edward Mansford – mayor of Palmerston North. For patriotic and social welfare services. Robert Whiteford Marshall – director of the New Zealand Supply Mission in the United States of America. William Walter Mulholland – president of the Farmers' Union. Charles Norman Machell Watson-Munro – director of the Radio Development Laboratory, Scientific and Industrial Research Department. Edgar Rollo Neale – chairman of the Nelson Provincial Patriotic Council and member of the Nelson Patriotic Fund Board. Walter Richard Newall – of Wellington. For services in connection with the national savings campaign. Robert Hamilton Nimmo. For patriotic and social welfare services during the war. Charles Henry Tarr Palmer – president of the Navy League in the City of Auckland. George Pascoe – of Wellington; factory controller. Robert Everett Price – a member of the Waterfront Control Commission. Algernon Instone Rainbow – chairman of the Provincial Patriotic Zone Committee, Hastings. Barbara Reid – of Wellington. For social welfare services on behalf of members of the armed forces. Violet Agnes Russell. For honorary services rendered in connection with canteen and hospital work to members of the New Zealand forces in London during the war. Sidney Rattery Skinner – naval affairs officer for New Zealand in London. Thomas Norman Smallwood. For services in connection with the national savings campaign. Joseph Thomas Spears – of Wellington. For services to New Zealand prisoners of war. Kingi Tahiwi. For services in connection with the organisation of the Māori war effort. James Ewing Thomas – Foods Rationing Controller. Abraham Wachner – mayor of Invercargill. For patriotic and social welfare services. Charles Gilbert White. For services to the New Zealand Red Cross Society. Leonard John Wild – principal of Feilding Agricultural High School, and a member of the National Council of Primary Production. Donald Macdonald Wilson . For services to the Casualty Clearing Hospital in the City of Wellington. Rupert Samuel Wogan. For public services throughout the war.

Military division Acting Commander John Churchill Elworthy – Royal Navy (Retd). Hermione Ruth Herrick – chief officer, Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Douglas George Ball – New Zealand Military Forces. Colonel (temporary) Arthur Bongard – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Walter Archer Breach – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred John Coutts – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Henry Ernest Erridge – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Allen Hogan – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Frederick William Mothes – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Caswall John Walter Parsons – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) John Hugh Phillipps – New Zealand Military Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) James Donald Swan – New Zealand Military Forces. Colonel (temporary) Donald George Wallace – New Zealand Medical Corps. Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) Harry Waine Washbourn – New Zealand Dental Corps. Matron Katherine Sybil Williams – New Zealand Army Nursing Service (attached to the Royal New Zealand Air Force). Group Captain Frederick Russell Chisholm – Royal New Zealand Air Force. Wing Commander Edward Caradus – Royal New Zealand Air Force. Acting Wing Commander John Matthias Gamble – Royal New Zealand Air Force. Acting Squadron Leader Hayden Hugh James Miller – Royal New Zealand Air Force; of Morrinsville. Acting Wing Officer Elsie Naomi Carlyon – New Zealand Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

Member (MBE) Civil division Joseph Abel. For patriotic and social welfare services. Rebecca Isobel Victoria Aitken. For services to the Red Cross. Etta Elaine Allen. For services in connection with women's patriotic activities. Annie Allum. For services in connection with women's patriotic activities. Margaret Andrews. For patriotic and social welfare services. Rose Appleton – a member of the Lady Gaiway Patriotic Guild. Dorothy Annie Atmore. For patriotic and social welfare work. George John Blake Barber. For public services during the war. Margaret Mills Barclay. For services to the munitions industry. Doris Laura Barton. For services in organising woman's war activities. Jean Blacker – of Auckland. For public services during the war. Thomas Francis Patey Briggs – shipping officer, Naval Store Department, His Majesty's New Zealand Dockyard, Auckland. Ernest Escort Brooking – a member of the National Patriotic Fund Board and of the Wellington Metropolitan Committee. Madeline Harriett Ledwell Browne – confidential typist, Prime Minister's Department. Margaret Sheila Bull – of Gisborne. For patriotic and social welfare work. Blanche Nima Burke. For voluntary services in London on behalf of New Zealand prisoners of war. James Leslie Burnett – of Whakatāne. For patriotic and social welfare work. Margaret Campbell – of Auckland. For patriotic services. Mabel Castle – organiser of canteen workers at Trentham Military Camp. Charles Nicholas Cathie – of Wellington. For services to war industries. Gladys Chapman. For services in connection with women's war movements in the Hamilton district. Fred Evans Chappell – secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association in Trentham Military Camp. Jean Olgar Christianson – of Christchurch. For services to the munitions industry. Laurence Hugh Clapham. For patriotic and social welfare work during the war. Ada Vera Cocker – of Auckland. For services in connection with women's war movements. Agnes Connolly – of Dunedin. For services in connection with women's war activities. Doris Crawford – of Hastings. For social welfare services. Helen Iris Crooke – head of the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Division. George William Dell – of Christchurch. For patriotic and social welfare work. Annie Jean Dickinson. For services to the Casualty Clearing Hospital in the City of Wellington.