Mental health advocate Mike King is returning his New Zealand Order of Merit.

He says our mental health system is still broken, so he doesn't feel comfortable keeping the medal.

King was awarded the honour last year for service to mental health issues and suicide prevention.

But he says no progress has been made, blaming it on separatist funding from the Government.

“It hasn’t worked for the last 30 years; it will not work for the next 30 years. If you want to lift the base line on anything, you lift it right across the board.”

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