HISTORY OF THE

NEW ZEALAND
CONTACT LENS SOCIETY

TODAY KNOWN AS THE

CORNEA & CONTACT LENS
SOCIETY (CCLS)
of New Zealand Inc

1958 - 2007
Published by Cornea & Contact Lens Society of New Zealand
Incorporated, P O Box 635, Hamilton

This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing,

no part of this publication, including the photographs may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.

Printed by Print Solutions Hawke’s Bay Limited, Print Corner,

Carlyle & Craven Street, Napier, New Zealand

2
CONTENTS

Page

Preface ....................................................................... 5
Introduction ................................................................ 7
President’s Word .......................................................... 9
World History of Contact Lenses ................................... 11
The First Decade: 1958 – 1967 ................................... 15
The Second Decade: 1968 – 1977 ............................... 23
The Third Decade: 1978 – 1987 .................................. 31
The Fourth Decade: 1988 – 1997 ................................ 47
The Fifth Decade: 1998 – 2007 ................................... 61
Summary of the First 25 Years ..................................... 77
Summary of the Second 25 Years ................................. 81
The Presidents ........................................................... 89
About the Author ....................................................... 95
The Early Pioneers...................................................... 97
The Later Entrepreneurs............................................ 107
The Subsidised Lens Scheme ..................................... 111
Secretaries.............................................................. 113
Life Members of the Society....................................... 115
Honorary Members of the Society ............................... 117
Appendices ............................................................. 119

3
4
Preface
Researching the History of The New Zealand Contact Lens Society,
has been a fascinating if somewhat prolonged exercise. Certainly
it was a much longer task than I first envisaged. I wish to record
my grateful thanks to all those people that have contributed to
preserving records and making them available for this publication
as well as offering helpful advice, on the composition of this book.
It entailed considerable travel around the country, interviewing
retired and present members of the Society, so that I was then
able to collate all this information. The proofs were sent to many
of these people for correction and verification; to them my thanks
and also thanks to the Council of the Society for financial help with
travel and the publication of the book.

There have been three name changes during the course of these
50 years, mostly to keep up with modern technology as well as
changes in knowledge and expertise that practitioners have had to
acquire. I have retained the original name, The New Zealand
Contact Lens Society; as this is the name most professional and
lay people, readily identify the Society and contact lenses with.
The present name is the Cornea & Contact Lens Society (CCLS).

I make no apology for the detail in the five decades, as after all
this is a history of a Society and these facts need to be
documented as accurately as possible and published so that they
are available in later years. For those of you who regard reading
through all the decades as a tedious exercise, I have summarised
two 25 year periods for faster reading. This has been a wonderful
trip down memory lane for me and I am sure will be for other older
Society members.

The early New Zealand contact lens scene followed the English
model; later a very close alliance developed with our Australian
colleagues, so close, that Combined and International Conferences
were held every three years, commencing in 1978.

As practitioners’ knowledge increased and became more

sophisticated and their horizons expanded, many of them went to
visit other countries particularly the United States. Paralleling this
was our fledgling manufacturing industry which was also increasing
in size and stature. These firms contributed greatly in sponsoring
our conferences, and bringing noted speakers to our shores.

5
Some of these speakers were aligned with or employed by these
companies, but this in no way detracted from the quality of
information that was presented; in fact it usually enhanced it.
Being so far from the large international scene and being such a
small market, we did lean heavily on these companies for this
service.

It is evitable that in such a time span, some information has been

lost, so that there are periods that have been glossed over, and
probably some important facts have been missed; for this I
apologise. Some people may have either factual evidence or can
remember it (this I doubt) but it was not forthcoming. I did make
several pleas for any past records, photos or other memorabilia to
be sent to me, but few replies were received. Perhaps these
missing links could be inserted into a Second Edition!

To those of you, who have sent information and photos, thank

you. One particularly valuable source has been, Maryanne
Dransfield from New Zealand Optics, who has a wealth of
information and significant photos about the New Zealand contact
lens scene, in fact the whole ophthalmic/optical scene.

The Society goes into its Jubilee year with a strong membership, a
solid financial backing and a hard working council led by a
respected President, Dr Trevor Gray.

There will no doubt be further challenges as time goes by, but

there should be no problem meeting and solving these.

David Sabiston
Napier
New Zealand
2007

6
Introduction
“The whole past is the procession of the present”
(Thomas Carlyle 1795-1881, Scottish Philosopher)

In celebrating 50 years of our Society’s history in New Zealand, we

owe much to those who have set the foundation for what is now
known as the “Cornea & Contact Lens Society of New Zealand”.
These men and women from both professions (optometry and
ophthalmology) have worked together to create a dynamic society
dedicated to excellence in contact lens practice, education and
professional development.

This book is dedicated to those who have made the Cornea &
Contact Lens Society of New Zealand what it is today. While no
historical collection can ever be complete, or fully balanced, this is
the first documentation or our Society’s colourful past. We look
forward to more updated editions over the decades ahead.

Dr Trevor Gray
President
Cornea & Contact Lens Society

March 2007

7
8
President’s Word
As the 30th President of this Society, and celebrating 50 years of
colourful history of our Society, we really celebrate the foresight of
those who went before. These men and women from both
professions (optometry and ophthalmology) have set the
foundation for the current day “Cornea & Contact Lens Society of
New Zealand”.

Now the sixth ophthalmologist President of our Society, it is

humbling to understand the perseverance and foresight shown by
my predecessors (Dr David Sabiston ’68-’69, Dr Antony Morris
’83-’84, Dr Nigel Warden ’89-’90, Dr Tony Lee ’95-’96, Dr John
Beaumont ‘98). They have been instrumental in establishing a
level of inter-professional respect and co-operation that is the envy
of our overseas colleagues. Many of these pioneers were
ostracized by less insightful colleagues of the era.

Much has happened during the last four years as President. None
of which would have been possible without the hard working
support of Secretary/Treasurer (Trevor Duncan) and Council
Members (Dr Peter Haddad, Grant Watters, Alan Saks,
Richard Newson, Greg Nel, Kevin O’Connor, Dr Malcolm
McKellar, Richard Newson, Sally Dorrington, Dave Robinson
and Barbara Shaw). Thank you all for helping make the
following happen during this time:
• New name & logo: “Cornea & Contact Lens Society of NZ”
replaced the “New Zealand Society of Contact Lens
Practitioners” as a better reflection of the future of our mixed
profession society and the overlapping interests of our
optometry and ophthalmology members.
• KeratoSITE quarterly educational emails for Society members
have been Greg Nel’s baby all along.
• RGP & Ocular Surface Workshops introduced the concept of
a nation-wide educational road-show visiting all major centres.
Thanks especially to Jennifer Craig, Simon Dean and our
sponsoring partner: Corneal Lens Corporation.
• Website upgrade has made it much easier for the public to
find their closest contact lens professional and is an ever-
growing resource to Members. Thanks specially to Alan Saks,
Richard Johnson and Nisha Jeyaseelan.

9
• Annual alternating Cornea & Contact Lens Society
Congresses and Mini-Conferences have become bigger and
better in a world of ever-increasing conference choices. The
introduction of practical skills workshops has been popular.
Thanks to all the organizers and contributors!
• Membership has continued to grow for both optometry and
ophthalmology. Very encouraging in the light of fewer
ophthalmologists actively fitting contact lenses.
• University of Auckland Optometry liaison has led to
improved undergraduate contact lens teaching and experience,
as well as encouraging contact lens research. Thanks to the
work and co-operation by Grant Watters, Rob Jacobs,
Geraint Philips and Richard Johnson.
• CCLS Young Researchers’ Awards of $1000 each, are to be
awarded at every CCLS Congress, to the best optometry and
best ophthalmology student presentations.

Thank you again for the privilege of serving.

Trevor Gray

10
World History of Contact Lenses
The history of attempts to regularize ametropia, with contact
lenses, goes back a very long way, in fact to the 16th century, with
Leonardo da Vinci. He made sketches of corneal lenses, but that
was as far as it went.

In 1637, Descartes also suggested corneal lenses were possible,

but it was not until 1801, that Thomas Young fitted a lens onto the
cornea, using a wax collar around the lens, and onto the sclera, to
make it water-tight, so retaining the fluid behind the lens. He was
thus able to show that the cornea was not involved in
accommodation.

In 1824, Reisinger made mention of a possible technique of

corneal grafting.

The first real break came in 1827, when Sir John Herschel
suggested that a glass lens could be ground to fit the curvature of
the cornea, but he did not actually perform this.

It was in 1887, that F.A.Muller of Wiesbaden, Germany, produced

and fitted a glass- blown contact lens. This was the progenitor of
modern-day lenses. A year later, in 1888, Fick (Zurich) and Kalt
(Paris) independently developed optically correct contact lenses.
Things were now really moving, and in 1889, August Muller fitted
himself with a blown glass lens, accurate to within 0.50D. In 1892
Sulzer of Geneva, fitted a ground Zeiss lens to patients with high
myopic astigmatism and keratoconus.

In 1909, Muller design glass-blown lenses went into regular

production. From then on, there was little progress until 1931,
when Plexiglass was invented by ICI. Lenses made from this,
spread rapidly throughout Europe, reaching England, and being
used by Dick Smellie, working for Theodore Hamblin Ltd.

There were many minor modifications to blown and glass lenses,

but the real breakthrough had been made using Acrylic materials,
mostly Plexiglass, that we now know as P.M.M.A., with all its
various modifications. Haptic lenses were about all that could be
offered in this era, and although monstrous by today’s standards,
nevertheless fulfilled a need, and did not really phase out till well

11
into the late 1940-1950’s. Many of us can still remember them
well.

The Second World War saw a tremendous surge in the use of

Perspex as it was also known. The canopies of fighter planes were
fitted with Perspex and it was noted that this material had no
antigenic reaction in human tissue. Even fragments from fighter
plane shattered canopies, having perforated the eyeball and been
retained as an intra-ocular foreign bodies, failed to react inside the
eye. Not only was this material found to be suitable for corneal
lenses, but it was obviously an excellent material for intra-ocular
lenses. Moorfields Eye Hospital and its Surgeons, particularly,
Harold Ridley, were instrumental in researching, producing and
promoting this the earliest of intra-ocular lenses.

In 1936, Obrig in New York, produced lenses from some form of

acrylic material but they were not nearly as good as those made
from the original Perspex material.

In 1937, Hamblin in London, opened a Contact Lens Centre, and a

year later, Moorfields Eye Hospital also in London, opened a
Contact Lens Department.

After the War the development was amazing, with various people
claiming patents often with very small modifications. In 1948,
Tuohy in the U.S. claimed to have invented the Contact Lens!

From now on there was no stopping the rapid progress in design

and manufacturing techniques. William-Noble in 1950 described a
Bifocal Lens. The true micro-lens appeared in 1951, from work by
Sohnges of Germany, John C Neill of America, and Frank Dickinson
of England. John de Carle produced a workable bifocal corneal lens
in 1955.

From then there was little progress, until the startling revelation in
1961 by Wichterle in Prague, of a wearable soft contact lens.
There was a rapid transformation from hard lenses to soft lenses,
the usual swing that occurs when a new product is marketed.
From then on it was nearly all soft lenses. But there were still
problems, often big problems with sight threatening consequences
that needed urgent correction. A World Soft Contact Lens
Conference was held in Prague in 1965, where the original material
originated, and many of the problems were solved.

12
In 1969 Bionite lenses developed by Al Isen became available, and
in 1970 de Carle and Galley set to work on developing the
Permalens, the first extended wear lens.

Big business had entered the arena, even more so than during the
hard lens era, with a multitude of materials, solutions and
accessories, all coming onto the market. It was now quite
obvious, that there was a huge market of potential contact lens
wearers, particularly young myopes. There was also large number
of multinational manufacturers, who were producing a multiplicity
of lenses and a huge variety of all manner of cleaning and soaking
solutions.

An intra-ocular lens rapidly replaced the need for contact lenses to

correct aphakia, especially uniocular aphakia, and there is no
doubt that modern cataract surgery with lens replacement, is one
of the marvels of modern surgical science.

In 1978, further advancements appeared with various

improvements to existing lenses such as the introduction of toric
lenses.

From then on until 2002, almost every year, some innovation

arrived on the market. In 1979 Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses
appeared, and then in 1980 tinted, daily soft lenses became
available. In 1981, extended soft wear lenses appeared, with the
unexpected dangerous and sight-threatening, but yet unnoticed
and unreported complications. In 1982, bifocal daily soft wear
lenses and the first disposable lens made their appearance. In
1988 cosmetic tinted lenses were available by over-the-counter
(OTC) sales, with more problems. These were quickly followed in
1992 by disposable daily tinted lenses, and mail-order and internet
lenses for sale by unqualified people. You name it, it was being
produced.

Much was static until the end of the 90’s, when a new generation
of materials appeared, enabling the modifications of tinting, toric
and bifocal lenses. In 2002, even disposable toric lenses could be
fitted. This is about where we are now.

If you had a refractive condition, it could be corrected with contact

lenses, with very few patients not being able to be fitted if they
earnestly wanted to wear lenses.

13
The one big challenge to conventional contact lens wear has been
the rapid development of laser refractive surgery. This procedure
has some unique but fortunately rarely encountered problems, for
with the new generation lasers complications are hardly ever seen.
Specially designed soft contact lenses can be used to rectify some
of these laser-induced troubles. According to figures produced
from research, there does not appear to have been too much
indentation into the contact lens market from this surgery.

What wonders will appear next? Intra-corneal and intra-cameral

lenses, refractive lensectomy and correction of astigmatic errors
with laser and specifically aligned intra-ocular lenses are already
here.

There will however always be a place for conventional corneal

contact lenses of whatever material or design. Skilful fitting and
adequate patient counselling inspiring patient motivation is of
paramount importance.

14
The First Decade: 1958 – 1967

In The Beginning:
The preliminary Meeting of the New Zealand Contact Lens Society
took place in Rotorua on the 13th of October 1958, when a
Provisional Council was formed consisting of Ray Bridgman as
Chairman, John Fairmaid, Secretary/Treasurer and Council
Members, Peter Heginbotham and Neil Pennington. Hopefully
they will all be approved at a future meeting, and become future
Office Bearers of the envisaged Society. The aims and objects of
this initial Meeting, were to establish a framework on which the
about to be formed, New Zealand Contact Lens Society, could
operate.

The Inaugural Meeting took place three days later, on the 16th of
October 1958, also in Rotorua, with 10 potential Members being
present. The initial appointments that were carried over from the
Provisional Meeting were approved, with Doug Mortimer being
added, as a Council Member. Doug had joined Gene Hirst in
1949, forming the still to this day, named partnership, of Mortimer
and Hirst.

During the intervening three days, between the Provisional and the
Inaugural meetings, much soul-searching and heartburning went
into the formulation of an initial set of aims and objects, for this
fledgling Society. These regulations and aspirations would
ultimately form the Constitution of the new body, including some
lofty ideals regarding contact lens practice and research, as a
science and an art, very noble principles indeed.

A code of ethics was also to be drawn up, with strict rules

governing the duty of the practitioner to his patient. Guidelines on
advertising were laid down, which were subsequently found to be
very difficult to enforce. Many of these rules were gleaned from
the Rules of the parent N.Z. Optometrical Association, and also the
British Contact Lens Association. There were obviously some
alterations that needed to be made, such as admitting
Ophthalmologists to the Society. Problems with far reaching
effects could not have possibly been predicted, in forging closer
ties between these two organisations.

15
There were also rules for non-ethical conduct with subsequent
disaffiliation.

A list of Members was to be drawn up, and the Subscription fee

was fixed at One Guinea.

All these proceedings were conveniently taking place during the

N.Z. Optometrical Annual meeting in Rotorua.

The next Meeting was held in Wellington, in April 1959, but no

report was issued as the Council and members attending were too
busy getting the Administrative and Regulatory procedures
finalized, so that Society could get up and running.

From an initial membership of 18, it had now risen to 31. It was

important not to mimic the Constitution of the Optometrical
Association. One very important point inserted in the Constitution
was to allow Ophthalmologists to be admitted as members. These
early regulations would be used as a framework only and it was
recognised that they would need further modification as time went
by. It was also important to ascertain how many people were
actually fitting contact lenses in New Zealand.

The first of the Clinical Presentations to the new Society, were by

three of the new Members, Albert Rose on “Sterilisation of
Lenses”, Ed Curtis on “Fitting Techniques for Lenses” and Peter
Heginbotham reported on the First World Contact Lens Congress
held in Chicago.

Gene Hirst outlined a Government Subsidised Scheme for certain

types of Refractive Disorders. These subsided lenses had to be
ordered through the Hirst Contact Lens Company for the subsidy
to be obtained. Both the Subsidy scheme itself, and the ordering
through a sole agency, were to cause many problems in the future.

Another irritation was the Import Licensing Scheme, restricting the

importation of lenses from overseas manufacturers. The Customs
Department was vehemently opposed to granting any such
licenses.

Affiliation with the British Society was proceeding well and much
useful information and help was received from this august body.

16
An Instruction Pamphlet for patients wearing contact lenses was in
the process of being prepared and printed.

All in all, the Society was making very satisfactory progress, with
finding its feet and making its mark in the Contact Lens world.
Total expenditure amounted to a tot over 39 pounds sterling, for
the year. Obviously a thrifty Treasurer from the South!

At this time, many of our own Practitioners were starting to visit

Overseas Practitioners and Manufacturers. Not only were they
bringing back useful information about new techniques, materials
and designs, but were also able to invite speakers to come and
visit us during our Annual Meetings. Overseas travel was quite
arduous in those days, not only from the length of time involved,
but also the severe monetary restrictions that were enforced by
the Reserve Bank. There was hardly enough in a daily overseas
allowance to pay for a breakfast while away, so that the very
people we went to see, were often our main providers for
luncheons and dinners. Fortunately, almost all the travel,
accommodation and some meals could be pre-paid, but there were
still gaps, and stomachs had to be filled. People who were thinking
of such a venture, haunted places such as hotels and motels (at
that time, not many motels around) where there was likely to be
foreign funds that could be purchased, often at exorbitant rates.
All these transactions were highly illegal, but very necessary for
such a trip to be undertaken.

The 3rd Annual Meeting took place in Wellington on the 18th and
19th of April 1959 at the Hotel St. George. The Meeting was
chaired by Ray Bridgman and 15 Members attended. Wellington
was chosen for this gathering, and for many subsequent
conferences, as it was theoretically, the easiest place for people to
get to. However, emergencies did occur such as weather delays,
air travel not being quite as sophisticated as it is today. Curiously
the same problems still prevail now, even with modern technology.

No formal lectures were given, much of the sessions were devoted

to equipment used in fitting lenses, and where to purchase it. The
main and unending topic was whether to fit - on, steeper or flatter
than K (the corneal curvature). The variety of lenses available was
very small compared to today. A lively discussion took place on
the proposed Patient Instruction Booklet.

17
In the same year 1959, John Fairmaid issued a comprehensive
Newsletter advising of a wide range of events stemming from our
affiliation to similar Societies. One such event was the World
Congress of Contact Lens Practitioners to be held in Chicago in
August 1959. 70 overseas delegates, including Peter
Heginbotham attended, along with hundreds of American
registrants, unlike the thousands that attend these Congresses
today.

Affiliation with the British Society had now been completed.

A Register of Members, 23 in total, had been printed and

distributed to all Optometrists in N.Z.

The Social Security Scheme for contact lenses for high myopia,
keratoconus and uniocular aphakia, and any refractive condition
that in the opinion of the Health Board Ophthalmologist would
benefit from contact lenses, was outlined by Gene Hirst, who had
set up the benefit with the Health Department. Up till now, these
patients had been fitted with haptic lenses, but were now able to
be fitted with micro-corneal lenses.

Pen Thomas from Australia ran a course in Christchurch over

Queens Birthday weekend (1959) on micro-lens fitting.

There had been some very adverse publicity about contact lenses
in New Zealand appearing in the Press, which had subsequently
been quickly rectified.

Here are some facts and figures for the year 1962. The First
Australian Contact Lens Congress was held at the University of
Sydney, NSW, attended by Eric Sellers, Ed Curtis and Mrs Jill
Simmons. Jill presented a paper on “Lens Modification” and was
the first woman to participate in that type of contact lens work.
She even took her own modifying equipment over to Sydney. The
equipment was valued at 1,000 pounds sterling.

The next Clinical meeting was held in Palmerston North on the

20th/21st/22nd of September 1963. This was certainly a much
longer time span since the last meeting than had been envisaged.
The programme was advertised as being flexible, a quaint term,
meaning that there would be no didactic lectures.

18
Pen Thomas presented a new multi-curve type of contact lens,
certainly a break away from bi-and tri-curve lenses, that up till
then had been the only ones available. Many of these older lenses
were modified and finished by experienced practitioners who had
the requisite equipment. Some even used very rudimentary
blanks, which by modification and finishing techniques, produced
good quality lenses.

There was also a report on the 2nd World Contact Lens Congress.

The Annual General Meeting was held during the meeting, and
chaired by Bromley Bennett. The total membership now stood at
54. The Society had a satisfactory Financial Balance of 57 pounds
sterling. My oh my!

The results of a survey, asking for information on numbers and

types of lenses being used, which had been circulated to members
who were registered, was presented. It was a very disappointing
response, with just over half the members responding.

Facts and figures from this questionnaire were as follows;

• 50 circulars were sent out to known fitters, 26 replied, a poor
result.
• 2,792 lenses had been fitted, near enough to 3,000. One
practitioner fitted 500 lenses.
• 57 haptics were fitted, all in this year.
• 54% of the respondents fitted Social Security lenses.
• 61% used a slit-lamp but it was unknown whether it was used
solely for fitting lenses, or in the practice generally.
• 15% possessed a radiuscope.
• 42% modified lenses, and 87% checked lenses on delivery
from the laboratory.

There was a large demand for information from the public about
contact lenses, and the Information Booklet for patients, which
was now almost depleted, was to be upgraded and reprinted.

The next two Meetings were held in Wellington at the Royal Oak
Hotel. The first Meeting was held on the 13th, 14th, 15th of August
1965 and the second on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July 1966.

Four of our members presented papers at the first meeting, and

Pen Thomas, from Australia also spoke. Still the argument raged
on about fitting lenses on-K, steeper or flatter than K!

19
It was now apparent that Ophthalmologists were taking a greater
interest in contact lenses. David Sabiston one of early
Ophthalmological members, spoke on Keratoconus and its
association with asthma and eczema, often causing almost
insurmountable problems in fitting lenses. He also spoke about
viral eye infections and lenses. The combination of Optometrists
and Ophthalmologists appearing on the same programme was
completely forbidden in Australia, and many personal letters,
phone calls and often direct communication both from their
colleagues and from the College Officers, were received by these
Ophthalmologists, with more hostile reactions being received from
their Australian compatriots, about this fraternisation. Permission
had to be sought from the College before appearing on any mixed
programme in Australia. It was subsequently proven that this
Society was responsible in a very large way, for forming friendly
relations between the two Societies.

The next Scientific Meeting was held at the Royal Oak Hotel from
the 1st to the 3rd of July 1966 with 50 members attending and 2
members presenting papers. Overseas speakers were Dr David
Volk, who presented a brilliant paper on con-o-coid lenses, the
lens design of the future. He also described his new revolutionary
fundal lenses, now universally accepted and used world-wide. Dr
Theodore Grosvenor, later to become Dean at the Dept of
Optometry in Auckland, also spoke and Pen Thomas gave a
paper.

The Annual General Meeting was held during this meeting also at
the Royal Oak Hotel, Wellington on July the 2nd 1966, with John
Fairmaid presiding and 38 Members in attendance. The balance
sheet showed a healthy surplus of 184 pounds sterling.

John Fairmaid produced a booklet called “Wear, Care and

Handling of Contact Lenses” but the sales did not quite cover the
cost of publication. It was however very warmly received by both
Society members and the general public, who were wearing or
interested in lenses.

It was agreed that papers presented at any meetings should be

published as Transactions, and John Connor was appointed the
Transaction Editor.

20
A vote of thanks was passed and subsequently sent to Professor
Ted Grosvenor, for organizing Postgraduate Courses in Contact
Lens work.

The Scientific Meeting was held at the famous Royal Oak, but it
was the extra-curricular activities that really were the highlight of
the meeting!

The next Meeting was held at the Russley Hotel Christchurch on

the 1st through to the 3rd of July, 1967, in the middle of winter.
During this Meeting the 9th AGM was held and John Fairmaid as
President welcomed 15 new members, adding to a rapidly rising
total of 85. Due to increased duties, the dual post of
Secretary/Treasurer held by Sid Salek was separated into the two
separate entities. The subscription was increased to 5 pounds
sterling.

The sticky question of window advertising was raised and three

members, who were contravening the rules, were asked to remove
such advertisements. Slightly different to today’s standards!

The Dept of Civil Aviation allowed non-professional crew only, to

wear contact lenses i.e. Student and Private Pilots. These
trainees, if they were intending to proceed further, had to be fully
aware that Commercial Pilots could not wear lenses. Again, how
times change. The same argument occurred when refractive
surgery became fashionable.

Mr Pen Thomas gave notice of the Pan-Pacific Meeting to be held

in Surfers Paradise in 1970.

David Sabiston issued an invitation, which was accepted, for the

10th Anniversary (1968) Meeting to be held in Napier. Wives or
partners were to be invited to attend the Social Programme, a first
for the Society.

And so ended an action packed first decade, witnessing the birth

and subsequent rapid progression in stature of the New Zealand
Contact Lens Society.

21
22
The Second Decade: 1968 - 1977
The information available in this Decade, concerning Committee
Meetings particularly, was very much reduced on what was
available in the first ten years. The progress in the contact lens
field during this period was rapidly gaining pace, for there were
some major innovations, especially with the appearance of soft
lenses in the latter half of this decade. Public interest in soft lenses
was rapidly rising, but unfortunately the community was often
totally misinformed, due to adverse publicity mostly from the
Press. The number of Optometrists and Ophthalmologists that
were now fitting lenses was rising exponentially.

The 1968 Conference was held in Napier on July the 5th to the 7th
with a splendid Presidential address from John Fairmaid.

He reminded the members that this was the 10th Anniversary of

the Society, which is now one of a number of similar societies
throughout the world and although it is but 10 years old, it
nevertheless is also one of the oldest in the world.

In this short period of time, there has been a tremendous

explosion in the advancement of lenses from the previous clumsy,
although still sometimes used, haptic lenses.

He then outlined the trials and tribulations in forming the Society

from that Inaugural Meeting in 1958, completely independent from
the Institute of Opticians, as that parent body was then called.

He made mention of the great contribution that the two

manufacturing laboratories had made, Hirst Contact Lenses in
Auckland, and Ed Curtis’, Corneal Lens Corporation in
Christchurch. He outlined the development by Gene Hirst of first
bi-or tri-curve lenses and then the V-contour lens, followed by the
“conocoid“ lens in consultation with David Volk. At the same
time, Pen Thomas from Sydney commenced distributing
multi-curve lenses, confusingly named the “conoid“ lens. He
pointed out that the main strength of this Society was that it was a
predominantly a youthful organisation, both in time span and also
the average age of its members. It was concerned with absorbing
a science that itself was developing rapidly and so offering a
continual challenge.

23
Speakers at this Conference were Mr Tom Willis from Australia,
the incoming President, David Sabiston and Murray Ashbridge.

In 1969 the Meeting was held in Auckland on the 27th to the 29th of
June 1969. David Sabiston, as President, gave his Address on
the theme of “Tolerance”, especially between our two Societies.
He also spoke about the uniqueness of the arrangement where
Optometrists and Ophthalmologists, gather together, with a
common objective, contact lenses. Both professions were able to
meet each other on common ground and exchange knowledge
gained from their respective skills, all for the benefit of their
patients. It had not been an easy road achieving this goal.

Also tolerance with the patient who struggled to attain total wear
of their lenses, and lastly tolerance toward the cornea, that has to
endure until adaptation, a foreign body thrust upon it, against all
its natural defence mechanisms. Proper screening of the patient is
vital to eliminate those patients that are not sufficiently motivated
to wear lenses full time. A carefully taken medical history should
unveil factors in the patient’s history warning the practitioner of
possible factors that would mitigate against successful lens wear.
Adequate preparation and instruction of the patient are essential,
before trial fittings are undertaken, so that the patient is fully
aware of what is ahead of them. This should eliminate patients
who were unlikely to be suitable lens wearers.

At this 1969 Meeting, Mr F.A. Burnett-Hodd, from the British

Contact Lens Society, gave a paper on “Bifocal and Multifocal
Contact Lenses” that had been previously presented to the British
Contact Lens Society in October 1967, and published in “The
Optician” in May/June 1969. One of the impressive figures quoted
from this paper was that there were an estimated 5.7 million lens
wearers in the U.K., representing 10% of the population – a
staggering figure. Those manufacturing and pharmaceutical
companies representatives must have been equally impressed with
this figure. He also stated that a large percentage of presbyopes
could wear lenses, with a market potential including this latter
group, of 11 million wearers!! It was difficult to comprehend that
this age-group would readily take to contact lenses. The rest of
the paper dwelt with the design and manufacture of these lenses
with other types of bifocal and trifocal lenses mentioned briefly.

Ed Curtis from Corneal Lens Corporation spoke about making

conoid lenses smaller, a true micro-lens. His laboratory was now

24
the agent for the Pen Thomas designed conoid lens. This bold
move to reduce the size of lenses was designed to improve the
comfort for the patient.

A new and innovative approach to our programme was a paper

delivered by Bert van der Kolk, a skilled technician from the Hirst
Contact Lens Company, on the manufacture of toric and bi-toric
lenses, and the mathematics involved therein. It was way above
most of our heads, but showed how far lenses had evolved in this
short space of time.

Other speakers were Neil Pennington, Pen Thomas, and Mrs

I.D. Daniels who spoke about “Orthoptics in relation to Contact
Lens Wear” a truly novel approach to contact lenses and orthoptic
problems.

The Society per medium of their scientific meetings, and with the
number and calibre of overseas speakers on the programme, was
really beginning to gain momentum.

In the 1970 Meeting, the outgoing President David Sabiston

welcomed Jim Tannehill and his wife Sylvia to the conference.
By now, many of our members were well aware of Jim’s
professionalism in regard to the manufacture of contact lenses,
and in fact, some of our members, had even visited Jim at his
laboratory in Hawaii. There was always a very warm welcome for
New Zealanders there, as David Sabiston could attest to having
been fortunate enough to visit his laboratory. Jim’s hobbyhorse
was edge finishing, a point that he put across at this meeting very
well; many were converted.

One problem that arose from our Society being composed of

people from both the Optometrical and the Ophthalmological
Societies was that it was causing considerable anger across the
Tasman. Those of our members, who were Ophthalmologists, had
been on the receiving end of considerable vitriolic criticism, both
by mail, and also by personal contact. Some of it may well have
been jealousy, as there was no doubt that the way we were
structured, it helped the patient when lens problems arose, as in
the solving of these problems, it did involve members of the two
professions.

Jim Tannehill spoke as previously stated, on edge design,

Murray Ashbridge spoke about Keratoconus, and David

25
Sabiston related the experiences he had had in the United States,
with soft lenses. They were the new emerging star on the horizon.

Tribute was paid to the high degree of professionalism shown by

our manufacturers, who were only too willing to impart their
knowledge on design and fitting techniques, either from a visit to
their laboratory, or over the telephone for lesser problems. This
was a really useful service.

At this time, financial help was given to our meeting by Hirst

Contact Lens Ltd and Allergan from their agents N.Z.
Pharma-Chemicals Ltd.

One notable first was the Allergan Cocktail Party, which was to be
sponsored by that company and continued and enjoyed for many
years to come.

The next Conference in 1971 was held in Dunedin, with the

President, Doug Mortimer talking about soft lenses. His address
was a very timely one, as soft lenses were just appearing on the
market. He hearkened back to John Fairmaid’s address in 1967,
when he spoke about the challenges in this predominantly youthful
organization. There was to be no greater challenge than the
development of soft lenses, and a really rapidly emerging one. It
would also offer the patient, a greater choice of lenses, but at the
same time, enlarging the individual’s practice, as it was definitely
much more time consuming. Practitioners would also need to be
much better trained to cope with this new modality.

In the commercial world, smaller laboratories were being

swallowed up by larger conglomerates; the good side of this was
that they had more resources, technically and financially, for
research and development. There was also a huge market
emerging in accessories for the lens wearer, such as solutions,
cases, and instructional pamphlets. It was indeed an exciting and
challenging prospect ahead.

An alteration to the rules was considered, with the new category of

Life Membership to be added to them. The Society’s numbers had
reached 100, with new members constantly coming forward.

Trans-Tasman relations continued to flourish, despite the

opposition from Australian Ophthalmologists, with a constant
interchange of speakers occurring. Tom Willis was such a

26
person, who read a paper by Allen (Al) Isen on his new soft
Bionite lens. The therapeutic soft lens was also a part of his
paper, a very new innovation in treating indolent corneal ulcers.
More of our members were now coming forward to give papers on
some very erudite subjects. Quentin Bennett gave two papers
on underwater photography, a pursuit he was actively engaged in,
and John Connor gave a presentation on toric lenses,
demonstrating the diversity of lens designs that were appearing. A
trial of the Griffin therapeutic lens was being undertaken in the
U.S. involving 232 patients, the final results were yet to be
published.

A full social programme involving wives and partners was also part
of the meeting, with the Allergan Cocktail Party, a very pleasant,
and now firmly established, event.

The 1972 meeting was held in Palmerston North, on the 23rd to the
25th of June 1972, with Doug Mortimer, the President. His
address dwelt almost entirely on the soft contact lens. This was a
very new but an exciting prospect and he spoke about the need to
rigidly screen patients who wanted to wear soft lenses, to
eliminate ocular conditions that would mitigate against a
successful outcome. Factors such as a dry eye problem, high
astigmatism and a hostile working environment were obvious
contraindications.

Checking, sterilizing, cleaning and storage were a whole new

entity. The procedures were at this stage very much in their
infancy, with trial sets that had to be sterilized between patients.
Such actions would not have been tolerated with the rigid
standards in force today.

The maintenance of a stable lens water content for optimum

oxygen transmission was mentioned, without this oxygen
transmission, corneal oedema would quickly result leading to
corneal thickening and distortion, so defeating the very purpose of
the soft lens. The thickness of the lens was a problem that
manufacturers had to solve; the whole manufacturing technique
was totally different to that required for hard lenses. The
manufacturer’s life was not a happy one!

The principal speaker, amongst quite a bevy of our own members,

was Herschell Boyd, a very prominent American contact lens
practitioner and manufacturer, who brought with him, a whole new

27
dimension to contact lens practice. He was a high-powered
businessman, whose practice was based on expert contact lens
technology for both hard and soft lenses. This was coupled with
sound financial advice, which certainly dazzled many of us. The
size of his operation was also an eye-opener, especially his expert
use of ancillary staff, so lightening the load and increasing the
throughput. Our members gained a considerable amount of
information about practice management from his talk. He also
spoke on thin and toric lenses, and the fenestration of hard and
soft lenses, which for soft lenses subsequently proved to be
unsuccessful as the tiny holes very rapidly became occluded.

One of our older members, Len Bell, an Ophthalmologist from

Wellington, spoke on corneal oedema. He later amazed Herschell,
with his capacity for food and beverages!

Alan Bott spoke about his experiences as a novice fitter, and

David Sabiston spoke on corneal grafts and the fitting of lenses.
Eric Sellers gave us an overview of the management of his lens
practice; no doubt he learned much from our eminent overseas
speaker.

On the social front, Herschell Boyd considered himself somewhat

of a road-runner, but was over-shadowed by the crafty Kiwis, led
by President John Connor, an accomplished marathon runner.

The 15th Annual Meeting of the Society was held in Rotorua, on the
1st of July 1973. John Connor, the President, outlined the
increasing influence of overseas speakers, who were to deliver 13
of the 16 papers at this conference. He also spoke about the rapid
advances in the soft lens field. He also mentioned that Rotorua,
where this conference was being held, was the venue for the
Inaugural Meeting of the Society in 1958, some 15 years ago.

The two main speakers were Jim Tannehill from Hawaii, and
Brien Holden from Sydney. Jim had made a tremendous impact
at our 1970 meeting, with many practical ideas which applied to
everyday practice, and was to continue in similar vein at this
meeting. This was in sharp contrast to Brien Holden’s input of
academic and clinical knowledge, coupled with an extensive
amount of background material relating to lenses that
counterbalanced the commercialism that was creeping into the soft
lens field.

28
Pen Thomas from Sydney, spoke on his conoid lens, and John
Strachan and Peter Taylor, both invited guests, spoke about the
technical aspects of lens manufacture, and the optical and
geometric properties of lenses. Dr Ron Tingey talked about soft
lenses and the correction of keratoconus, with a try-it-and-see
attitude, sometimes with unpredictable results, but sometimes
with a pleasant surprise. Gordon Sanderson spoke on the soft
bandage lens, a new concept, but one that would have
far-reaching results. This was certainly a much easier option than
using haptic lenses. Peter Waterhouse spoke on the use of soft
lenses in the correction of uniocular aphakia. This modality would
be extensively used up until the advent of intra-ocular lenses after
cataract surgery.

The 17th Annual Meeting was held at the Logan Park Hotel in
Auckland on the 19th of July 1975, with John Sturtevant as
President. Very little was recorded from this meeting, probably
because there were no contentious matters arising. It was
however suggested that meetings be held in venues close to
airports to keep the costs down.

The Australian Society suggested Hawaii as the next combined

venue, but this was declined.

The Society now comprised 128 ordinary members, plus 1 life and
1 honorary member.

In 1978, the first proposed Combined Australian and New Zealand

Conference was held at the Fijian Hotel. The conference was to be
organised by Ken Bell, Secretary of the Australian Society.

The next New Zealand conference was held in Nelson from the 16th
to the 18th of July 1976, opening with John Sturtevant’s
Presidential address. He reported that membership stood at 148,
and that the volume of literature coming through was immense
and perhaps it was time for an abstract service to be instituted.

This year, because of the Combined Conference being held in Fiji,

the programme was foreshortened, but did have for the first time
a section of workshops, that were very well attended. The main
theme of the workshops was not surprisingly, soft toric contact
lenses.

29
The overseas speakers were Dr Ted Grosvenor from Indiana, and
Dr Brien Holden, both honorary members. Steve Zantos, also
spoke, who with Brien Holden were both from the CCLRU,
Sydney, Australia. Eric Neal, Secretary of the N.Z. Optometrical
Association spoke on “Managing to Survive” a parable for the
modern businessman, certainly a new innovation, showing signs of
a changing practice scene? There was a sprinkling of our own
members who also spoke.

The Annual Conference for 1977 was held in Rotorua on the 15th to
the 17th of July. The President Neil Pennington welcomed the
members and the guest speakers who were both from the U.K.,
A.J. Kempster and J.R. Larke. They were sponsored by Bausch
and Lomb. Charles McMonnies from Australia also gave a paper.
Two of our local members also presented papers, John Veale and
David Sabiston. A new theme from two of the papers was that of
the gas-permeable lens now making its presence felt, yet another
string to the practitioner’s bow.

The main aspect of the second decade was the appearance of soft
lenses and latterly, the gas permeable lens. These were great
strides in technology and needed the development of solutions and
accessories to accompany these new lenses. The multinational
companies were quick to seize on this and soon were attending our
conferences in larger numbers, small though our market was.

30
The Third Decade: 1978 - 1987
The first available saved record of this decade was of the very
much anticipated First Combined Conference between the New
Zealand and Australian Societies to be held in Fiji in 1978. Much
discussion took place between the two Societies concerning
Combined Conferences, before any real unanimity was reached.
One of the greater problems encountered, was that our Society
had Ophthalmologists as members, something that was not
allowed in Australia. Eventually this and other problems were
overcome, and this first meeting took place in Fiji from the 17th till
the 22nd of July 1978 at the Fijian Resort Hotel. This was also the
20th Anniversary of the founding of our New Zealand Society, in
July 1958, at Rotorua.

The respective Presidents were Neil Pennington (New Zealand)

and Tom Willis (Australia). Ken Bell was, and continued to be
for many years, a very dynamic Secretary/Organiser of such
Combined Congresses. The New Zealand Secretary was Eric
Bloomfield, which in an International Conference year, was a
very onerous task.

Overseas speakers included, Dr John Attridge from Ontario,

Canada, Drs Hikaru Hamanao Wakako Iwasaki and Setsuya
Tsuda from Japan, Richard Hill from Ohio, U.S.A. and Dr
Montague Ruben from Moorfields, London. Also appearing on
the programme was a liberal sprinkling of speakers from the
respective Societies. Special mention must be made of Dr Brien
Holden’s presence providing large amounts of very useful clinical
and research material. This was the beginning of many
appearances by Brien, and he was usually supported by members
of his departmental staff, many of whom presented papers.

The topics and themes throughout the presentations to the

meeting, centered almost exclusively on the huge impact soft
lenses were having on the contact lens field. Of a total of 44
papers presented, 32 were wholly or partly to do with soft lenses.
This covered a wide area of soft lens wear and the problems that
were being encountered.

The pharmaceutical firms sent many of their senior staff who were
to give presentations. It was obvious that they too were very
interested in this new field of research, development and

31
marketing. Dr Stuart Eriksen from Allergan California, Mr M.
Rode, Managing Director of Wohlk-Contact Lenses (Far East) Hong
Kong, and Mr. Tony Jackson, Manager of the same firm in New
Zealand and Australia all present. Attending from Hirst Contact
Lenses was Mr Martyn Davy, with Dr George Mertz, Vice
President and Director of Marketing for Sauflon International.

Obviously, in such a congenial mid-winter climate, a wonderful

social programme had been arranged. This atmosphere gave all
participants the opportunity to enter into many discussions with
the eminent speakers that were attending, one of the better
outcomes of such a conference.

The Annual General Meeting was held Tuesday the 18th of July
1978 in Fiji, but nothing appeared to have been recorded.

The 1979 Conference was held at the Rutherford Hotel, Nelson,

from the 16th to the 18th of July, again the notes were very scanty.

Guest speakers were Ted Grosvenor, Brien Holden and Eric

Neal. The Trade sponsors were C.L.C., Allergan, Medic DDS,
Hannaford and Burton and Hirst Contact Lens Ltd. These and
other firms were now starting to show interest in our conferences
and were prepared to donate sponsorship money.

In 1980, both the single council meeting and the AGM, was held
during the Annual Conference in Invercargill. At the council
meeting, the only business transacted, was the passing of the
balance sheet, which showed a healthy surplus of $20,417.36, a
substantial increase on previous years total. The Research Fund
contained a total of $2,000.

An informal meeting was also held, where John Henderson, the

incoming President, suggested that the next meeting should be
held in Wairakei on the 10th, 11th and 12th of July 1981. David
Sabiston was to approach Jim Tannehill and Joe Soper to be
guest speakers, Gordon Sanderson was also asked to seek
further speakers. All speakers were to submit their papers for
publication.

Quentin Bennett, the President, opened this Invercargill

Conference and welcomed the four overseas speakers.
Membership was now 181 ordinary members, 16 honorary
members and 1 life member.

32
Brien Holden in his presentation, elaborated on what Quentin
Bennett had spoken about, the use of photography as an
interesting and necessary accessory for contact lens work. Peter
Schulman from Barnes-Hind spoke on “The Dirty Lens” and the
methods used to clean them. He also spoke about the Food and
Drug Administration in the U.S. and their licensing of these various
products. At this time we did not have the stringent controls that
the United States did, but it was not long before this happened.

A compatriot of Schulman’s, Dr Polse, spoke on the new soft lens

material, polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate now known far and wide
as HEMA. Developed in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1960 by
Wichterle and smuggled out to Canada, where experimental
studies were undertaken in 1968, unfortunately with poor results.
It was not long before these early glitches were overcome, and a
wearable and durable soft lens became available but still not
technically perfect. In 1970 Wictherle and Lime developed a
better polymer, the forerunner to our modern day soft lenses.
Now the race was on, and one vital development, was the use in
the University of Waterloo in Canada of the electron microscope to
show that the interstices of this material could harbour pathogenic
organisms, in fact the lenses could become quite grossly
contamination by these microbes. Very quickly, cold and hot
sterilising solutions were devised, but these same contaminated
interstices also concentrated the solutions sufficiently to cause
chemical toxicity to the conjunctiva, and more particularly the
cornea. One door opened, and another closed!

One of our own members, Hugh Douglas presented a paper on a

new gas-permeable lens from Japan, the Menicon lens. Certainly a
kinder lens to the cornea, and one that could be used in patients,
either first time up, or as an alternative for hard lens grief
patients. Hugh outlined the pros and cons of these lenses in a
very fair manner. Peter Stevenson produced a paper on soft
lens edge thickness, something the manufacturers had difficulty in
reproducing, causing frustration both to the patient and fitter alike.
A thicker lens edge meant patient discomfort; it was so easily
compared to the previously comfortable lens with thinner edges.
Peter acknowledged the help given by the late Neil Pennington in
the composition of this paper.

A further council meeting was held in Rotorua on Sunday the 12th

of October 1980. The 1981 conference was to be held in Wairakei

33
and Jim Tannehill and Gerry Feldman were to be invited as
guest speakers.

Paying for secretarial services had worked well and had lessened
the load on the Secretary and was to be continued.

Concern was expressed at the variation in fees charged throughout

the country, and it was suggested that a survey be conducted, in
an effort to standardise these fees. This would be something
fraught with danger today, attracting an investigation by the
Commerce Commission.

A council meeting was held at Wellington Airport on the 7th of

March 1981. John Henderson chaired the meeting, with the usual
subsidised lens benefit scheme attracting attention, mostly due to
the Government’s inactivity. The Minister promised a base fee up
till April 1981, and then regular increments from then on, based on
the automatic reviews for optical and medical services. This was
agreed to, providing the base fee was satisfactory.

Arrangements for the Wairakei Conference were well in hand, and

the next council meeting was to be held at Wairakei, on the 4th of
June 1981. A telephone conference was to be held one month
prior to this on the 4th of May. A new innovation!

The Annual General Meeting was held at Wairakei on Saturday the

6th of June 1981 mid-winter and very cold. Dr Henderson, the
President presided over 81 members. The membership now totaled
196 ordinary members, 1 life member, 16 honorary members and
3 retired members.

A letter was read from the Health Department advising of a fee

increase for social security lenses from the 1st of April 1981.
Hopefully not an April Fools joke!

The subscription was increased to $35. The annual report

presented by the President commented on the wonderful
hospitality provided was by the Invercargill people at the last
congress.

Abstracts were to be sent to all members with the newsletters.

A council meeting was held after the AGM, and the main topic was
the 1982 Conference. It was suggested that Auckland be the

34
venue, at the Inter-Continental Hotel, with Dr Tony Morris to be
the convener. Professor Stockley was to be approached with a
view to using the University facilities for workshops.

Minutes of the council meeting on Saturday the 19th of September

1981 was held at the Wellington Airport revolving largely around
speakers for the 1982 Meeting. Dr Stein was to be invited and if
he was unavailable, then an Australian speaker was to be asked.

The venue for the 1983 Conference was to be the Chateau

Commodore in Christchurch, with Dr Perry Binder to be invited as
the principal speaker.

The last Council Meeting for the year was held on Wednesday
December 2nd 1981.

The Auckland Conference was well planned, with the Inter

Continental Hotel had giving us a reduced rate for 100 rooms, of
$50.00 per night per room, instead of the usual rate of $77.00.

Letters were to written to trade members as to their requirements

for the conference. This approach to the Trade was another first
for the Society, and indicative of their increasing interest in all
things pertaining with contact lenses.

The first 1982 Council meeting was held at Wellington Airport on

Saturday the 6th of March.

The anomalous fee structure for subsidised lenses was discussed

and some suggestions made on its rectification, particularly in
regard to the fitting keratoconus patients who took much more
time.

A resignation was received from Doug Mortimer, and it was

suggested that he be made a life member at the next AGM. An
invitation was received from the Canadian Society to attend its
biannual Conference in 1983 in Toronto, details of which were to
be circularised to our members.

It was suggested that Mr Robert Muldoon, as he was in those

days, or Dr Lindo Ferguson, whoever was available, be invited to
open and speak at the 1982 conference. From the U.K., Professor
Tomlinson and Richard Pearson were invited to speak, each
giving three papers.

35
The workshop topics of toric hard and soft lenses, sterilisation
systems, lens deposits, tear film problems and hard lens
adjustments, showed a considerable degree of development in the
quest for advanced knowledge.

A letter of congratulations was to be sent to Gene Hirst on his

being awarded the O.B.E.

The next Council meeting was held on the 8th of July, at he Inter
Continental Hotel, just prior to the Annual Conference.

The leap forward in Commercial Pilots wearing soft lenses was

such an important one, that a sub-committee was formed to
approach the Civil Aviation Authority and Air New Zealand
concerning same.

The Annual General Meeting was held at the Auckland University

Conference Centre, on Saturday then 12th of July 1982.

Michael Webber, the President welcomed 117 members, a very

good attendance. Membership was now 211 ordinary members, 1
life member, 18 honorary members and 4 retired members, a total
of 234. Membership was certainly expanding rapidly.

Doug Mortimer was nominated and duly elected a Life Member

on the recommendation of Council. The subscription was
increased to $45 scandalous! Michael Webber was elected for a
second term, as President, with Kinnear Johnson, the Secretary.
Sid Salek suggested that all patients be provided with a copy of
their contact lens prescription, an idea that was warmly received.
This ultimately led to printed cards being made. Mention was
made of the recent and untimely death of Bert van der Kolk.

The next Council meeting was held at Wellington Airport on the

13th of November 1982, with little in the way of matters arising.

The approximate life-span for soft contact lenses for insurance

purposes was deemed to be five years.

The overseas speakers for the 1983 Conference were – Dr Perry

Binder (four papers), Dr Brien Holden (four papers) Dr Gerry
Feldman (one paper) and Mr Charles McMonnies (two papers).

36
Peter Turner and Paul Herrick were nominated to liaise with the
Health Department, about the upsurge of contact lens solutions
that were appearing on the market, and whether some control as
to their composition and efficacy was necessary.

During 1983, two council meetings were held at Noah’s Hotel in

conjunction with the Christchurch Annual Conference, the first on
the 13th of July with Michael Webber the Chairman. A letter was
received from Leon Garner questioning the wisdom of continuing
to use the British Standards for our contact lens classification. The
council endorsed our stance on this matter, and accepted BSI
BS5562:1978 as our standard for contact lenses. This was to be
forwarded to the AGM.

The second council meeting was held three days later, and had
little of importance in the minutes. Dr David Sturman explained
the Medicines Act in relation to contact lens solutions, particularly
as it applied to their efficacy or any adverse reactions that might
occur. It was resolved that Dr Sturman and Peter Turner
co-ordinate in assessing this situation and report back to Council.
As they were both in Wellington it made it much easier for them to
approach the Health Department, and seek the Department’s help
about this issue.

The Annual General Meeting was held in the Christchurch on

Saturday the 16th of July 1983 with Michael Webber, and 56
members attending. Membership now totaled 235.

The annual set of accounts was presented and Mr Styles (as

usual) questioned the large amount of money being held in the
current account, $14,307, with $6,000 in fixed deposit, not so
large in today’s terms. The subscription was to remain at $45,
again opposed by Mr Styles.

Mr Gordon Sanderson was elected President, Vice-President Paul

Rose and Hamish Caithness, Secretary. After much discussion,
it was agreed that the 1984 AGM be held in conjunction with the
Combined Conference at Surfers Paradise. There could be a
problem in obtaining a quorum, as had happened previously where
there was a concomitant Rugby Match taking place!

37
The Annual Report was also presented. A vote of thanks was given
to Dr Tony Morris for his organisation of the very successful 1982
Auckland Conference. The facilities at the School of Architecture
had proved to be first-class, as was the accommodation at the
Hotel Inter-Continental. Workshops were held in the Human
Sciences Building, again a very satisfactory venue.

The first Allergan Award went to John Anstice, who was to

present a paper at this Meeting, dealing with his experiences
overseas in the contact lens field.

To round off the association of contact lenses with airline pilots,

the Medical Branch of the Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transport
had now extended the acceptance of soft lenses to the other lens
categories. It had been a long hard battle!

There had been some progress on the issuing of Import Licenses

for soft lenses, with the Department offering to meet one of our
Councillors as independent authority that they could consult with
on these matters. It would not be long before this restriction
became obsolete with Import Licensing being terminated.

An informal meeting was held at the conclusion of this conference,

to discuss the travel arrangements for the Combined 1984
Conference.

The next council meeting was held in Wellington at the Airport on

the 8th of October 1983 with Gordon Sanderson the President
opening the discussion on a rule change necessary for an AGM to
be held outside New Zealand. This restriction applied from Rule
7(iii), but after much discussion, it was decided to hold the rule
change over until the 1985 AGM.

Some discussion ensued on the high cost of registration at the

Surfers Conference, which when combined with the cost of travel
amounted to considerable financial burden for those attending.

Peter Turner informed the meeting that the Department of Trade

and Industries would confer with the Society as to how new
contact lens materials could be brought into New Zealand.

The 1985 Conference was to be held in the Waikato area, possibly

at the Wairakei Hotel.

38
At a subsequent council meeting on the 18th of February 1984 at
Wellington Airport, Hamish Caithness, the Secretary, spoke
about the regulations pertaining to overseas membership,
especially its time frame, and the need for a rule change to clarify
the matter. A recommendation was to be forwarded to the 1984
AGM for a rule change to iron this anomaly out. The list of
confirmed speakers had been received, and also the likelihood of
profit (and/or loss) be shared between to two societies.

Gordon Sanderson stated that reports of risks of welding with

contact lenses had resurfaced, and Peter Turner was asked to
communicate with the Press Association to settle this issue once
and for all.

Tony Morris suggested that the 1984 AGM be held at the same
time as the Annual Optometrical Association meeting in New
Plymouth. It had been proposed to hold this AGM in Auckland at
the School of Optometry, but the former idea was a better one.

Paul Rose reported that the facilities at the THC Wairakei Hotel
had been reserved for the 19th to the 21st of July for the 1985
Meeting. Again the middle of winter!! 70 rooms were available at
the Hotel with an overflow of 30 rooms reserved at the Suncourt
Motel in Taupo.

The National Poisons Centre had agreed to monitor all adverse

reactions to contact lens solutions, providing their recognised
reporting forms were used; these forms were to be circulated to
members.

The next set of council meetings commenced on the 20th of August

1984, in Surfers Paradise at the Combined Meeting. Gordon
Sanderson chaired a short meeting, where two matters arose,
one the possibility of having more Combined Conferences and the
bogey of Dispensing Opticians being allowed to fit and issue
contact lenses. The first matter was to be referred to the 1984
Annual Conference, and the second was to be the start of a long
series of wrangles, all without much help from the Health
Department. The second short Council meeting was held later in
the week, again in Surfers Paradise. For the 1985 annual
conference, Ken Polse was to be invited as the principal guest
speaker, Dr Michael Guillon and Steve Zantos were also to be
invited. Tony Phillips had already confirmed that he would come.

39
It was the South Island’s turn to hold the 1986 Conference, and
Hamish Caithness was to investigate the possibility of holding it
in Queenstown, with Perry Binder, if available to be the principal
speaker. Brien Holden also was to be invited to speak.

The old chestnut surfaced; social security lenses were due for a
review of the payment scale – the best of luck! A further Council
meeting was held prior to the AGM in New Plymouth on the 13th of
October 1984. One important fact was that contact lenses were
currently classified as medical devices and were unregulated.

Peter Turner was asked to continue his discussions with the

Health Department, and seek to have contact lenses put in a
special category as a medical device. Using this method of
classification, only Ophthalmologists and Optometrists would be
able to fit and dispense contacts.

The 1984 Annual General Meeting of the Society was held in New
Plymouth on the 13th of October, with Gordon Sanderson in the
Chair. This meeting was held in association with the New Zealand
Optometrical Association’s Annual meeting, as with the Combined
Meeting in Surfers Paradise taking place in August, and therefore
displacing our usual annual meeting. The Rules did not allow
AGM’s to take place outside New Zealand but was later amended.
Another aspect was the ability to attain a quorum, also difficult at
this meeting in New Plymouth. After much pressuring of
Optometrical members who were also Society members, who were
attending their Annual Optometrical Meeting, a quorum was
obtained, the number was not stated!

The venue for the 1985 Conference was to be Wairakei with Tony
Phillips, Steve Zantos and Dr Michael Guillon to speak, and the
1986 Conference in Dunedin with Perry Binder as the guest
speaker. It was recommended that the Combined Congress with
the Australians, take place every three years.

Difficulties had arisen over preparing transactions of the

conferences and the possibility of video presentations being
instituted should be explored. This subsequently proved to be too
costly.

Adverse reaction cards for documenting reactions to local or

systemic problems from contact lens solutions were produced and
explained at the meeting. Practitioners were asked to take them

40
with them. Cards would be mailed out to the members who were
not present.

Practitioners were urged to visit the CCLRU in Sydney, where they

would be made very welcome.

The last council meeting for the year was held immediately after
the AGM. A letter of congratulations was to be sent to Ken Bell
for the excellent organisation of the recent Combined Meeting, also
explaining that we favoured three-yearly Combined Conferences.

A competent speaker on adverse drug reactions was sought for a

future conference, preferably an Ophthalmologist. It was
suggested that two members approach the Health Department
over the subsidised lens fee schedule. Again the best of luck.

1985 saw the first Council meeting being held in Wellington again
at the Airport, on the 16th of March. Paul Rose acted as Chairman
(Tony Morris having sent an apology) opened the meeting saying
that Professor Ken Polse was now firmly booked for the 1985
annual conference, with all arrangements being well under control.
The Clinical Assistant’s Course was cancelled for lack of support,
surprisingly in view of the popularity of these courses in latter
years. A cable was received from Steve Zantos stating that he
was no longer able to speak at the 1985 Conference and was
asked in reply to transfer his talks to the 1986 Conference.

Dr Dorothy Potter was asked to speak to the next conference on

Adverse Drug Reactions to contact lens products. A small
presentation was to be made to Stan McKee at the annual dinner,
on his retirement. It was suggested that the Immediate-Past
President be made ex officio, a council member.

The next council meeting took place at the conference venue, the
THC Wairakei Hotel on the 13th of July 1985. Dr Tony Morris
welcomed Victoria Elias as the new council member.

Steve Zantos had been requested to transfer to the 1986

Conference and the council also decided to ask Brien Holden to
appear on the same programme. A cheque had arrived from
Australia for our share of the Combined Conference profit!

Negotiations still continued on guess what subject? ….what else

but subsidised lenses.

41
The Annual General Meeting of the Society took place at the THC
Wairakei on the 13th of July 1985.

Paul Rose the President and 71 members attended. The Society

now had 224 ordinary members, 1 life member, 20 honorary
members and 3 retired members, a grand total of 247. In the
election of officers, Tony Morris was elected President, Peter
Turner Vice-President and Trevor Duncan, Secretary. The
previously mentioned topics were on the agenda: adverse drug
reactions, the Medicines Act and its application to contact lenses
and of course subsidised lenses. The first two subjects have the
capability of being resolved, the last topic much more difficult.

Mention was made of a member of long-standing, Wellington

Ophthalmologist Len Bell’s ill-health, a letter of condolence was to
be sent to him. A letter was also sent on Sid Salek on his
achievement in setting a world record in the 800 metres freestyle
swimming event.

A vote of thanks was passed to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty

members’ involvement in the successful running of this Congress.

The annual report from President Paul Rose had already been
circulated and mirrored all that was discussed at the AGM, with
further information that very helpful newsletters were now being
issued on a regular basis. The next AGM was to be held in
Dunedin on the 26th of July 1986.

The last council meeting for the year was held at Wellington on the
30th of November 1985. Dr Tony Morris chaired the meeting, and
at last some progress had been made with an upgrade in the fee
structure for subsidised lenses. This was to be circulated to all
members, with the appropriate explanation as to how they should
be applied.

A plea was to be made through the newsletters for more New

Zealand members to appear on our annual meeting programme.

The first council meeting for 1986 was, held at the usual place
Wellington Airport, on the 5th of April and Dr Tony Morris was the
Chairman.

42
Paul Rose informed the Council that a new projector had been
purchased to accompany the laser pointer that had been bought
previously, new technology for those days. Allergan sent a letter
offering to sponsor a speaker or donate a travel grant.

A recent article in Time Magazine on contact lenses was to be sent

to members via the newsletter. It was not mentioned as to its
content, it must have been accurate!

The second council meeting was as usual held just prior to the
AGM, on the 24th of July. Peter Turner said that the classification
of contact lenses as a medical device had run in to a brick wall –
how strange! Bring in the heavy artillery; Peter Turner was to
co-opt Drs Nigel Warden and Randall Elliott to approach the
Minister.

The Society became registered for GST and was to make 6

monthly returns. It was recommended that the Treasurer receive
a payment of $500 for out-of-pocket expenses.

In 1986, the AGM was held at the Southern Cross Hotel in Dunedin
on the 25th of July 1986. The President Dr Tony Morris and 63
Members were present. The election of officers resulted in Peter
Turner being elected the new President, Trevor Duncan the
Secretary, and David Robinson the Treasurer.

The principal guest speaker was Dr Perry Binder from San Diego,
California. The other overseas speakers who had been invited were
Nathan Efron and Brien Holden. Tony Morris spoke on the
“Advances in Refractive Surgery” and other local members to give
papers were John Veale, Peter Turner, Paul Rose and Nigel
Warden. There was also a very lively panel discussion about
extended wear lenses, which were very much in their infancy.

The Society now had a membership of 236 members, consisting of

230 ordinary members, 1 life member, 20 honorary members, and
2 retired members. The Annual Subscription was set at $40 plus
GST, to which Alan Styles, as usual questioned the amount, his
usual stance against inflationary trends!

Rule 7 (iii) was altered to allow an AGM to take place outside New
Zealand, as the Triennial Combined Conference was coming up.
This conference was to be held in Surfers Paradise from the 4th to
the 9th of September 1987.

43
The Council was instructed to send a strong letter to the Health
Department recommending that the fitting and supply of contact
lenses to the public only be allowed by registered
Ophthalmologists and Optometrists, to prevent potentially
dangerous problems arising in an unsuspecting public.

The last Council meeting for the year was held in the James Cook
Hotel Wellington on the 11th of October 1986. Peter Turner
presided, and matters arising were the classification of contact
lenses, with the sub-committee’s report being sent to the Health
Department for their approval.

Allergan sent a letter offering to continue their Triennial Grant, a

generous offer.

A Council meeting that was held on the 7th of March 1987, was
again largely taken up with the Combined Conference business.

No further progress had been made with the classification of

contact lenses, just as slow in progress when dealing with the
subsidised lens scheme, and all with the same Government
Department!

A short post-conference council meeting was held over breakfast

on the 27th of July with very little business transacted. The thorny
problem of people other than Ophthalmologists and Optometrists
supplying lenses was emerging, and a letter was to be sent to the
Opticians Board informing them of the Society’s stance on the
matter.

The last Council meeting took place at the James Cook Hotel,
Wellington, on the 11th of October 1986.

Peter Turner the President reported that negotiations were

proceeding, albeit at a snail’s pace on the classification of contact
lenses. The Secretary was to obtain a copy of the Incorporated
Societies Act to ascertain the rules regarding the holding of AGM’s
off-shore.

The 1988 annual conference was to take place in Wellington, at

the Michael Fowler Centre.

The next Council meeting would be held in conjunction with the

Combined Meeting in Australia.

44
The first Council meeting of 1987 was held at 326 Lambton Quay,
Wellington on the 7th of March 1987. Peter Turner, the Chairman,
presented a dissertation on a contact lens solution pamphlet that
had been printed and was ready for distribution to practitioners.
The balance sheet which was to be circulated before the AGM
showed the Society to have total funds of $19,332.00, a slight
decrease on the 1986 total ($23,267) of $4,000.

A further council meeting was held at the Wellington Airport on the

4th of July, 1987.

The Combined Conference was discussed at length, as well as the

next, 1988 Conference. Don Korb was unfortunately unable to
attend, but was to be held in reserve for a future Conference, in
fact 1996. It is very necessary to book Overseas Speakers a long
way ahead! The possibility of a Combined Meeting with the Hong
Kong Society was to be explored, and the Society was informed of
the 50th Meeting of the British Society in London from the 25th to
the 28th of May 1988.

The 1987 Combined Conference was to be held at Jupiter’s

International Hotel and Casino, Broadbeach, the Gold Coast,
Queensland, in October 1987. A circular was sent from the
organising secretary, Ken Bell, to all our members, asking for
those that were going to attend, to perhaps present papers.
Conference travel arrangements were in the hands of Parnell
Travel Ltd, in Auckland for Group travel was the preferred means
of going to Australia, so as to obtain the best possible rates.

A pre-conference council meeting was held at the Conrad Hilton

Hotel, the Conference Hotel, on the 4th of October 1987. It was a
relatively short one, with the main topic being social security
lenses, yet again. There was some light on the horizon for a fee
increase, the first for many years.

The contact lens booklet was to be reprinted after gathering

suggestions from members for its improvement.

The 29th AGM was also held during the Combined Conference, on
the 6th of October 1987 with Peter Turner the President and 35
members attending, a remarkable number in view of the offshore
location. The subscription remained at $40 plus GST. Hamish
Caithness was elected President and David Robinson, Vice
President. From the financial report, the Society had a balance of

45
$19,332.00. From the Presidential report, the membership stood
at 235 ordinary members, 1 life member, 20 honorary members
and 3 retired members.

The President undertook a review of the contact lens subsidy

scheme and reported that negotiations with the Health Department
had been very favourable and changes were imminent.
Submissions were made on the regulation and classification of
contact lenses. These submissions were very strongly worded
about our views on these matters, particularly who could and could
not fit and prescribe lenses. We were well aware of the
Government’s view on the liberalization of the regulations, moving
towards less control and restrictions, in the Society’s view an
undesirable state. The lobbying extended right up to the Minister.

The next council meeting and the last for the year were both held
at Wellington Airport on the 8th of October and the 12th of
December respectively.

Preliminary work on the 1988 conference had been done, with

both John Dart and Helen Swarbrick accepting our invitation to
be speakers.

The 1989 Conference was to be held at the Sheraton Hotel,

Rotorua, with Selwyn Hatrick, the Organiser.

After an initial glimmer of hope, no satisfactory replies had been

received from the Department on subsidised lenses, or the
reclassification of lenses. How strange!

And as the Third Decade ended, the Society was advancing in

strength and stature. There were a total of 259 members, and the
Society’s accounts showed a healthy financial situation; the future
was looking very bright indeed.

46
The Fourth Decade: 1988 - 1997
The first council meeting of 1988, was held at the Sheraton Hotel
in Rotorua on Monday, on the 19th of March to view the facilities at
the Hotel, and determine their suitability for the 1989 Conference.

The AGM of the Society was held at Michael Fowler Centre during
the Annual Conference, on the 8th of July 1988, with Hamish
Caithness chairing the meeting. Membership had now reached
268, comprising 233 ordinary members, 1 life member, 4 retired
members and 20 honorary members. The subscription was set at
$60 plus GST. The President produced his report, mostly
concerning the Combined Conference at Broadbeach, where one
fifth of the attendees were New Zealanders, a remarkable number.
The bad news was that hardly any of members participated in the
programme, by presenting papers.

Good news on the Social Security front, there is to be a 25%

increase in the fee structure from the 1st of June, 1988 but that is
still the last fee increase to have taken place for many years. The
Government was still dragging its feet, on the legislation required
to stop unregistered people from selling contact lenses. Although
sharing our sentiments, they had not acted at all.

The 1988 Conference, and our 30th Birthday celebrations, was to

be held in Christchurch, from the 7th to the 10th of July, 1988.
Principal speakers were already being sought. Those that were
being considered were Professor Doug Coster from Adelaide,
Helen Swarbrick from Sydney, and hopefully Tony Phillips also
from Adelaide. There possibly will be no video record of the
conference proceedings; because of the escalating cost of
producing same: in fact a video was made!

The conference was voted a resounding success and full marks to

Peter Turner and his team for their organisational skills. A
healthy profit from the conference was returned, and both John
Dart and Helen Swarbrick were made honorary members.

A council meeting was held at the same time as the annual

meeting, and the protocol for the research fund was presented, as
more demands were being made on this fund, as more trainees did
research work.

47
Conference workshops reports:
Change of name: No decision was made about a name change,
and members are asked to forward their opinions to the Secretary
for subsequent discussion at a future council meeting so that a
recommendation could be made to an upcoming AGM.
Logo: It was recommended that a suitable but simple logo be
formulated, and used on all formal Society correspondence, and
also possibly for car stickers.
Certificate of Membership: Although this was thought to be
desirable, the use of letters made from the Society’s name, and
placed after one’s own name, was considered to be undesirable.
It was deemed that a list of contact lens practitioners, be
forwarded to Pharmacies, General Practitioners, St. John’s
Ambulance Stations and Public Relation Offices and possibly put in
the Yellow Pages. The insertion into the Yellow Pages was
subsequently found to be far too expensive.
Public Relations Policy: It was resolved that a sub-committee be
formed to produce an information booklet for interested patients.
Also, the President is first choice and council members secondary,
as spoke persons for any general matters on contact lenses that
could be released to the Press. Any similar releases by ordinary
members were to be discouraged.
The Society Code of Ethics: It was agreed that the two Associated
Body’s Code of Ethics, that is from the Ophthalmological and the
Optometrical Societies, were adequate for our Society’s needs.
A National Survey of contact lenses was to be undertaken by the
Auckland University staff. Nigel Warden was to research the
guidelines for contact lens wear in Industry.
It was universally agreed that the workshops at this conference,
had been a very worthwhile exercise.

The contact lens instruction booklet was to be reprinted, and

members were asked for ideas and suggestion to be inserted into
that publication.

The council was still very concerned about the illegal supply of
contact lenses in the community. Every effort was being made to
acquaint the Government with this problem, with letters being
forwarded to the Health Department, and dialogue taking place
with the Minister. The ultimate probability of deregulation of
contact lenses by the Government is not assisting at all, and would
make for a widespread sale of lenses by unregistered persons, with
all its implications, not a possibility, but an almost certainty.
Fortunately, it did not happen.

48
Social Security lenses were still a problem child, not made any
better, by the failure of some practitioners to adequately fill in the
forms submitted to the respective Hospital Boards, with their
subsequent return to the fitter, and no payment made to either the
fitter or the manufacturer. This caused considerable anxiety to the
manufacturing laboratories, as they were not getting paid for their
services. Also GST, an added burden, must be added to the
invoice before forwarding to their respective Hospital Boards.
Contact lens laboratories are acting illegally if they ask
practitioners for payment for the lenses. To facilitate payment, the
documentation must be meticulous and error free. This was still a
continuing hassle in the prolonged saga associated with Social
Security lenses.

Any adverse drug reactions in contact lens wearers should be

reported on the appropriate forms, which are available from the
Secretary.

The conference for 1989 was to be held in Rotorua from the 29th of
June till the 2nd of July. The line-up of illustrious speakers was a
very satisfactory outcome, as likewise was the fuller social
programme, to accommodate the increased number of wives and
partners registering. The conference clinical sessions because of
popular demand were to be put on video. The council made an
impassioned plea for our own Society speakers to step forward and
expand the programme to a respectable size. As an inducement,
speakers would receive a reduction in their registration fee.

A rigid lens verification and adjustment workshop is also to be held

at the conference, with various types of lenses and machines
available for demonstration and hands-on purposes.

A third council meeting was held at the Airport Travel Lodge in

Christchurch, on the 27th of August 1988. Some problems with the
Sheraton in Rotorua being the venue for the 1989 conference
surfaced in that there may be a shortage of room for the Trade
Exhibitors. Trevor Duncan and Fred Swain were to investigate
this in consultation with hotel management. Another problem was
the possible shortage of seating, for up to 350 attendees were
expected to be present at the annual dinner.

All members were saddened to learn of the tragic death of John

Connor and also the passing of Gene Hirst.

49
The 1989 Rotorua conference was a great success after the few
small hitches were sorted out. Special thanks to Selwyn Hatrick
and his team in the effort that they put into making this
conference such a memorable occasion. The opening address was
given by the Hon. Paul East, Opposition Spokesperson for Justice.
Overseas speakers included, Michael Harris, Ted Grosvenor,
Tony Phillips, Nathan Efron and Ken Kenyon.

The AGM was held at the Sheraton Hotel with David Robinson
the outgoing President, and 86 members attending. Nigel
Warden was elected the new President, Trevor Duncan the Vice
President and Victoria Elias Secretary. The name change from
the New Zealand Contact Lens Society Inc to The New Zealand
Society of Contact Lens Practitioners, was enacted, a memorable
occasion. The subscription was set at $70 plus GST. Membership
was now 254 ordinary members, 3 retired members, 13 honorary
members, including Nathan Efron and Tony Phillips, who had
been recently honored and 1 life member. A certificate of
membership was also to be issued to all financial members.

Air New Zealand issued a directive that all cabin crew must have
Class 1 visual standards as defined in CASO 16, Section 4. They
could now wear contact lenses to achieve the 6/9 standard in each
eye, but must have a history of six months satisfactory tolerance
to the lenses.

The first council meeting for 1989 was held at Wellington Airport
on the 17th of February and the second meeting immediately
before the AGM on the Gold Coast. The usual issue of problems
associated with subsidised lenses arose at both meetings. The
Yellow Pages insertion was also discussed, costing being a vital
factor. The deregulation of contact lenses was a worrying feature
on the agenda, something that would have to be looked into very
thoroughly. Councillors were asked to bring forward suggestions
as to what could be done, after the AGM.

Our next combined conference was held at the Sheraton Mirage on

the Gold Coast, from the 9th to the 14th of September 1990, with a
plethora of excellent speakers to add to the splendid venue,
making this a memorable meeting. The AGM barely attracted a
quorum, with President Nigel Warden and 18 members. The
annual subscription was retained at $70 per year plus GST. The
newly elected officers were Trevor Duncan President, Paul Rose
Vice-President Secretary Victoria Elias and John Anstice

50
Treasurer. Trainee membership was to be available to those
approved students engaged in Optometry or Ophthalmology
training. They would not be required to pay a subscription. Total
Society’s assets stood at $28,188.

The last council meeting was again held at Wellington Airport on

the 3rd of November 1990. Trevor Duncan chaired the meeting,
with a report from Nigel Warden of an Ophthalmic Registrar’s
course sponsored by Allergan in Dunedin on the 10th and 11th of
November. The Society was to contribute $1000 for the cost of
lecturers’ travel. Clarity was requested from Air New Zealand on
the visual standards for their Cabin Crew. David Robinson was
confirmed as organising chairman of the 1991 Conference.

The 1991 conference was to be held in the Christchurch Town Hall

and at this stage extensive preparations for the conference were
already underway. The keynote speakers were to be Prof Doug
Coster from Adelaide, and Dr Noel Brennan from Melbourne.
Society members were urged to present a paper, with a 30 minute
paper waiving the full registration fee, and less than this i.e. a 15
minute paper, half fees.

The certificates of membership will be ready in the New Year,

1991.

Agreement was reached with the Yellow Pages publishers to have a

listing “Contact Lens Practitioners, with a separate section for
“Contact Lens Manufacturers and Wholesalers”. This meant that
Society members did not have sole rights to these classifications.

At the Society meeting in Christchurch in July, honorary

membership was bestowed on Professor Douglas Coster,
Professor of Ophthalmology at the Flinders Medical Centre, in
Adelaide, and Ken Bell, Secretary of the Australian Contact Lens
Society, the man who almost single-handedly organizes, and has
done for many years, our triennial combined conferences.

A fitting course for ophthalmic registrars, was to be held on the

10th and 11th of November in Dunedin. It was organised by
Gordon Sanderson and Nigel Warden and assisted by Peter
Turner, Hamish Caithness and David Robinson. Some very
generous financial sponsorship was donated by Allergan, Alcon,
and Johnson & Johnson. It was hoped to run this course every two
years.

51
The 1991 Christchurch conference was an outstanding success,
again reflecting the hard work by David Robinson and his
committee.

It was with regret that the council learnt of the death of Dr

Graham Moore. A letter of sympathy was sent to his family.

From a newsletter of September 1991, it was learnt for those who

had not already been told, that Alan Styles had been killed in a
motor-cycle accident, on the 3rd of August 1991. This unwelcome
news was received with extreme regret. A fine obituary was
penned by Michael Webber, and has been reproduced in the
appendices for your perusal. Alan was very colourful character,
and would be sadly missed by his family, his colleagues, and the
community in Hawke’s Bay. Deepest sympathy was extended to
Alan’s family.

The 1992 conference was held in Auckland on the 23rd to the 26th
of July 1992, at the Pan-Pacific Hotel. The Conference was opened
by the Hon Katherine O’Regan, the Minister for Consumer
Affairs. The keynote speakers were to be, Dr James Key,
President of Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists (CLAO),
and Christine Astin, Principal Optometrist, in the Contact Lens
and Prosthetic Department, of the Cornea and Contact Lens
Research Unit, (CCLRU), Sydney. The conference was again a
great success, with the Auckland team headed by Victoria Elias,
doing a wonderful job. Professional conference organisers were
not around then, hence a lot of hard work from amateurs!! The
trade exhibitors were as usual tremendously supportive, both
financially and with their displays.

John Fairmaid was awarded Life Membership at this Conference.

He is the third recipient, after the late Ray Bridgman and the late
Neil Pennington. John was one of the Foundation Members in
1958, and was the Society’s first Secretary, occupying that post
for five years. He served as a Councillor, and was elected
President in 1966.

The new office bearers were, President, Trevor Duncan, Vice

President, Victoria Elias Secretary, Peter Grimmer, and
Treasurer, John Anstice. 14 Exhibitors were present, with
generous sponsorship from five of them.

52
Disposable lenses were rearing their ugly head, with the dilemma
of when and when not to supply people who appeared on your
doorstep and who were not your patient. A code of practice
needed to be formulated about this issue, and practitioners were
asked their views on the subject.

In 1992, the Research Scholarship was awarded to Stuart

Warren, a first-year M.Sc student at the University of Auckland.
His research involves the measurement of corneal stromal lactic
acid concentrations under conditions of stress, a lofty subject.

There was a recall of some CIBA Vision lenses, but the return rate
was only 45%, very low, and the Health Department took a very
dim view of this. The recall rate for similar surveys from
pharmacies relating to pharmaceuticals was usually 98%.

A call for papers for the combined conference at the Sheraton

Mirage Port Douglas, Northern Queensland on the 28th to the 3rd of
September 1993 was made. It was also noted that 15 members
were required for a quorum at the AGM. Members were already
complaining about the cost, but when the number of world figures
in contact lens work who were presenting papers was taken into
consideration, it seemed a much more reasonable and value for
money combined with the excellence of the venue, a really a good
deal.

Council had obtained a legal opinion that the fitting of contact

lenses by Dispensing Opticians was illegal, and contravened the
existing Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Act. A letter to
this effect was sent to the Opticians Board.

Council considers that records of the Society should be collected

and collated, forming an official Archive, and a plea was made to
members with any interesting documents or photographs to be
forwarded to Council. They could be copied and returned if
necessary.

The possibility of ulcerative corneal complications from extended

wear lenses was now becoming a reality. Statistics from controlled
studies were being accumulated at an alarming rate, reinforcing
the previous suspicions that trouble was ahead. Another possible
source of infection was the soft trial lenses and their cases that
easily could harbour undesirable pathogens, a situation that would

53
not be tolerated today. Heating was then the best method of
disinfection, but was hard on the lens structure.

At the AGM the new office bearers were President, Brian Stewart,
Vice-President, John Anstice, Secretary Peter Grimmer and
Treasurer, David Robinson.

The confirmed speakers for the 1994 Wellington conference were

Professor Nathan Efron from Manchester England, Ron
Stevenson from Glasgow University, and Eric Papas from the
CCLRU, Sydney.

The venue was the Plaza International Hotel in the heart of

downtown Wellington, close to all desirable amenities such as
restaurants and bars, with alternative accommodation at the West
Plaza Hotel, one minute walk away. Because of the limited
amount of space, the annual dinner had to restrict the numbers, so
that it now became optional for members and guests.

The Research Award was granted to Dr Helen Owens who was to

investigate the clinical perspectives of keratoconus. No application
had been received for the Allergan Travel Award, very difficult to
understand.

Dr David Sabiston was made a Life Member, having been a

member for 34 years, serving for two of them as President
(1968/69).

The 1995 Conference was to be held in the Christchurch Town Hall

with confirmed speakers Dr Brien Holden, from Sydney, Prof
Alan Tomlinson from Glasgow and Dr Stephen Tuft from
Moorfields, London. A call went out for local members to present
some of their work to fill the programme.

In mid-1995 the Society was informed, with regret, of the sudden

death of Dr David Sturman. A letter of condolence was sent to
David’s family. Long-time member, Dr Dorothy Potter resigned
as an ordinary member and opted to become a retired member.

At the AGM Dr Tony Lee was elected President; Peter Grimmer

became Vice-President, Trevor Duncan the Secretary and Ross
Hardey the Treasurer. After many years of service, Victoria
Elias retired from the council. The report from the conference was
of excellent organisational skills by Catherine Small and her

54
team. There were outstanding overseas speakers, four in number,
a first for the Society, with their lectures being of a very high
standard. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of our local
speakers.

Dr Tony Lee chaired the council meeting at the Wellington Airport

Meeting, in March 1996 and the following topics were discussed. A
letter from the Minister of Health was received, concerning a
conference on “Managed Care: Options for New Zealand”. A
further letter was received from the Minister asking for
submissions for a review of the Health Sector Occupational
Regulation Statutes. Four submissions had already been sent, and
Peter Grimmer had also personally presented his views on the
matter. Brien Holden had previously offered to help with these
submissions.

There was also a fax from Ken Bell regarding the presidential
address for the combined conference which was to be held in
Surfers Paradise, from the 4th to the 9th of October 1996, hence
the reason for the rule change, allowing a Society AGM outside
New Zealand.

The next council meeting was also at the Wellington Airport, on the
8th of June 1996. There was little of moment on the agenda.
John Dart declined the offer to speak at our next conference; but
Professor Doug Coster accepted our invitation.

Again the subject of social security lenses arose, and it was

resolved that a record be sought from all the Hospital Boards as to
how they handled the payments for these services, so that some
unanimity could be put in place throughout New Zealand. Peter
Haddad, by letter, questioned the eligibility of expatriate New
Zealanders, and whether they qualified for social security lenses.
Providing that the person was a New Zealand citizen, they did
qualify under the Act. Advice was given to fitters of social security
lenses to make sure that their documentation was properly filled
in. It was obligatory that the Ophthalmologist employed by the
Hospital Board sign the necessary documents.

A further council meeting was held at the Wellington Airport on

Saturday the 7th of September. Dissatisfaction was expressed at
the new membership list, and council members were urged to take
a copy and amend it as best they saw fit and bring it to the next
council meeting.

55
The AGM was held at Conrad Jupiter’s Hotel on the 7th of October
1996, with the President Dr Tony Lee and 35 members attending.
The membership now stood at 405 members, 358 ordinary
members, 2 life members, 7 retired members and 22 trainee
members. Peter Grimmer was elected President, John
Beaumont Vice-President and Trevor Duncan Secretary.
Recognition was made of the tremendous amount of work done by
Peter Grimmer in his legislative negotiations with the
Government, and a financial amount was sent to him from the
council, as a gesture of their appreciation.

The next council meeting and last for the year was held again at
the Wellington Airport, on Saturday the 2nd of November 1996.
Matters arising were a report on the 1996 conference, which was
considered by all to be a resounding success. Don Korb was
found to be an excellent speaker and it was noted that he be asked
to speak at a future conference. There were also some lectures on
the medico-legal aspects of contact lens practice, keeping pace
with current trends of increasing litigation.

The Auckland team, with Grant Watters at the helm, had

everything under control for the 1997 Conference. Deposits were
to be paid for the for the 1998 Rotorua conference.

The first council meeting for 1997 was held at the Wellington
Airport, on the 15th of February. Peter Grimmer chaired the
meeting with reports being received from the various Health
Boards concerning their methods of processing applications for the
subsidy. All of them followed the same procedure except for one
that required the patient to have a Community Services Card, so
there were discrepancies. It was agreed to try and get
standardisation of the protocol.

The 1998 conference was to be held on the 25th to the 28th of

June, in Rotorua.

In future attendance cards were to be issued at conferences, to

become part of the application for points in the continuing
education system.

The next council meeting was again at the Wellington Airport on

the 10th of May 1977.

56
Peter Grimmer chaired the meeting with Ross Hardey reporting
that the membership list had not been fully finalised due to
computer problems. It was anticipated that they would be ready
for the annual conference.

Hopefully a solution to the lens subsidy scheme was in sight, with

the re-arrangement of hospital administration, downsizing to four
Regional Hospital Authorities (RHA’s) controlling hospitals finances.
The Society was going to apply to these bodies, to become the
National Provider for the subsidised lens scheme. It subsequently
transpired that the Government was having none of this!

It was proposed to establish a Contact Lens Fellowship, and

information was to be obtained from Australia and from the New
Zealand School of Optometry for ways and means to approach this
and set it up.

Invitations were to be issued to the University School of Optometry

staff to attend our forthcoming conference. It was also resolved
that Professors and Associate Professors of the Ophthalmology and
Optometry departments become honorary members of the Society.
A letter was sent to Professor Brien Holden on the award to him
of the Medal of the Order of Australia.

The pre-conference council meeting was held on the 24th of July

1997 in the President’s suite, Sky City Hotel with Peter Grimmer
chairing the meeting. Ross Hardey stated that the membership
list was nearly completed, at the printers in fact.

Replies had been received in our quest for information on the

Fellowship scheme, but had arrived too late to be included in this
meeting, so were referred to the next council meeting. Letters
were received from Professors Tony Molteno and Leon Garner
accepting honorary membership with thanks.

A letter from Ken Bell enclosing a cheque for A$6,030, profit from
the combined conference and where to hold next combined
conference, either New Zealand or Fiji?

Peter Haddad was to take over the lobbying duties over the
subsidised lens scheme, mostly at Government level in Wellington.

Grant Watters anticipated a record number of registrants for the

1997 conference.

57
Selwyn Hatrick spoke on the 1998 conference, and replied to a
query about the conference organisers’ fees. A comparison on
fees from various organisers was to be obtained before the
agreement with the Rotorua conference organisers was signed. It
was further suggested that in future, quotes be obtained from
several conference organisers, and that this be a standard
procedure, so as to obtain the best possible pricing.

The Annual General Meeting of the Society for 1997 was held on
the 25th of July at the Conference Room, Sky City Hotel Auckland
with the President, Peter Grimmer and 74 members present.
Membership continued to show a healthy growth, with 405
members, consisting of 375 ordinary members, 2 life members, 19
honorary members, 9 retired members and 38 trainee members.
The subscription was increased to $100 plus GST, decreased to
$90 for prompt payment. The election of officers resulted in John
Beaumont being elected the new President, and Grant Watters,
Vice-President with Trevor Duncan, Secretary and Ross Hardey
Treasurer.

A letter was to be sent to Johnson & Johnson expressing the

Society’s displeasure at them endeavouring to set a retail
recommended retail price for their lenses.

From the President’s report came a letter was received by the

Society stating that the Association of Dispensing Opticians of New
Zealand (ADONZ) intended to run a course on the fitting of contact
lenses. Through a legal expert a letter was sent back to them
saying that if they did run such a course they would be performing
a function that was illegal.

The financial report showed total assets mostly in call and deposit
accounts of $129,000.

The next council meeting was held again at Wellington Airport on

the 23rd of August 1997. John Beaumont chaired the meeting.
Peter Haddad was already active in the subsidised lens field and
sent a letter to the Minister about keratoconus, stating that it was
a disease and deserved an increased remuneration for treating it.

After perusing all the replies about a contact lens Fellowship, it

was resolved that the Society proceed with the institution of such a
Fellowship. Grant Watters and Kerry Atkinson to report
progress at the next meeting.

58
It had been noted that some people had been attending our
conference when they were not members of the Optometrical
association. The secretary was asked to seek members’ opinions
on this in his newsletter.

The suitability of Queenstown for the next triennial combined

conference was questioned, as was our ability to host such a large
international gathering.

The Secretary gave two quotes for the Rotorua conference, one of
which was from the company that Selwyn had originally dealt with
and proved to be the lowest quotation; he was therefore
authorised to sign the agreement with them.

It was definitely a sign of the times when Grant Watters

suggested that a disclaimer be put either on the patient instruction
booklet or the contact lens prescription form, absolving the
practitioner from liability, if the patient failed to follow all the
instructions given in dealing with their contact lenses. Just how
much weight this would hold in a Court of Law is very doubtful.

The next council meeting, the last for the year, was held at the
same place, Wellington Airport on the 22nd of November 1997.
John Beaumont was in the chair and said that the budget for the
Rotorua conference next year was catering for 300 attendees.

Ken Bell suggested Auckland rather than Queenstown for the

1999 combined conference, and Auckland it was to be.

The draft disclaimer notice was ready for perusal by the committee
members, to enable them to offer any amendments for alteration
or inclusion in the existing document.

Two council members were to go to Australia to see how the

Fellowship Award system functioned there. This would enable the
council when equipped with this knowledge from the Australian
scene, to set up our own Fellowship Award system.

So ended the Fourth Decade, a relatively quiet period.

59
60
The Fifth Decade: 1998 - 2007
The fifth decade was very soon shaping to be the biggest in the
Society’s history, as so much was happening, most notable being
the rapid increased technology in lens materials and design; the
inroads by laser refractive surgery yet despite this, an increase in
membership. Fortunately people were still asking to have contact
lenses fitted. The Council and members had many challenges
ahead.

Minutes of Council meetings held the Wellington Airport on the 14th

of February and the 2nd of May 1998 showed that membership
continued to grow at a very satisfactory rate. Three committee
members, Grant Watters, Kerry Atkinson, and Alan Saks were
to go to Sydney to observe the workings of the Australian Contact
Lens Fellowship, and how it could apply to New Zealand conditions.
They were to report their findings back to the AGM.

The Ophthalmic Registrars’ Course was to be held every three

years, and be underwritten by the Society; however a substantial
grant was received from one of the drug companies that more than
covered the expenses.

A further council meeting was held at the Millennium Hotel prior to

the Annual Conference with John Beaumont in the Chair.

Peter Haddad reported that the contact lens subsidy scheme

seemed to be in a great state of flux. Nothing was new. He kept
pressing for answers from members, on the reactions from the
Health Boards in their areas, without any success.

The combined triennial conference was to be held at Sky City,

Auckland on the 8th to the 12th of September 1999. Professional
organisers were to be used also for this conference, a trend that
would continue for subsequent conferences as they were getting
too big for council members to be expected to manage.

The 2000 conference was most likely to be held in Christchurch.

The 40th AGM was held at the Rotorua Convention Centre on the
27th of June, 1998. Peter Haddad substituted for President Peter
Grimmer, who was overseas. Membership now stood at 444
members, comprising 2 life members, 19 honorary members, 403

61
ordinary members, 9 retired members, 4 trainee members and 7
members were on leave.

The recommendation from the three members, who went to

Australia to observe the workings of the Australian Fellowship
scheme, was that we accept their invitation to participate in that
Fellowship format. This post-graduate qualification is mentor
based and encourages excellence in contact lens practice.

A further Council meeting was held the day after the AGM, with the
newly elected President, Grant Watters in the Chair. The audio
visual equipment was certainly not up to the expected standard,
and a move was made to make sure this did not happen again.
Concern was expressed about the amount of refractive surgical
material that was creeping into, and being presented at our annual
meetings.

The last Council meeting for the year was held on the 22nd of
August 1988 at Wellington Airport, with Grant Watters presiding.
The revised membership list was at last at the printers. In an
attempt to try and sort out the lens subsidy mess, one member
was appointed to survey the North Island scene, Alan Saks, and
one for the South Island, Catherine Small, both to report back to
Peter Haddad.

A group of Founding Fellows was to consult with their Australian

counterparts and set the standards for the Fellowship
examinations. These examiners, as they would become, were to
have Honorary Fellowship conferred upon them.

A variety of South Island venues was studied as a possible site for

the 2000 Congress, with Marlborough being the most popular
option.

An evaluation paper was to be given to the attendees and the

speaker’s committee, to assess the value of the various
presentations.

The Ophthalmology Registrar’s seminar was to be held on the 5th

and 6th of December, 1998 at the Auckland University.

From the annual report for 1998-1999, presented by Grant

Watters, came the hoary chestnut the subsidised contact lens
scheme, with little or no resolution or advancement, how strange!!

62
Grant mentioned that rogue lenses were appearing on the market,
and he advised on the attempts that were being made by this
Society, to block such sales. Meetings were held with senior
management of the firm promoting these lenses, all to no avail.
Approaches were also made to Pharmacies that were selling the
lenses, with a similar result.

The seminar, organised by Trevor Gray and Grant Watters for

Ophthalmic Registrars, was a very successful event.

The Society was to be co-host to the 10th International Contact

Lens Congress to be held in Auckland in September 1999.

In 1999 Council meetings were held on the 20th February, the 1st
of May, the 17th of July, the 15th of September, and the 16th of
October. All were held at the Wellington Airport, with the
exception of the meeting in September, which was held at Sky City
in conjunction with the Combined International Conference.

Grant Watters was the President and superseded later in the year
by Richard Newson, following his election at the AGM.

Victoria Elias and John Fairmaid were offered an Honorary

Fellowship, the list having been restricted to nine members at this
stage. Seven Founding Fellows, namely Kerry Atkinson, Peter
Grimmer, Alan Greenwell, Paul Rose, Alan Saks, Gordon
Sanderson and Grant Watters, were also officially recognized.
Dr Joe Barr from Ohio, U.S.A .and Dr Noel Brennan from
Melbourne were also elected honorary members. The list of
ordinary members had been thoroughly revised and printed and
was to be posted out to members. Several members had been left
off the previous list, hopefully, this list was now correct. It was all
recorded on a separate database held by the Secretary/Treasurer.
It was proposed that Trevor Duncan, Peter Heginbotham and
Eric Sellers be nominated for Life Membership, the nominations
to be forwarded to the A.G.M. They were subsequently elected.
The subscription was kept at $110, reducible to $100 for early
payment.

The 1999 conference was in the final stages of its organisation,

and was to be held at Sky City, Auckland. Grant Watters
confirmed that 35 speakers had offered to give presentations at
this conference, a remarkable number.

63
The 2001 conference was to be held in Blenheim, on the 8th to the
11th of March 2001. The month of March, was considered the most
suitable time with regard to the weather. The theme of the
conference was to be “A Contact Lens Odyssey”.

At the Auckland conference annual dinner, certificates were

presented to three new Honorary Fellows, Victoria Elias, Ed
Curtis and Trevor Duncan. Certificates were to be posted to two
other Fellows not present at the Meeting, David Sabiston and
John Fairmaid. Contact Lens Society Fellowship certificates were
also presented to the Founding Fellows, Kerry Atkinson, Peter
Grimmer, Alan Greenwell, Paul Rose, Alan Saks, Gordon
Sanderson, and Grant Watters, at the Annual Dinner. Also at
the annual dinner, Grant Watters especially, and his team were
congratulated on the excellent organisation of the 1999
conference.

No applications were received during 1999 for the Research

Scholarship. To encourage more applications, the rules pertaining
to this Scholarship were to be broadened to include Ophthalmic
Registrars. Seminars were held during the year for these
Registrars, on basic contact lens fitting and problems that could be
encountered with the teaching programme being supervised by
five tutors. All were to be congratulated on the excellence of the
programme.

From the financial report, a healthy balance was reported – term

deposit $112,176.00; the conference account, $6,533 and the call
account $2,511. Alan Styles will certainly be turning very rapidly.

As usual little progress was made with officialdom regarding

subsidised contact lenses, particularly any upgrade in fees. It is
possibly because it was in the too-hard basket at the Ministry!

Some rogue lenses were being sold through Pharmacies and other
outlets. Medsafe hoped that in the future, legislation would be
enacted in New Zealand, which is similar to that in force in the
U.S., where lenses need the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA)
approval, before they can be sold. A suitably worded letter was to
be sent from the Society to the Ministry of Health, expressing in
strong terms, our views on the matter of Over the Counter lens
sales (OTC).

64
Much discussion ensued at the A.G.M. on the proposed and
enacted name change to “The New Zealand Society of Contact
Lens Practitioners”, (NZSCLP) which was said to be much more
upmarket than the former name, “The Contact Lens Society of
New Zealand”.

The NZSCLP website was now up and working very efficiently and
congratulations were extended to Alan Saks for the tremendous
amount of work that he had undertaken to achieve this goal. He
was given a standing ovation by the committee members.

The Annual General Meeting was held at the Sky City Conference
Centre, on Saturday the 18th of September 1999. It was attended
by the President Grant Watters and 29 members. The election of
officers: Richard Newson was elected President, with Alan Saks
Vice- President. Trevor Duncan volunteered to combine the dual
positions of Secretary/Treasurer, on the retirement of Ross
Hardey. The proposal for a further rule to change the recently
altered name from the “The New Zealand Society of Contact Lens
Practitioners” to “The Contact Lens Society of New Zealand” was
lost on a show of hands. The Annual Balance Sheet, showed a
healthy total equity of $155,306.

Concern was expressed on the targeting of specific practices to be

supplied with new design lenses to the exclusion of others. The
Society was to write to the manufacturers stating our concern, and
asking them to cease such practices.

Cruzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) took more than its fair share of the
limelight, with voluminous amounts of literature being forwarded
to the Secretary, particularly when the incidence is miniscule and
even more so from contact lenses.

Unfortunately, very little use was being made of the website, a

great disappointment considering the amount of work that had
been put into its construction.

A Council meeting was held at the Sky City Hotel prior to the AGM,
with Grant Watters in the chair. The new membership list was
posted out with the AGM documents but there were still some
omissions which had to be rectified.

Membership Report: The total membership now stands at 475, 52

more than last year. This list is comprised of 2 life members, 19

65
honorary members, and 413 ordinary members, 6 retired
members, 4 members on leave and 31 trainee members.

Ross Hardey wished to stand down as Treasurer and Trevor

Duncan volunteered to take on the dual responsibility of
Secretary/Treasurer. The research fund had an application for
funds this year. The Annual Subscription was not altered at $110
incl GST. Richard Newson was elected President, with Alan
Saks as Vice President.

John McLennan addressed the Meeting on the desirability of

setting up New Zealand Standards for contact lenses. Optical
standards are already being set up by the New Zealand Association
of Optometrists, so the need for standardization of contact lenses
was urgent. Peter Turner suggested co-operating with the
Australians. It was moved to strongly support John McLennan in
this project.
.
The Council Meetings for 2000 again took place mainly at
Wellington Airport, on the 11th of March, 10th of June, 17th of July,
9th of September and 25th of November 2000. A large part of the
Society’s business is conducted at these Council meetings, some of
which is passed onto the AGM for ratification.

Richard Newson was in the chair at the March meeting and as

predicted, the subsidy for contact lenses took its usual place on
the agenda. As usual, little progress had been made in
negotiations with the Health Funding Authority.

The prospect of transmission of Cruzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)

from contact lenses was raised, the risk must be infinitesimal, but
nevertheless is present.

The 1999 combined conference made a loss of $17,589.00, mainly

due to the poor support by the Australians, as well as the higher
than expected costs for the overseas speakers. Our own members
were also discouraged from attending, due to the higher than
usual registration fee.

The 2000 AGM was held at the Wellington Airport Conference room
on Saturday the 9th of September 2000 with Richard Newson,
the President, and 31 members attending. The annual
subscription was increased to $120 plus GST. The annual balance
sheet showed a surplus of $119,336, down by $44,000 from the

66
previous year. Most of this was due to the loss incurred from the
last combined meeting. Membership stood at 430 ordinary
members, 3 life members, and 20 honorary members, 8 retired
members, 12 members on leave and 9 trainee members, an
overall decrease of 45. Twenty four of the members who had
resigned, did so as they were no longer practising.

With yet a further restructuring to the newly named District Health

Boards, more problems were likely to be encountered with the
subsidised scheme. Peter Haddad was gallantly soldiering on
trying to make some sense of this scheme’s troubles.

The court case over dispensers being able to fit contact lenses
continued, with ever-increasing costs.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr Trevor Gray and Alan Saks,

both eminent speakers conducted a seminar on appropriate topics
pertaining to contact lenses.

The June meeting was again chaired by Richard Newson when

Honorary Fellowships were awarded to John Fairmaid and David
Sabiston; the appropriate certificates were to be forwarded to
them.

At the November the 25th meeting, held at Wellington Airport, the

hardy annuals of subsidised contact lenses, the website and the
Gates v. Maher case were discussed. The Society had already
donated $10,000 to the fighting fund for the court action in the
case, which was about dispensers being allowed to fit contact
lenses.

The first Council meeting for 2001 was held just prior to the AGM
in Blenheim, with Richard Newson, presiding. No surprises in
the agenda with the contact lens subsidy scheme, and the website
needing upgrading, the two major items. The upgrading was
already in hand.

The possibility of associate membership for our regular sponsors

was strongly opposed.

Peter Heginbotham, Eric Sellers and Trevor Duncan were to

be nominated for life membership, these nominations to be
forwarded to the AGM for ratification.

67
Perhaps it was a sign of the times, with Directors’ Negligence
Insurance to be arranged with the insurance company offering the
most advantageous terms.

The 43rd AGM was held at the Conference Centre, Blenheim on the
10th of March 2001. Richard Newson presided and 60 members
attended. The incoming President Alan Saks, who had a large
input into the Blenheim conference, was ably assisted by Kevin
O’Connor. The KLENZ survey was continuing with Helen Owens
and Grant Watters being the supervisors. The survey was being
funded with money from the research fund. Trevor Duncan,
Peter Heginbotham and Eric Sellers were made Life members.
It was resolved that the annual subscription be left unchanged at
$130 plus GST.

The Annual Report was noteworthy for its brevity. The

membership total stood at 415 members, a decrease on last year.
It was noted, with some concern, that there had been a notable
exodus from the Society of older Ophthalmologists in recent years.
Questions were asked about the large amount ($70,000), held in
the current account, but it was explained that this amount was
necessary to cover any unforeseen losses, such as occurred at the
last combined conference. The Society is really in very good
financial health and the Treasurer intended to keep it that way!

Some concern was expressed about the shortcomings of the

professional organising Committee. Members who gave a lecture
of 30 minutes or more, would get complimentary registration
while, those giving a paper of 15 minutes or more, would be
required to pay only half the registration fee.

The second Council meeting was held on the 26th of May 2001 at
the Eye Institute Auckland boardroom, where a report was given
on the subsidised contact lens scheme, with little progress.
Further information on CJD was received and distributed to
members.

The quote for Indemnity Insurance for directors at $1575 seemed

too high and warranted further investigation.

Further Council meetings were held again at Eye Institute on the

11th of August and the 19th of November 2001. Again at both
meetings, no progress was made on the lens subsidy system.

68
In regard to associate membership for sponsors, it was decided to
label all monetary transactions as sponsorships and not donations,
thereby gaining maximum exposure for their products. This was
to be conveyed to the members at the next AGM.

The 2003 conference was to be held at Taupo/Wairakei on the 13th

to the 16th of February, and the Taupo Convention Bureau to be
advised accordingly.

The Financial Statement revealed a healthy state of affairs, with a

total of $119,000 in the current account and on term deposit,
$8,000 in the conference account and $2,500 in the scholarship
fund.

A Council meeting was held at Eye Institute on the 23rd of

November 2002, with Alan Saks presiding. An independent
auditor was appointed for the next two years. The Society’s
financial affairs had now reached a considerable degree of
complexity requiring this appointment of an auditor. The total
amount of money in the various accounts now totaled $210,000.

The 2003 conference at the Wairakei Hotel was all under control.

The Australian Society was proposing a combined conference in

March 2004, and the 2005 conference was to be held in Napier,
with Grant Watters the Organiser. Trevor Gray volunteered to
set up a sub-committee to organise workshops, venues and
speakers and the social programme.

A Council meeting was held on the 6th of February, prior to the

2003 Wairakei Conference. Alan Saks, the President, presented
the Society’s submission to Health Select Committee. There were
still problems over the contact lens subsidy scheme – how strange!

It was proposed that Ed Curtis be made a life member, this

proposal to be forwarded to the AGM.

David Ruston was to be the keynote speaker at the Taupo

conference.

No word had been received from the Australians about the 2004
combined conference, very strange for them.

69
A Council meeting was held at Eye Institute in Auckland on the
16th of August 2003, with Trevor Gray presiding.

Helen Owens reported that only nine members had replied to the
KLENZ project, a disappointing result and one that would probably
not warrant further advancement of the project.

The details of the research scholarship were to be circulated to

councilors for their comments, and that the name is changed to
“The NZSCLP/Auckland University Research Scholarship” and the
value be increased to $5,000.

An emergency card was to be printed with the Society’s logo and

distributed to extended lens wearers. This had all been achieved
for the most part by the University, the Society being very pleased
to support it.

Peter Haddad reported that some advancement had been made

over the subsidised lens scheme. Great!

Very successful workshops had been held on “Ocular Surface and

Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses (RGP)” in Dunedin, Christchurch and
Tauranga. Greg Nel suggested that the scope of these workshops
be broadened to include new lens designs and new materials now
being offered by the manufacturers.

The Wairakei conference had been most successful, and a detailed

report on conference planning had been compiled by Richard
Newson for future use.

Future forthcoming conferences were the 11th Combined

Conference at Cypress Lakes Resort, in the Hunter Valley, New
South Wales, on the 14th to the 19th of March 2004; the 2005
Conference in Napier, with the organisation under the control of
Grant Watters, and the 50th celebratory 2007 Conference in
Queenstown.

A quarterly newsletter from the website: “Clinical Keratosite” was

to be sent to members.

Minutes from the Council meeting held on Saturday the 15th of

November 2003, at Eye Institute, contained comments that
Council was concerned about the future replacement of councillors,
as some were retiring with few prospective replacements. A few

70
names were put forward, but there were not nearly enough to fill
the vacancies that were going to occur. A cocktail party was to be
held in Auckland for all trainee members, to try and encourage
them to join as full members on completion of their studies.

The new contact lens pamphlet was ready for circulation and
carried a disclaimer, in regard to a practitioner’s liabilities, and
what they should do about it. This disclaimer was also to be
attached to the website, and included in the newsletter.

The prospect of a national umbrella to cover fees nationwide for

the lens subsidy had been relegated to the too hard basket. Yet
another Health Department official had been assigned to deal with
the issue. Greg Nel was to take over from Peter Haddad to deal
with these problems. The best of luck!

The committee was concerned about our Society’s liability with the
forthcoming combined conference. There are now very large sums
of money involved, and it would certainly be undesirable for our
Society to be left with a large debt. It needs a legal document
specifically outlining our Society’s obligations.

The next committee meeting was to be held again in Auckland on

the 15th of November 2003, the last for the year.

The 46th AGM of the Society was held at Eye Institute, on Sunday
May the 9th 2004. Present were 20 members and the President
Trevor Gray. The meeting was held in Auckland, as the combined
meeting had been held at Cypress Lakes Resort in New South
Wales.

The President, Trevor Gray, outlined the Society’s view for the
future, which included workshops to develop hands-on skills,
expand the scope of the Society to maximise the benefits for the
members, by:
1. Promoting the understanding of the cornea and associated
ocular surface disorders.
2. Promote the understanding of relevant ocular therapeutics.
3. Encourage active communication between the kindred
Societies of Optometry and Ophthalmology.
4. Continue to expand practical educational services as
workshops, for members.

71
A letter from the Minister of Health, the Hon Ruth Dyson, stated
that the Health Department was attempting to get some rationality
in the subsidised lens scheme nation-wide. Hurrah! Peter
Haddad stated that for the past seven years he had worked to get
just such a plan installed, all to no avail.

The subscription was to remain at $130 plus GST.

A lively discussion ensued on the selling of contact lenses over the

counter.

The first Council meeting for 2004 was held on the 29th of May
2004, three weeks following the AGM, also in the Eye Institute in
Auckland. The problem of suitable people to stand for Council was
raised, without any resolution being achieved.

The University was still insisting on having the final say on the
selection of a candidate for the research scholarship. Negotiations
were proceeding.

The 2005 conference was to be held at the War Memorial

Conference Centre, Napier.

Total funds in various bank accounts, amounted to $190,000.

The question of a name change for the Society was brought up,
and the name “Cornea & Contact Lens Society of New Zealand”
was suggested and was to be put before the AGM at the 2005
Meeting. At the 2005 AGM, President Trevor Gray spoke to the
name change proposal. The new name better reflected the growing
mixed membership of the Society and recognised the increasing
understanding about the interdependence of successful contact
lens wear with sound ocular surface management. The proposal
was carried and a new Society name adopted.

The next Council meeting was held in Mission Bay, on the 29th of
May, at the President’s residence. Discussions were still proceeding
with the University over the right to the final say on the selection
of the final candidate for the research scholarship.

Helen Owens said that she would present the results of the
KLENZ survey so obviously more replies had come forward for this
work to be completed.

72
The Students’ practice day had been held in Auckland, Wellington
and Christchurch, and was considered to be a great success. The
“Ocular Surface and Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lens” Workshop
was held in Auckland, and the cost was underwritten by one of the
drug firms.

The last Council meeting for the year was held in Auckland, again
at Eye Institute, on the 6th of November 2004. Trevor Gray
chaired the meeting and agreed to continue as President for
another year, with Greg Nel, taking over at the Queenstown
Conference (2007).

Helen Owens declined the invitation to present the results from

the KLENZ survey, and the matter was now declared closed.

A letter was sent to the University about their obligations to teach

students the fitting of extended wear lenses, as part of their future
clinical practice. Ophthalmologists interested in contact lens work
were welcome to attend any of the student practice days. A letter
was to be sent out with the Napier conference registration forms,
to judge any possible interest.

It was recommended that all contact lens practitioners should be

listed in the Yellow Pages, and the costing of such insertions was
to be sought from the appropriate authorities.

Still problems were being experienced with Hospital Boards and

the payment for social security lenses. A consultant was to be
engaged to try and solve this problem.

A letter was sent to the Minister of Health regarding the loss of an

eye from the use of decorative lenses, at the same time voicing
the Society’s strong disapproval of the sale of over the counter
(OTC) lenses. This letter was to be endorsed by Professor Charles
McGhee and Dr Sue Ormonde.

A membership report as of the 30th of September 2004, showed a

total of 473 members, up 18 from last year, still rising. This total
consisted of 7 life members, 22 honorary members, 345 ordinary
members, 14 retired members, 59 members on leave and 26
trainee members. So the year 2004 ended on a very high note,
with a very vibrant and well supported Society.

73
The first Council meeting for the year took place in Napier, in
conjunction with the annual conference, on Thursday the 7th of
April 2005. All was set for this conference, which was attended by
170 delegates. Frederick Swain and his team were to be
congratulated with the tremendous amount of work they had put
into this conference. The overall supervision was by Grant
Watters, an outstanding and superlative effort by him.

A quote was received by the Council from the Yellow Pages of

$6,000 per area for an insertion of contact lens practitioners, in
that area! The first suggestion was to use a 0800 number, but the
final resolution was that the Secretary and President design an
insertion for the four major centres.

The Visa card scheme continued to be a useful method of paying

subscriptions, and a source of revenue for the Society.

The new CIBA Vision pamphlet for contact lens use was sent to all
council members, and it was recommended that CIBA Vision be
thanked for their contribution. It was requested that the pamphlet
be sent to all members.

The annual conference in 2006 is to be a mini-conference using

local speakers, due to the combined international conference being
held that year. The presenters at this conference were to be Noel
Brennan, Dr Adam Watson, Richard Johnson, Dr Chris
Murphy, Alan Saks and Paul Rose.

All systems are go for the 2007 Queenstown Conference.

The 2005 Napier Conference was held in the War Memorial Centre,
a truly magnificent setting, right on the waterfront, with superb
views of the southern part of Hawkes Bay. A large attendance of
members with an equally impressive number of overseas and local
speakers, contributed to a truly memorable conference. Professor
McGhee headed a list of local speakers, and brought with him, a
number of his staff, who presented excellent papers. Prominent
overseas presenters were Patrick Caroline from the United
States along with Desmond Fonn and John Mountford. Their
topics showed some of the more outstanding advances that were
being made in contact lens technology. Ortho-keratology raised its
head again and was the subject of several talks. In this area of
wonderful wine production, an extensive social programme was
arranged by the local fraternity.

74
Two further Council meetings were held during 2005. The first at
Eye Institute on Saturday the 25th of June, when the subject of
extended wear lenses was discussed, with special reference to the
attitude of the University concerning same; they were not keen on
teaching same.

Due to the high cost of multiple insertions in the Yellow Pages, it

was decided to have a section in the website, of “Find your own
Contact Lens Specialist” and have the website inserted in the
Yellow Pages.

A team of lecturers was drawn up for the Wellington “Ocular

Surface and RGP Lens” Workshop.

The second meeting was held in Auckland, on the 13th of May, with
Trevor Gray in the chair. The design of the Membership and
Fellowship Certificates were approved, and when printed, were to
be forwarded to the respective people. When the Membership
Certificate was forwarded, the new Window Sticker, which
prominently displayed the Society’s logo, would be included.

There are 21 District Health Boards in New Zealand, and an

Optometrist in each of these areas is to be asked to send a copy of
that Boards Regulations, so hopefully some unanimity can be
attained in this persistent problem.

Subscriptions were to remain the same at $130 plus GST.

Nicola Anstice was awarded $5,000 from the research fund, for
her work on “Dual-focus inhibition in myopia in New Zealand”.

It was to be put before the members at the AGM, by the Secretary

that Edward Curtis is made a Life Member. David Ruston, who
was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting, would be made
an Honorary Member at the AGM.

The 48th AGM was held in Auckland at the Novotel Hotel on the
26th of February 2006. The President, Trevor Gray, welcomed 76
members to the meeting. The annual report having been
circulated was received and adopted, as were the membership and
Treasurer’s report. RGP and Ocular workshops had been held at
various venues in the main centres.

75
Jennifer Craig and Simon Dean were to be thanked and
congratulated on the excellence of the meetings. Corneal Lens
Corporation had helped in the financial aspect of these workshops.

The budget was presented with an income of $49,400 and

expenditure of $48,390. The subscription remained at $130
including GST. There was reserve of over $100,000, more than
ample for any exigencies. Alan Saks raised the necessity of
obligatory membership of the respective Societies for membership
of this Society. Two members spoke strongly against this
suggestion and the matter was tabled to remain on the table till
the next AGM in Queenstown.

Trevor Gray was re-elected as the President with Greg Nel, the
Vice-President. Trevor Duncan continued in the dual capacity of
Secretary/Treasurer.

Paul Dunlop raised the issue of the method of charging for

disposable lenses under the subsidised scheme.

So it is on to the 50th meeting in Queenstown, with the Society

membership now at 435 members, 393 ordinary members, 6 life
members, 24 honorary members and 12 retired members. The
Society not only has a strong member base, but a healthy balance
sheet with adequate monetary resources, an industrious
committee and an excellent President. The future looks very
bright indeed but with the increased technology that has recently
come on stream, members have an additional responsibility to
advance their knowledge and skills to keep up with these
developments.

76
Summary Of The First 25 Years
The first 25 years were remarkably smooth, with only an
occasional glitch along the way. It was an amazing first few years
from 1958 until 1963, with the formation of a Constitution, Rules
and Regulations, and a Code of Ethics. It was to a large degree
modelled on similar documents of the N.Z. Optometrical
Association, but as time went by, more quirks, peculiar to this
Society, had to be addressed and incorporated in our own
Constitution. Some Members thought that the Society should
remain under the umbrella of the N.Z.O.A. but fortunately, sound
reason prevailed, and the Constitution that was formulated,
containing the necessary clauses for Ophthalmological Members to
be admitted. The first application by an Ophthalmologist was not
long in coming, with Dr Murray Ashbridge from Wellington
applying. He was admitted in 1961 and along with Randall Elliot,
the then Secretary of the O.S.N.Z., attended the 1961 AGM in
Wellington. Not all New Zealand Ophthalmologists were happy
with this Union, and many caustic remarks were made, with letters
and phone calls, also quite nasty, were received. From this date
on, there was a steady stream of Ophthalmologists wanting to
join. Dr Bernard Bowden joined in 1963, and in 1968, Dr David
Sabiston was the first Ophthalmologist to hold the Chair as
President of the Society.

In 1965, Optical Dispensers made a bid to be admitted as

Members. This was firmly rejected. Not as lucky as the
Ophthalmologists!!

In 1971, Ray Bridgman was made the first Life Member.

The history of contact lens development in New Zealand, must

make mention of the tremendous input from our two main
manufacturers, namely Gene Hirst and Ed Curtis. Not only did
they keep up with modern developments, and these were rapid
and expansive in these early years, but they also met and brought
numerous overseas speakers to our Annual Congresses, many
times at their own expense. No doubt, there was a commercial
interest in same, but it helped the development of the lens scene
and the advancement of knowledge of Practitioners enormously.
Gene Hirst was a wonderful pioneer. From his chosen field as a
Dental Technician, he devised, designed, manufactured and fitted
haptic lenses as far back as 1943. He also negotiated with the

77
Health Department for a subsidy to be paid by the local Health
Board, for difficult cases to be fitted with lenses. Initially it was
haptic lenses, for that was all that was available, but then, in
1949, corneal lenses became available, and now more widely used,
almost universally. Soon after, a handful of Optometrists began to
fit lenses, almost always with Gene’s help. These people were Ray
Bridgman in Dunedin, Albert Rose in Christchurch, Ed
Brook-Taylor in Wellington, and Peter Barrie in Auckland and
were the nucleus of the new Society about to be formed. The
Ophthalmologists, who had Gene fit haptics in their Surgeries,
were Drs Hope-Robertson, Beaumont and Talbot.

In 1949, the first corneal lenses appeared and about this time
Doug Mortimer, joined Gene in partnership, as Mortimer and
Hirst, and the name still survives today. The scene was now really
rapidly progressing, with a larger group of Optometrists learning to
fit these corneal lenses overseas, mostly Australia. This group
included John Fairmaid, Neil Pennington, and Peter
Heginbotham. Peter was starting to finish blanks that he had
imported a great step forward.

By 1953, micro-lenses arrived on the scene, introduced by Hirst

Lenses. Tuition was now available in Australia, and between 1955
and 1960, many Optometrists with a special interest in Contact
Lenses took the opportunity to attend such courses. Pen Thomas
was an Australian pioneer in this field and introduced his lenses to
New Zealand. Peter Turner in Wellington was appointed Manager
of that operation, but it subsequently shifted to Christchurch, with
Ed Curtis taking over the helm. Corneal Lens Corporation (CLC)
was transferred from Wellington to Christchurch and the name CLC
became synonymous with Ed. These lenses were advertised as
having special edge finishes, V-Contour or Multi-Band, made by a
special type of lathe, developed by Pen Thomas.

In 1964, the first hydrophilic lenses arrived with New Zealand the
first Country outside Czechoslovakia to have these lenses. The
lenses were pioneered by Wichterle in Czechoslovakia, and
smuggled out, as the composition of the material and the
manufacturing process, was a closely guarded secret. But such
secrets that have such a momentous impact on the optical scene
cannot be kept for long, and soon all types of hydrophilic lenses
were popping up. Some lathe-cut in the dry form, others spun
cast and some moulded. The growth rate was enormous, as here
was a lens that was comfortable and required little adaptation

78
time, in comparison to rigid lenses. Not only was there an
explosive impact in the optical arena, but the associated sterilising
and cleaning market, of necessity, also rocketed. Contact lenses
were now big business. The pendulum however, had swung too
far and numerous tragedies were reported from over-wear of these
lenses, causing disastrous infections. Comfort gave way to sloppy
handling and care of the soft lenses.

So the in-between lens arrived, Gas Permeable (GP), the first of

which was the CAB lens. The gas that permeated these lenses was
of course, oxygen, so necessary for corneal metabolism. The
waste product from this metabolism, carbon dioxide diffused out.
The cornea was happy, but not as comfortable as with soft lenses,
but a lot more comfortable than PMMA lenses. There was not the
adaptation period so necessary with hard lenses. The race began
again, and a whole host of gas permeable lenses became available.
As an accompaniment, a whole host of solutions were developed,
for all the procedures necessary to keep these lenses infection
free. These lenses as well as PMMA lenses could be made with
cylinders incorporated i.e. toric lenses.

The Practitioner in 1983, 25 years after the institution of the

Society, now had a plethora of lenses in a multitude of designs and
materials with the accompaniment of tailor-made lens design for
almost every exigency. The initial research, which needed a
correspondingly huge financial investment from those interested
parties, was now paying off.

There was much more to follow in the next quarter century but
certainly not as dramatic as the first 25 years.

79
80
Summary of the Second 25 Years
This really was the era of increased technology, not only in the
contact lens arena but also in the accompanying competitive
surgical and laser field.

This was the period of the Combined Australian and New Zealand
Conferences and the first thing that had to be done was enact a
rule change, so that AGM’s could be held outside New Zealand.
The next problem was to make sure that a sufficient number of
members attended this overseas conference to get a quorum. This
usually was not a problem as these combined conferences were
mostly off-shore, and were very popular for obvious reasons.
Complaints about costs were frequent, but it was undoubtedly
value for money in terms of the wealth of talent from overseas
practitioners that were speaking as these meetings.

The Society acknowledged the great amount of time and effort

that Brien Holden and his team from the CCLRU Sydney, put in to
preparing presentations of the results from their research work in
papers that they presented on many occasions right through these
25 years. Another feature was that Kiwis would always receive a
very warm welcome if they chose to visit the Unit in Sydney and
would gain a tremendous amount of knowledge of new techniques,
materials and lenses from such visits. Brien was subsequently
awarded the Medal of Order of Australia in recognition of his
services to Optometry and Research.

The 1984 Combined Meeting was held in Surfers Paradise and a

very successful meeting it was. Ken Bell the Australian
conference organiser had a great amount of expertise in putting
these conferences together, and was to continue doing so for
many years.

There were signs of difficulty starting to creep in to the regulations

governing contact lenses and their solutions. Adverse reactions to
solutions were being reported and had to be recorded to the
Adverse Reactions Committee. It certainly put a halt to any
solutions being marketed that did conform to existing regulations,
although some of the reactions were individual patient
idiosyncrasies.

81
GST appeared in 1986 and the Society became registered for that
tax.

The really major challenge to contact lens practice came with

refractive surgery gaining prominence. In 1986, Dr Tony Morris
gave the first of many subsequent papers on corneal refractive
surgery at the annual meeting in Dunedin. These were the early
days of this surgical procedure but it was to advance rapidly right
up to the sophisticated laser refractive surgery, available today.

The battle over whom and who was not allowed to fit or dispense
contact lenses was hotting up. The Society became embroiled in
same, and supported the court case with a hefty donation being
sent to bolster the fighting fund.

The next combined conference was looming and was to be held at

the Gold Coast, Queensland in October 1987. Members really
needed no urging to attend, as it was such a congenial location.
The AGM was to be held at this combined meeting. The 1989
meeting was to be in Rotorua.

Right through the council and AGM’s the unrelenting problem of

the subsidised lens scheme was repeated over and over again. It
was a great idea for the patient but often a nightmare for the
practitioner and manufacturer. It gave a real insight of the
difficulty in dealing with Government Departments, particularly
were money is concerned, and that really was what it was all
about. In 1988 the first fee increases since its inception of the
subsidy occurred, a 25% increase, still way behind what it should
be. The subscription was only $60!

Membership continued to grow, despite the intrusion of refractive

surgery. In 1988, total membership was 268, with still only one
life member.

The 30th birthday celebrations took place at the 1988 conference in

Christchurch. Suggestions were to be canvassed from the
members on the possible name change and be forwarded to the
Secretary for discussion by council who would make appropriate
recommendations be made to the AGM.

Conference workshops were held with many useful suggestions

coming from them, one such proposal was to regularise our code
of ethics.

82
Members were notified of the deaths of John Connor and Gene
Hirst in 1989. Not long after Alan Styles was tragically killed in a
motor-cycle accident in 1991.

The 1989 conference was held in Rotorua and at the AGM the
name of the Society was altered to “The New Zealand Society of
Contact Lens Practitioners”.

The 1990 Conference was a combined one at the Sheraton Mirage

on the Gold Coast, a splendid venue. At the AGM the first signs of
air crew being allowed to wear contact lenses appeared. A new
category of membership was formulated for optometric students
and ophthalmic registrars. They would be charged no membership
fees.

The 1991 Christchurch conference was an outstanding success.

The 1992 Conference was held at the Pan-Pacific Hotel in
Auckland. Both these conferences attracted wonderful speakers,
with our local members providing excellent presentations. The
keynote speaker was James Key, President of the Contact Lens
Association of Ophthalmologists (U.S.).

John Fairmaid was awarded Life Membership.

The 1991 Conference was held in Christchurch with Professor

Doug Coster the principal speaker. David Robinson and his
team did a splendid job in organisation it. A course on contact
lenses and their complications was prepared by Gordon
Sanderson and Nigel Warden, assisted by Hamish Caithness,
Peter Turner and David Robinson, was held at the Dunedin
Hospital in November for ophthalmic registrars. It was hoped to
run these courses every two years.

The 1992 Conference was held in Auckland and opened by the

Hon Katherine O’Regan, Minister for Consumer Affairs. James
Key was the keynote speaker and an excellent one at that. He
was President of the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists.
(U.S.). The incoming President was Trevor Duncan. After a long
and memorable time spent in the Society, as Foundation member,
Secretary and President, John Fairmaid was made a Life Member.

Disposable lenses with all the associated problems were rearing

their ugly head causing corneal ulceration with sight-threatening
complications.

83
1993 was the year of the combined conference in Port Douglas,
Australia, one of the more delightful venues for such a gathering.
The AGM was held at the Sheraton Mirage Hotel with Victoria
Elias as the President, our first lady in that office. Little of the
moment was recorded in the minutes; probably everyone was in
holiday mode.

The 1994 Conference was held in Wellington at the Town Hall with
Professor Nathan Efron from Manchester the principal speaker,
with Ron Stevenson from Glasgow and Eric Papas from Sydney
other overseas presenters. David Sabiston was made a Life
Member at this meeting.

The 1995 Conference was held in Christchurch with Dr Tony Lee

elected President, Peter Grimmer Vice-President and Trevor
Duncan, Secretary. Brien Holden from Sydney, Alan
Tomlinson from Glasgow and Stephen Tuft from Moorfields were
the speakers, a first for the Society with four overseas presenting
an excellent programme.

The 1996 Conference a combined meeting, was held on the Gold

Coast with President Dr Tony Lee and 35 members attending.
The membership was now 405 members, an impressive total and
climbing. Peter Grimmer was elected President, John
Beaumont Vice-President and Trevor Duncan Secretary.

The 1997 Conference was held at the Sky City Hotel, where an
innovative proposal was to put to the AGM that the Society
establishes a New Zealand Fellowship, closely following the
Australian pattern. Two council members were to go to Australia
to observe how their system works. The subscription reached
$100 with a 10% rebate for prompt payment. John Beaumont
was elected President, Grant Watters Vice-president and Trevor
Duncan Secretary and Ross Hardey the Treasurer.

One manufacturer was trying to introduce over the counter (OTC)

sale of lenses. A letter of disapproval was sent from the Society to
the said firm voicing our displeasure.

The last 10 years of the Society from 1998 onwards, saw a

tremendous upsurge in alternative methods of visual correction to
spectacles and contact lenses. Surgical refractive surgery was
replaced with lasers, which developed quite unbelievable degrees
of sophistication. The change in contact materials was not nearly

84
as impressive, for that had nearly reached a pinnacle anyway.
Everyone was searching for the 24 hour, 365 days a year
continuous wear lens, unsuccessfully. It was probably pie in the
sky stuff. Patients varied enormously in their tolerance and their
ability to keep their lenses clean, emphasized by over wear of
extended wear lenses. Despite this apparent intrusion into the
contact lens market, the Society continued to flourish and the
membership grow. Sales of contact lenses were estimated to have
an annual increase of 7%.

The 40th annual meeting was held in Rotorua on the 27th of June
1988, with Peter Haddad substituting for Peter Grimmer who
was overseas. Membership stood at an all time high of 444. The
Fellowship Scheme was well on the way to implementation, and a
further Registrars’ Course was held in early December in Auckland.

The Society was to host the combined conference in Auckland in

September 1999 with the 2000 Conference in Blenheim in March to
take advantage of the clement weather.

At the 1999 Conference held at Sky City, 10 Fellowship Certificates

were presented, 7 to Founding Fellows and 4 to Honorary Fellows.
The Society had funds of close to $120,000. At the AGM a further
name change was passed from “The Contact Lens Society of New
Zealand” to “The New Zealand Society of Contact Lens
Practitioners” (NZSCLP).

The NZSCLP website was up and running very efficiently due to a

supreme effort by Alan Saks.

At the AGM Grant Watters and 29 members, a very poor

attendance. Richard Newson was elected President, with Alan
Saks as Vice-President, and Trevor Duncan taking over the dual
position of Secretary/Treasurer as Ross Hardey was retiring.

Reports on Cruzfeldt-Jacob disease were being circulated, not

really applying to contact lenses, but there was that the possibility
of transference of the infection.

Membership was 452, a creditable 52 more than last year.

The 2000 AGM was held at the Wellington Airport on the 9th of
September 2000, with a change from the usual venues, as a day
Seminar was conducted by Trevor Gray and Alan Saks, a novel

85
but much appreciated departure from the norm. Richard
Newson chaired the Meeting with 31 members in attendance.
Membership showed a decline, due to many older members
retiring and not taking the offer of retired membership.

The 43rd AGM was held in Blenheim on the 10th of March 2001,
with President Richard Newson in the chair and 60 members, a
good deal better than the last AGM. Trevor Duncan, Peter
Heginbotham and Eric Sellers were made Life Members. The
subscription was left at $130 plus GST, Alan Styles would be
pleased! The Society was in excellent financial health, but
questions were asked as to why $70,000 was in the current
account. The explanation was to cover any unforeseen losses; not
readily accepted by the members.

During 2002 many Council meetings were held, mostly in

Auckland.

Very successful workshops were held in Dunedin, Christchurch and

Tauranga on “Ocular Surface and Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses”.

As the total amount of money held by the Society now exceeded

$200,000 an independent auditor was appointed, a very necessary
safeguard procedure.

Forthcoming conferences were the combined conference in the

Hunter Valley in March 2004, the Napier conference in 2005 and
the 50th celebratory conference in Queenstown in 2007.

The quarterly newsletter from the Clinical Keratosite website was

to be sent to all members.

The 46th AGM of the Society was held at the Eye Institute,
Auckland on May 9th 2004, this being after the combined
conference in Australia. The President Trevor Gray outlined his
vision for the future for the Society. Prominent among this list of
proposals was closer co-operation between the two kindred
Societies, and an expansion of the knowledge of the cornea as it
pertains to contact lens fitting and wear. The problem of suitable
people to stand for Council was raised and considered to be quite
serious. A further name change was suggested “The Cornea &
Contact Lens Society” (CCLS) and was to be forwarded to the next
AGM in Napier where it was passed. Membership was up 18 from
last year at 473.

86
A letter was sent to the Minister at the loss of an eye following
infection from a decorative lens, a serious matter.

The 2005 Conference was held in the War Memorial in Napier, right
on the waterfront, a magnificent spectacle. Grant Watters had
done an amazing job of organisation, and Frederick Swain and
his team provided a wonderful social programme.

Ortho-keratology made a determined bid at this Conference, and

seemed to have quite a following, particularly in the United States.

The subsidised lens scheme again surfaced, and every time it was
raised there was slight hope that some solution would be found,
hopefully with some logic instilled into the system. It was now
planned that the District Health Boards try to agree on national
unity in the administration of the system.
.
The 2006 Conference was held at the Novotel Hotel, Auckland,
with the 48th AGM at the same location. President Trevor Gray
presided over the meeting and was re-elected to take the Society
into the 50th celebrations in Queenstown. Alan Saks raised the
question of compulsory membership of either Society to become a
member of CCLS. After some discussion, the matter was tabled to
be raised at the Queenstown meeting.

The Society is in very capable hands a hard working committee led

by a very able President, Trevor Gray. It is in an extremely
viable financial situation and the Treasurer, Trevor Duncan,
intends that it should stay this way!

87
88
The Presidents
1958-1960 Ray Bridgman
1961-1962 Albert Rose
1962-1963 Bromley Bennett
1964-1965 Peter Heginbotham
1966-1967 John Fairmaid
1968-1969 Dr David Sabiston
1970-1971 Doug Mortimer
1972-1973 John Connor
1974-1975 John Sturtevant
1976-1977 Neil Pennington
1978-1980 Quentin Bennett
1980-1981 John Henderson
1981-1983 Michael Webber
1983-1984 Dr Tony Morris
1984-1985 Gordon Sanderson
1985-1986 Paul Rose
1986-1987 Peter Turner
1987-1988 Hamish Caithness
1988-1989 David Robinson
1989-1990 Dr Nigel Warden
1991-1992 Trevor Duncan
1992-1993 Victoria Elias
1993-1995 Brian Stewart
1995-1996 Dr Tony Lee
1996-1997 Peter Grimmer
1998 John Beaumont
1998-1999 Grant Watters
1999-2000 Richard Newson
2001-2002 Alan Saks
2003-2007 Dr Trevor Gray

89
90
The Presidents
Not only by year but a little history of those that are not in other
sectors.

1958-1960 Ray Bridgman: see The Early Pioneers

1961-1962 Albert Rose: see The Early Pioneers

1962-1963 Bromley Bennett: Bromley was educated at
Napier Boys High School. After leaving school he
went to London, and worked at the London
Refractive Hospital, now the Institute of
Optometry. During the 1930’s Bromley learnt
the fitting of prosthetics from Jack Prince, who
went on to do Ophthalmology and became
Professor of Ophthalmology at Ohio State
University. During a spell in London in 1956, he
developed an interest in contact lenses, and
returned to London in 1960 to work with John de
Carle in Grosvenor Square, London. He was one
of the early foundation members of the Society.
1964-1965 Peter Heginbotham: see The Early Pioneers
1966-1967 John Fairmaid: see The Early Pioneers
1968-1969 Dr David Sabiston: biography in About the
Author
1970-1971 Doug Mortimer: see The Early Pioneers
1972-1973 John Connor: John was one of nature’s
gentlemen and his death robbed the community
of a well-respected Optometrist with an excellent
understanding about all things to do with contact
lenses.

91
1974-1975 John Sturtevant: John lived in Palmerston
North and had a large contact lens practice. He
was an excellent President and much respected
by his peers.
1976-1977 Neil Pennington: see The Early Pioneers
1978-1980 Quentin Bennett: Quentin like his father was
educated at Napier Boys High School, went to
London to City University to study and then to
the Institute of Optometry. He did a year in the
University at the Contact Lens Clinic, and then a
year in private practice in London. He also
practiced in Sweden for a year before returning
to New Zealand. He also carried out projects at
the RAF base at Farnborough and the USAF
School of Aerospace Medicine. He became
President in 1978, assembled a council of David
Sabiston, Ross Gordon and Alan Styles to
re-write the Constitution of the Society, which
was sorely needed. He remained for two years
as President to complete this project.
1980-1981 John Henderson: John first practiced in
Palmerston North and then shifted to Whangarei,
where he still lives. He also was an
Ophthalmologist who joined the Society early on
in its inception.
1981-1983 Michael Webber: see The Early Pioneers
1983-1984 Dr Tony Morris: see The Early Pioneers
1984-1985 Gordon Sanderson: see The Later Day
Entrepreneurs
1985-1986 Paul Rose: see The Later Day Entrepreneurs
1986-1987 Peter Turner: see The Early Pioneers
1987-1988 Hamish Caithness: Hamish was a tireless
worker for the Society, organising Conferences in
the Deep South where the hospitality had to be
experienced to be believed. He also served as
Secretary in 1983.
1988-1989 David Robinson: from the South also and was
also Treasurer.

92
1989-1990 Dr Nigel Warden: an Ophthalmologist from
Wellington, who being on the spot, was in a very
handy position to negotiate on the Society’s
behalf with Government Departments, especially
the Health Department, over the wrangles,
especially about the subsidised lens scheme.
1991-1992 Trevor Duncan: see The Early Pioneers
1992-1993 Victoria Elias: see The Later Entrepreneurs
1993-1995 Brian Stewart: from Dunedin.
1995-1996 Dr Tony Lee: an Ophthalmologist from
Christchurch with a special interest in contact
lenses.
1996-1997 Peter Grimmer: see The Later Day
Entrepreneurs
1998 Dr John Beaumont: John is an Ophthalmologist
from Hastings, who unfortunately had to
relinquish the post of President before his full
term had elapsed.
1998-1999 Grant Watters: see The Later Day
Entrepreneurs
1999-2000 Richard Newson: see The Later Day
Entrepreneurs
2001-2002 Alan Saks: see The Later Day Entrepreneurs
2003-2007 Dr Trevor Gray: see the President’s Word

93
94
About The Author

David Sabiston was born in Kaikoura, in the

South Island of New Zealand, and moved with
his family to Christchurch at the age of seven.
The major part of his education was in
Christchurch, with his secondary schooling at
St. Andrews College. After completing his
Intermediate examination entrance at
Canterbury University, he entered the Otago
Medical School in 1951 graduating MB ChB
(NZ) in 1956.

His immediate post-graduate internship was at Napier Hospital,

before going to England in 1959 to train in Ophthalmology, firstly
at the College of Surgeons in London, onto Bristol Eye Hospital for
18 months, and then back to London to the Institute of
Ophthalmology where he was a Lecturer in Ophthalmology. He
passed the Diploma of Ophthalmology in 1961 and the Fellowship
of the Royal College of Surgeons (Ophthalmology) in 1962.

He returned from the U.K. to Napier that year and entered a

partnership based in Napier, which covered both Hawke’s Bay and
Poverty Bay for a period 12 years, before a resident
Ophthalmologist came to Gisborne. He was appointed Visiting
Ophthalmologist to the Napier Hospital in 1962 till his retirement in
1997.

He passed the Australasian College of Surgeons examination in

Ophthalmology in 1963 and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal
Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology when that
College was convened.

In a predominantly surgical practice, he developed a primary

interest in contact lenses to visually correct both his grafted and
aphakic patients before the advent of intra-ocular lenses. He had
a great interest in keratoconus, where contact lenses were really a
superior method of visual improvement.

He joined the Contact Lens Society in 1964 and was elected

President in 1968 and made a Life Member in 1999.

95
Since retirement, he performed locum work both in New Zealand
and Australia, as well as Jerusalem, and more recently, supporting
a charity organisation that sponsor an Eye Clinic in Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.

96
The Early Pioneers
A Treatise on the Early Pioneers.

This is a summary of those people that were largely instrumental

in the building, formation and evolution of a group of dedicated
Optometrists and Ophthalmologists, sharing a common interest in
contact lenses and the ocular surface. This professional Society is
known as the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of New Zealand.

Gene Hirst a refugee along with his wife, Jana,

reached our shores in March 1939, just before the
outbreak of the Second World War. They fled
Czechoslovakia, and entered New Zealand on a
refugee permit, as Gene had considerable skills as a
Dental Technician.
They settled in Auckland and Gene commenced a
practice in his Profession at 9 High Street, the same
premises that are occupied today, under the same name, Mortimer
and Hirst (now known as Mortimer, Hirst, Optometrists). Victoria
Elias is now, a Principal of that practice.
With the entry of America into the war, Gene worked for their
Armed Forces, not only in making dental prostheses, but bodily
prostheses as well.
In New Zealand the first known attempt at fitting sclero-corneal
lenses (haptics), was attempted in 1939 by Dr J.H. Beaumont
and Mr G.E. Cox in Wellington, using Zeiss glass lenses. The
results were not recorded, but it was known from similar ventures
that this was a difficult exercise. Later, in the war years the same
Ophthalmologists and Gene Hirst used a local anaesthetic to
produce the first plastic (polymethylmethacrylate - PMMA) haptic
lenses, after further attempts with glass lenses were unsuccessful
After the war, Gene was encouraged by Dr Hope-Robertson, a
Wellington Ophthalmologist, to make moulded lenses for
distressing corneal problems. Gutta percha used in the making of
false teeth, was used for the initial conjunctival sac mould, a fairly
crude, but reasonably successful process. The PMMA haptic lens
was then made from this template. Dr Hope-Roberston and
Gene had regulations drafted for the use of these lenses for
necessitous cases and paid for by the Government, the forerunner
of the Subsidised lens scheme, which is still in force today.
The first contact lens clinic in New Zealand was established in
1945, as Hirst Contact Lenses, 9 High Street, Auckland. This was

97
quickly followed by similar clinics throughout the main New
Zealand cities.
During this time, Gene was also experimenting with lathe-turning
of smaller acrylic (PMMA) lenses. It was a heart breaking exercise
initially, as the lathed turned lenses kept breaking. It took him
two years to achieve success. However, he persevered and Hirst
Contact Lens Laboratory commenced making these lenses for New
Zealand practitioners.
In 1981, Gene Hirst was awarded the O.B.E. so richly deserved.
Better designs became available, meaning a lot
more work, and Gene took as a partner, Doug
Mortimer.(pictured). He later took on Bert van
der Kolk and Stan McKee to work in the
laboratory. John Shennan, later still was
employed, who stayed with the organisation until
its eventual sale. John well remembers the
numerous erudite but colourful speakers that
came to our shores, with a fund of knowledge
both for manufacturers and practitioners. Doug passed away on
the 25th of May 2005.

The name Mortimer, Hirst still exists at

No. 9 High Street in Auckland, but there
is no longer a manufacturing laboratory
there.

Ray Arthur Bridgman was born in Christchurch on the 7th of May

1905 and educated at Christchurch Boys High School. His father,
a jeweller, encouraged Ray to follow a career in Optometry and he
qualified D.I.O.N.Z. in 1928. He practised in Dunedin and was
associated with G.K Neill and Professor Gowland in trying to
establish a School of Optics at Otago University. He was President
of the N.Z.O.A. in 1960/61 and was ultimately elected a Life
member. The first contact lenses he fitted were sealed haptics
later progressing to fenestrated haptics and along with Albert
Rose were the earliest fitters in the South Island.

As lens designs progressed, he met up with Peter Dick and John

Fairmaid also members of the Society. He was very active in
promoting the new concept of corneal lenses. His period as

98
President was a crucial one as far as the establishment and
promotion of the developing Society was concerned.
He was the first President of the fledgling Society, acting as such
from 1958 to 1961, and its first Life member. His son Gavin is
also a member of the Society.

Albert Rose was another resolute member from the early days.
In 1961 he took over the reins as President from Ray Bridgman,
and was a tremendous help to younger people who were interested
in getting established and working with contact lenses.
Christchurch really has a superb nucleus of practitioners working in
this field, and Albert was in the forefront of that team. Albert was
not only a true pioneer in all aspects of the name, but also a true
gentleman.

John Fairmaid was present at that

auspicious Inaugural meeting and became the
very first Secretary/Treasurer, continuing as
same for several years (1958-1962) a very
onerous task in getting a new Society up and
running. John became President in 1962 and
he presented the Society with this very fine
Presidential Chain of Office (depicted) which is
still in use today. His Optometric practice was
in Dunedin, where he joined his father in 1953
after studying in New Zealand. He went to the U.K. and graduated
with an F.B.O.A. (H.E.) having studied under Frank Dickinson,
R.J. Fletcher, Norman Bier and Freddie Hodd. He joined
George Chance as a partner, and remarkably, George at the age
of 90, is still alive today. John’s learnt many of
his contact lens skills from John Strachan in
Melbourne, who lectured at several of our
Conferences. He had an article published in
Australia and England, on the correction of
astigmatism using double truncated front
surface toric lenses.
John Fairmaid had an honorary (unpaid)
appointment at the Ophthalmic Unit of the
Otago Hospital, using his skills in fitting haptic
lenses, often being called on to fit these lenses for difficult
pathological corneal conditions.
John was made a Life Member in 1999, in recognition of many
years of meritorious service both to the Society and to the people

99
of Dunedin. He now lives in retirement in Bannockburn, Central
Otago, and has a very fine olive grove.

Neil Pennington obtained his State

Diploma in Optometry in the late 1940’s and
in 1950 went to London where he attended
Courses at the London Refraction Hospital
and later sat and passed the Honours
Fellowship examination of the British Optical
Association. He also had a keen interest in
Orthoptics and obtained a Diploma in that
subject. He returned to New Zealand in
1952 and met Peter Heginbotham, the
two of them working closely together in
contact lens work, firstly with haptic
ventilated lenses then micro-lenses. He was one of the first in
New Zealand to fit outside toric truncated lenses or prism-ballast
lenses for astigmatism. He was a Foundation member of the
Society attending the inaugural meeting in 1958 and was elected
President of the Society in 1976 presenting a paper on his pet
subject, the use of truncated micro-lenses for high-grade
astigmatism. In 1980, his working life was curtailed by a serious
illness, and he died sadly, soon after.

Peter Heginbotham was also at that first

Meeting and was elected to the original
Committee. He held the office of President in
1964-1965. As mentioned above, he and
Neil Pennington were very early shakers
and movers about the way the development
of micro-lenses was taking place.
He attended lectures in London at City
University, where the great Norman Bier
lectured. Bier knew all about minimum
clearance and fenestration required in haptic
lenses. Peter following these principles on his return from England
in 1953, got Nissel in London to make haptics for him from the
mould he sent him. The line of supply however was too long, so
Peter started to make haptics himself. He remembered a lecture
by Dr Neill an American optometrist, at City University, about
these new small lenses – the lens of the future. How true!
Peter in 1956 ordered a set of these corneal lenses made by Nissel
in England, and was the first person in New Zealand to fit micro-
lenses. However the line of supply was again too great, just as it

100
had been with haptics, so he constructed finishing machines that
would create the required lens from an unfinished blank, cutting
the diameter of the lens to suit (usually 9 mm.) and shaping the
edge curve; the power was already in the blank. Peter says he
was privileged over nearly 50 years of practice, and he is still
working part-time, to see five generation of lenses; the ventilated
haptic, the micro-lens, the soft lens, the disposable and now the
extended wear lens.
He was made a Life Member of the Society in 2001.

Eric Sellers’ career in contact lenses

commenced during the Second World War in
the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), with
the use of haptic lenses, and as Gene Hirst
did, he used gutta percha to make the mould.
It was noticed that fenestrating the haptics
made them much more comfortable, a ploy
for which he became well known. Eric
subsequently left the U.K. and went to South
Africa, but as the political situation there
deteriorated he emigrated to New Zealand
and joined Peter Barry in the practice of Barry and Beale. During
his time in New Zealand, Eric lectured in America and in 1969, at
the First World Contact Lens Congress in the U.K., delivering a
paper on the use of contact lenses in treating amblyopia. He also
spoke in Hawaii and Australia.
The use of varying designs occupied his time in contact lens work
for many years. He was a contact lens wearer himself, the last set
of lenses that he wore were Hydron Echelon bifocals. He was in
practice for 50 years before retiring in 1992.
He now lives in this retirement on the Hibiscus Coast, north of
Auckland.

101
 Trevor Duncan was also very early on the
scene, his name appearing in the 1959 list
of practitioners. During his time as a
contact lens practitioner in Hamilton, he
held the office of Secretary firstly in 1984
till 1986 and latterly in the combined role of
Secretary/Treasurer, from 1999 to the
present day. He was elected President in
1991.
Trevor has been a stalwart member of the
Society right from its inception, being one of
its Foundation Members, and for his
outstanding contribution to Society affairs,
he was made a Life Member in 1993. He also regularly sends out
very amusing newsletters, with the alias of HWS- Hard Working
Secretary, which are a delight to receive.

The first Ophthalmologist to join the Society

was Dr Murray Ashbridge, who was in the
forefront of helping to overcome the enmity
between the two Professions. He was
joined in this crusade by David Sabiston
(see About the Author). Murray joined the
Society in 1964, very early on in the piece.
It was far from peaceful, with many of the
older Ophthalmologists, strongly opposed to
such fraternisation. Murray practised in
Rotorua, and very early on, becoming
versed in contact lens work. He presented
papers at many of our conferences, almost always on medical
matters pertaining to contact lens work.
He now lives in retirement in Papomoa, Bay of Plenty.

Ed Curtis has certainly left his mark on the

New Zealand contact lens scene. His
company, Corneal Lens Corporation, is a
manufacturer of contact lenses, and is well
known by all practitioners. The rise of Ed
Curtis to the prominence and respect that he
held for many years is quite a remarkable
story. He graduated in New Zealand in 1952,
doing his early training in Christchurch with
Sevicke Jones. He was a Foundation member
of the Society, and learnt much about contact lenses in Sydney

102
 from the lens manufacturer
Pen Thomas. The rigid
Import Licensing restrictions
imposed on contact lenses
were the impetus for Ed to
start manufacturing his own
totally finished lenses. He
took over the New Zealand
franchise of Corneal Lens
Corporation (CLC) in 1961,
eventually taking over total
ownership in 1966. He was actually approached by Pen Thomas
concerning this purchase of CLC, while recovering from a
near-fatal road accident.
Ed retired in 2001, allowing his sons Michael on the optometric
side, and Graeme in the lens manufacturing business to continue
the Curtis dynasty.

Also in this early 1959 List of Practitioners was Alan Styles,

whose early demise robbed the Society of one of its more colourful
characters, particularly at the AGM’s where he regularly challenged
matters pertaining to the Balance Sheet, mostly in a light hearted
manner. An Obituary notice from Mike Webber about Alan
appears in the appendices.

Two folk who must be named are Alan Bott and Sid Salek. Sid
was Secretary in the very early days, 1964 to 1967. Both were in
the forefront of the development of the Society. Sid, a contact
lens wearer himself, was fully aware of the vicissitudes and trials
in wearing lenses. He was also an excellent swimmer, holding
many swimming records.

The New Zealand Society has a lot to thank

Professor Brien Holden for all the work that
he put into supporting our Annual Meetings. In
the early days he was often the principal
speaker bringing to New Zealand, his team
from the Corneal and Contact Lens Research
Unit (CCLRU) in Sydney. The amount of
research work that he and his unit put into
improving contact lenses, both hard and soft
was quite prodigious.

103
 While on the Australian scene, no history of
the Early Pioneers could be complete
without mentioning Penrhyn Thomas from
Sydney. Pen, as he was known to one and
all, brought his own lens design across to
New Zealand, where it was initially
distributed by Wellington based Peter
Turner. Pen had designed a Lathe
Generator for making “Conoid” lenses,
which was the trademark of the lenses
manufactured by his Company. In 1961, the agency was
transferred to Christchurch under the direction of Ed Curtis. Pen
was one of our initial guest speakers and spoke many times
subsequently, very early in the long line of overseas speakers.

An Australian of some note was Melbournian, Dr Tom Spring, who

came to our conferences on almost an annual basis. His words of
wisdom were warmly received by our members and contributed
greatly to the knowledge of those who attended the Conferences
where he was speaking. He also became embroiled in the
controversy of combined Ophthalmological/ Optometrical
membership of our Society, and received considerable criticism
from his Australian colleagues. He will be best remembered for
the name “Springs Catarrh” the first recognition of Giant
Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC).

In April 1952, John Steeman, an Engineer, who emigrated from

Den Holder, Holland, and in 1971, joined Ed Curtis to supervise
the complex manufacturing machinery needed to make his lenses.
He left the Company in 1978, to resume his engineering career,
but in 1981, started his own contact lens business which has
continued till today. With his engineering skills, he invented an
injection-molding device for contact lens containers. His family
has continued the business, as John’s health and eyesight
particularly, have not recently been all that good. His daughter,
Kathryn is the Office Manger, and son Neil is handling the
manufacturing side. At 77, John still maintains a very active
interest in the business.

104
 Dr Tony Morris was President in the years
1983 - 1984, and was involved in the
correction of ametropia by means other
than spectacles and lenses. This may seem
an antithesis, with his involvement, at first
with surgical and subsequently laser
correction of myopic errors, being in strong
competition to contact lenses. He
nevertheless had a lot to offer to our
members, presenting many papers over the
subsequent years and being a contact lens
wearer himself. He was also very instrumental in bringing
Ophthalmology and Optometry much closer together. Even though
there had been considerable decrease in the antagonism that
existed in the early stages of the development of the Society,
there was still a considerable undercurrent, particularly in the
Auckland area. Tony was largely responsible for breaking down
this animosity in that area.

One of our more flamboyant speakers from

Hawaii was Jim Tannehill. He spoke to us
twice at different Conferences, making a
great impact with his down-to-earth
common sense approach to the fitting and
modifying of lenses. He managed to instill
in us the need for near-perfect edges, (ski-
pattern) so giving the patient a smooth
riding lens, with minimum discomfort.
New Zealanders were always welcome at
Jim’s laboratory in down-town Honolulu to
gather in the many pearls that he was able
to so succinctly impart, and also to share in his after hours
hospitality.

No history of the early pioneers would be complete, without

mentioning some of the early people who were in the
pharmaceutical and medical equipment businesses. As the contact
lens industry developed, the need for sophisticated
pharmaceuticals and equipment progressed with it.

Earliest on the scene was Brian Campbell, Manager of N.Z.

Pharma-Chemicals, the firm that was New Zealand agent for
Allergan. Brian was a first-rate wheeler and dealer, and certainly

105
helped enormously with the many problems that were around in
those early days.

Allergan subsequently formed their branch in Australia which also

serviced New Zealand. They were very ably managed by Chris
Greenhill and his competent team. It was with great sadness
that we learnt of Chris’s recent demise.

Accompanying the rise in popularity of the new lenses were

sophisticated instruments to assist in fitting them, and foremost in
this area was Owen Morgan, of Morgan and Hall, which was
established in 1951. He had a liaison with Topcon, a well known
Japanese company, who provided a wide range of such
instruments.

It was not long before other companies appeared on the scene, all
with much the same type of equipment, but all with individual
variations and prices. The sophistication of these appliances used
in practice today, is quite mind-boggling.

It was not long before a host of medical firms were all peddling a
large variety of associated products from solutions to lens holders.
Assisting in the promotion of these products was a bevy of
attractive young ladies, sex sells!

The number of people involved in this industry is now too

numerous to individually mention, and I have kept as far as
possible to naming The Early Pioneers.

106
The Later Entrepreneurs
I have singled out these seven people as making a large
contribution to the welfare and progress of the Society. They
certainly do not fit into the category of “The Early Pioneers” but
definitely need to be mentioned in this historical record. Many
present day members will know something of their endeavours
from newsletters and press releases, but there were a lot of
activities that went on behind the scenes that were unrecorded.
Some of their histories will be longer than the others, as I have
had access to more information to create these summaries. All
have contributed considerable amounts of time and energy
promoting the ideals of the Society.

They are in alphabetical order, definitely not in order of merit.

Victoria Elias
Our first and so far, only Lady President in
1992-1993 and Secretary from 1987-1991,
she contributed a lot to the organisation of
numerous conferences and everyday running
of the Society’s affairs.
Victoria is a principal in the practice of
Mortimer and Hirst at the famous address of 9
High Street, where the first contact lens clinic
in New Zealand commenced.

Richard Newson
Hailing from Nelson, Richard Newson was
President at Millennium, 1999-2000, being
the youngest President ever elected, and
also was in office at that momentous 42nd
Annual Conference “2001: A Space
Odyssey”. It was held in Blenheim in March
to take advantage of the better weather.
Richard in his Presidential speech
acknowledged the symbiotic relationship between the wholesalers,
drug companies and the profession, and hoped that it would never
deteriorate as it has in other medical and Optometrical spheres.
One of the great advantages of having a Conference in
Marlborough was the ready access to magnificent food and wine,
an epicurean’s paradise. The organisers were required to blend

107
this mixture of academia and gastronomical delights, and the
blend was quite superb, much to everyone’s delight. This
Conference stood out as one of the highlights in the Society’s
calendar. Richard was also a diligent and conscientious Society
council worker before becoming President.

Paul Rose
Of all the people associated with the New
Zealand contact lens industry, Paul has
promoted our image around the world,
more than any other person. Paul started
to experiment with lenses to correct that
most difficult condition, keratoconus, and
was successful in designing such a lens, the
Rose-K lens, much to the relief of
practitioners who had really struggled to get
a comfortable and optically satisfactory result. This lens has been
accepted worldwide and has put the name of the New Zealand
Contact lens industry to the forefront in this field of endeavour.
Paul has also been asked to speak at many International
Congresses on the development and use of this lens.
He practices Optometry in Frankton, just west of Hamilton, and
now has his namesake and son of Albert Rose in the business
with him. Obviously with the skills that he has he gets many
patients referred, and asked to give lots of telephone advice.

Alan Saks
Alan has had a meritorious career both in South
Africa where early his early schooling was at
Pretoria Boys High School, and his optometry
training at Technicon Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg South Africa graduating with a
Diploma of Optometry in 1981. He also has a
Fellowship of the American Academy of
Optometry, awarded in 1990, is a member of
the Royal College of Optometrists since 1991
and on coming to New Zealand is registered with
the Opticians Board since 1993.
His associations with august bodies in South Africa continued,
most notable of which was three terms as President of the Contact
Lens Society of South Africa. He was on the Editorial Board of The
South African Optometrist and the Contact Lens Clinic (CLC).

108
Since coming to New Zealand in 1993 he has continued with this
journalistic excellence, being a regular contributor to pharmacy
and optometry based textbooks, newsletters and magazines.
He was awarded a Fellowship of this Society in 1999, and was its
President for two terms 2001 and 2002. He is currently a Council
member and was a conference committee member for the NZSCLP
conferences from 1998 to 2007.
He is currently in practice in Auckland, as a partner in Barry &
Beale, Optometrists.

Gordon Sanderson
Gordon hails from the south, namely Dunedin
where he is Senior Lecturer in the Ophthalmic
Unit Dunedin Hospital. Gordon is well known
throughout New Zealand for the work he put
with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for
the Blind, being Chairman for the years 1994
-2002, prior to this Deputy Chairman from
1991-1993. He also held many posts
associated with this work, Chairman of the National Eye Bank,
Chairman Homai Management Committee. He was made a Justice
of the Peace in 1991, and recently honoured in the New Zealand
Honours list
His early work with contact lenses was with John Fairmaid who
fitted haptic lenses at the Dunedin Hospital before the advent of
bandage lenses. He worked closely with Ken Bell in establishing
the Combined Australian and New Zealand Triennial meetings. He
was President of the Society in 1984-1985.

Professor Charles McGhee

Charles was the first Professor of
Ophthalmology in the Auckland Eye Unit, and
has been outstanding in support of the Society,
speaking at almost every conference. He has
also brought many members of the team from
his Unit, who have contributed greatly to the
programme when they have appeared, with
both clinical topics as well as material from
their research endeavours.
His Scottish background with his wonderful sense of humour has
made it a delight to have him on the speaking rostrum and during
the social occasions that take place in the evenings. He has
honorary membership from the Society.

109
 Grant Watters
Grant was President in 1998-1999 but had
served on Council for several years and
contributed greatly with his organisational
skills especially at Conference times. One
notable Conference, at which he was the
chairman of the organising committee, was
Napier. It was on home ground as Grant’s
family came from Hawke’s Bay. He has also
toiled behind the scenes with teaching
promoting courses for students and
registrars.
Grant was one of those people who did a tremendous amount of
backroom work, usually without much recognition or appreciation.

110
The Subsidised Lens Scheme
In 1962 Gene Hirst approached the Government to subsidise
contact lenses for a range of ocular refractive disorders that would
attain better vision using these lenses than by any other means
available. These conditions were:

1. high myopia of more than 10 dioptres,

2. uniocular aphakia,
3. keratoconus and
4. any ocular refractive condition that in the opinion of a Hospital
Board Ophthalmologist(s) would benefit from lenses, such as
high astigmatism. Some Hospital Boards demanded that two
Ophthalmologists sign the form.

The benefit was based on the supposition that because of the

complexity of these problems and the longer time taken to fit such
patients, many more lenses would be required to adequately fit
such cases, and the patient would be unable to afford the cost for
this additional time and effort. There was no doubting that the
visual benefit of contact lenses for these cases was far superior to
any other method of optical correction.

The concept was excellent and after many months of persistent

lobbying the Government agreed to the scheme and passed it on
to the Health Department, who then relayed it on to the respective
Health Boards. The ground root supervision was left to the Board
Ophthalmologists who were to screen the application forms for the
subsidy and sometimes two Ophthalmologists had to agree that
the conditions were being fulfilled.

The execution slowly became problematical and council meetings

throughout the subsequent years almost without exception, had on
their agendas, problems that had occurred from the Health Boards,
or whatever name was in vogue as numerous restructuring
processes took place. It was always a squabble over payment and
the lack of action in regularly increasing the subsidy in line with
inflation as occurred with other Government subsidies. The first
real fee increase was in 1988, a 25% increase in the fee structure.

Fitting micro-corneal lenses (a pair) went from $222.00 to $278.00

making it an increase of 25.23%, near enough to 25% and later
was increased to $312.75 with the addition of GST.

111
Sub-committees were formed, numerous letters were sent to the
appropriate bodies, and deputations went right to the top, the
Minister of Health. Promises were made for action to occur, and
almost always nothing happened. Getting fee increases
corresponding to the cost of living increase was like trying to ring
blood from a stone and if it did take place, it took months or even
years.

Many stout hearted fellows offered to solve the problem and

started out with high expectations, finally having to admit defeat.
Standardisation throughout the country via the Health Boards was
sought, and small a country as we are, you would have thought it
would be simple, not so, and the problem continues today.

The scheme was mighty in concept, but often hopeless and very
frustrating for the lens laboratory and the fitter in its execution.
Those patients with whom it did work were forever grateful,
concomitantly with a happy practitioner performing the technical
work. Nowadays an additional fee is sometimes charged to cover
expenses as the subsidy has not kept up with either practice
overheads or the expense in manufacturing these lenses.

Some of the criteria no longer apply such as uniocular aphakia, as

intra-ocular lenses are now used or high myopia that can be
partially or wholly treated by laser refractive surgery, lensectomy
or intra-cameral lenses. High astigmatism can also be reduced or
ablated by laser application.

We were leaders in the world with this principle, but at a huge cost
to council members and other Society members co-opted to help
solve the problems as they arose. It often was a frustrating time
for the practitioner, manufacturer and patient.

112
Secretaries
1958-1962 John Fairmaid
1963 Dennis Irwin
1964-1967 Sid Salek
1968-1969 Alan Styles
1970-1971 Michael Webber
1972-1976 Paul Dunlop
1977-1979 Eric Bloomfield
1980-1982 Kinnear Johnson
1983 Hamish Caithness
1984-1986 Trevor Duncan
1987-1991 Victoria Elias
1991-1994 Peter Grimmer
1995-1999 Ross Hardey
1999-2007 Trevor Duncan

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Life Members of the Society
Mr Ray Bridgman (deceased)

Mr Neil Pennington (deceased)

Mr Edward Curtis, Christchurch, New Zealand (2002)

Mr Trevor Duncan, Hamilton, New Zealand (1999)

Mr John Fairmaid, Bannockburn, Central Otago,

New Zealand (1992)

Mr Peter Heginbotham, Wellington, New Zealand (2001)

Dr David Sabiston, Napier, New Zealand (1994)

Mr Eric Sellers, Auckland, New Zealand (2001)

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Honorary Members of the Society
Dr Murray Ashbridge, Papamoa, Mt Maunganui, N.Z.
Dr Joseph Barr, Ohio, U.S.A.
Mr Kenneth Bell, Sydney, Australia
Dr Perry Binder, San Diego, U.S.A.
Dr Noel Brennan, Melbourne, Australia
Prof Doug Coster, Adelaide, Australia
Dr Jennifer Craig, Auckland, N.Z.
Mr John Dart, London, U.K.
Prof Nathan Efron, Queensland, Australia
Ms Victoria Elias, Auckland, N.Z.
Prof Desmond Fonn, Ontario, Canada
Prof Leon Garner, Auckland, N.Z.
Prof Ted Grosvenor, Fernale, Washington, U.S.A.
Dr Richard Hill, Ohio, U.S.A.
Prof Brien Holden, Sydney, Australia
Prof Lyndon Jones, Ontario, Canada
Prof Charles McGhee, Auckland, N.Z.
Mr Charles McMonnies, Sydney, Australia
Prof Anthony Molteno, Dunedin, N.Z.
Mr Anthony Phillips, Adelaide, Australia
Mr Montague Ruben, London, U.K.
Mr David Ruston, Berkshire, U.K.
Dr Tom Spring, Melbourne, Australia
Ms Helen Swarbrick, Auckland, N.Z.
Mr Penrhyn Thomas, Sydney, Australia

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Inaugural Meeting

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Charter Document

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Haptic lenses

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