Timeline of New Zealand history
This is a timeline of the History of New Zealand.
Pre-Colony Timeline ( to 1839 )
Before 1600
1000-1300 Archaeological evidence (such as the cabbage tree ovens on the Otago Peninsula} indicates that Polynesian settlement was established some time in this period.
- December 13 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island
- December 18 Abel Tasman's expedition sails around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay. The Dutch sailors sight local Maori.
- December 19 Four of Tasman's crew are killed by Maori and Tasman's ships depart without landing. West of North Island is charted, but no more.
- September 26 - Birth of William Hobson, future Governor
- October 8 James Cook makes his first visit to New Zealand.
- Cook maps the majority of the New Zealand coastline.
- Jean de Surville explores parts of the New Zealand coast.
- April Expedition of Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne visits Northland
- November 29 Chatham Islands discovered by HMS Chatham commanded by William Broughton
- Group of sealers from the Britannia landed in Dusky Sound.
- Dusky Sound sealers picked up.
- First Pakeha women arrive in New Zealand.
- Birth of Harry Atkinson , future premier.
- British missionary Samuel Marsden makes first visit to New Zealand.
- Anglican mission station established. Sheep, cattle, horses and poultry are introduced.
- Thomas Holloway King is the first Pakeha child born in New Zealand.
- Raids on Taranaki and Te Whanganui-a-tara regions by Ngapuhi and Ngati Toa people led by chiefs Patuone, Nene, Moetara, Tuwhare, and Te Rauparaha.
- Hongi Hika, Ngapuhi chief, visits England, meets King George IV and secures supply of muskets.
- Musket wars begin with raids by Hongi Hika and Te Morenga on southern iwi and continue throughout the decade.
- Ngati Toa begin migration south to Cook Strait region, led by Te Rauparaha.
- Jurisdiction of New South Wales courts is extended to British citizens in New Zealand.
- Wesleyan Missionary Society mission established.
- First Church of England marriage between Philip Tapsell and Mäori girl, Maria Ringa.
- Te Heke Niho-puta migration of Taranaki iwi to the Kapiti Coast.
- Rawiri Taiwhanga in Bay of Islands sells dairy produce and other food supplies to visiting ships.
- Te Rauparaha's invasion of the South Island from Kapiti begins.
- Whaling stations established at Tory Channel and Preservation Inlet.
- Birth of Harry Atkinson , future Prime Minister
- James Busby appointed British Resident
- May James Busby arrives at the Bay of Islands.
- March United Tribes of New Zealand' flag adopted by some 25 northern chiefs at Busby's suggestion.
- October Declaration of Independence of New Zealand by the "Confederation of United Tribes" signed by 34 northern chiefs (and later by another 18).
- New Zealand Association formed in London, becoming the New Zealand Colonisation Society in 1838 and the New Zealand Company in 1839, under the inspiration of Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
- Bishop Pompallier founds Roman Catholic Mission at Hokianga.
- William Hobson instructed to establish British rule in New Zealand, as a dependency of New South Wales.
- Colonel William Wakefield of the New Zealand Company arrives on the Tory to purchase land for a settlement.
- March 27 - Birth of John Ballance future Premier
- January 29 Hobson arrives in the Bay of Islands.
- New Zealand Company settlers arrive at Port Nicholson, Wellington.
- February 5 Treaty of Waitangi signed at Bay of Islands.
- May 21 Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over New Zealand
- August French colony established in Akaroa.
- Hobson becomes first Governor and sets up executive and legislative councils.
- European settlements established at New Plymouth and Wanganui.
- February Capital shifted from Kororareka to Auckland .
- Main body of settlers arrive at Nelson.
- September 10 - William Hobson dies.
- Twenty-two European settlers and four Maori killed at a confrontation at Tua Marina, near the Wairau, in Marlborough.
- Robert FitzRoy becomes Governor.
- Hone Heke begins the "War in the North".
- New Zealand Company suspends its colonising operations due to financial difficulties.
- George Grey becomes Governor.
- War in the north ends with capture of Ruapekapeka
- First New Zealand Constitution Act passed.
- Heaphy, Fox, and Brunner begin exploring the West Coast.
- First steam vessel, HMS "Driver", arrives in New Zealand waters.
- Settlement of Dunedin founded by Scottish Otago Association.
- Provinces of New Ulster and New Munster set up under 1846 Act.
- Coal discovered at Brunner on the West Coast.
- Earthquake centred in Marlborough damages most Wellington buildings.
- Canterbury settlement founded.
- Second New Zealand Constitution Act passed creating General Assembly and six provinces with representative government.
- Idea of a Mäori King canvassed by Tamihana Te Rauparaha and Matene Te Whiwhi.
- First session of the General Assembly opens in Auckland.
- Governor Thomas Gore Browne, appointed in 1854, arrives.
- Severe earthquake on both sides of Cook Strait. Wellington's Basin Reserve is raised, dashing plans to use it for boats.
- Adhesive, imperforate postage stamps on sale.
- Henry Sewell forms first ministry under responsible government and becomes first Premier.
- Edward Stafford forms first stable ministry.
- New Provinces Act passed.
- Te Wherowhero installed as first Mäori King, taking name Potatau I.
- First session of Hawke's Bay and Marlborough provincial councils.
- Gold discovered in Buller River.
- New Zealand Insurance Company established.
- Waitara dispute develops into general warfare in Taranaki.
- Grey becomes governor for the second time.
- May Gabriel Read discovers gold in Gabriel's Gully near Tuapeka; Otago goldrushes begin.
- First session of Southland provincial council.
- Bank of New Zealand incorporated at Auckland.
- First electric telegraph line opens from Christchurch to Lyttelton.
- First gold shipment from Dunedin to London.
- War resumes in Taranaki and begins in Waikato when General Cameron crosses the Mangatawhiri stream.
- New Zealand Settlements Act passed to effect land confiscation.
- First steam railway in New Zealand opened.
- War in the Waikato ends with battle of Orakau.
- Land in Waikato, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke's Bay confiscated.
- Gold discovered in Marlborough and Westland.
- Arthur, George, and Edward Dobson are the first Päkehä to cross what becomes known as Arthur's Pass.
- Seat of government transferred from Auckland to Wellington.
- Native Land Court established.
- Mäori resistance continues.
- Auckland streets lit by gas for first time.
- Cook Strait submarine telegraph cable laid.
- Christchurch to Hokitika road opens.
- Cobb and Co. coaches run from Canterbury to the West Coast.
- January to February Trevor Chute leads raids aginst Maro in Taranaki
- [[Thames, New Zealand|Thames goldfield opens; soon the town has more people than Auckland.
- Four Maori seats established in Parliament.
- Lyttelton railway tunnel completed.
- Armed constabulary established.
- Mäori resistance continues through campaigns of Te Kooti Arikirangi and Titokowaru.
- New Zealand's first sheep breed, the Corriedale, is developed.
- Thomas Burns founds New Zealand's first university, the University of Otago, in Dunedin.
- The last imperial forces leave New Zealand.
- Julius Vogel's public works and immigration policy begins.
- New Zealand University Act passed, establishing a federal system which lasts until 1961.
- Vogel announces national railway construction programme; over 1,000 miles constructed by 1879.
- First rugby match.
- Auckland to San Francisco mail service begins.
- Deer freed in Otago.
- Te Kooti retreats to the King Country and Mäori armed resistance ceases.
- Telegraph communication links Auckland, Wellington and southern provinces.
- New Zealand Shipping Company established.
- First New Zealand steam engine built at Invercargill.
- Abolition of the provinces and establishment of local government by counties and boroughs.
- New Zealand-Australia telegraph cable established.
- Education Act passed, establishing national system of primary education, "free, secular, and compulsory".
- Completion of Christchurch-Invercargill railway.
- Triennial Parliaments Act passed. Vote is given to every male aged 21 and over.
- Kaitangata mine explosion, 34 people die.
- Annual property tax introduced.
- Kangaroo lays the first Telegraph cable across Cook Strait.
- Parihaka community forcibly broken up by troops. Te Whiti, Tohu Kakahi and followers arrested and imprisoned.
- Wreck of SS "Tararua", 131 people die.
- Auckland and Christchurch telephone exchanges open.
- First shipment of frozen meat leaves Port Chalmers for England on the "Dunedin".
- Te Kooti pardoned, Te Whiti and other prisoners released.
- Direct steamer link established between New Zealand and Britain.
- King Tawhiao visits England with petition to the Queen, appealing to the Treaty of Waitangi, and is refused access.
- First overseas tour by a New Zealand rugby team, to New South Wales.
- Construction of King Country section of North Island main trunk railway begins.
- Mt Tarawera erupts and the Pink and White Terraces are destroyed, 153 people die.
- Oil is discovered in Taranaki.
- New Zealand's first national park, Tongariro, is presented to the nation by Te Heuheu Tukino IV.
- Reefton becomes first town to have electricity.
- First inland parcel post service.
- Birth of writer Katherine Mansfield.
- Abolition of non-residential or property qualification to vote.
- First New Zealand-built locomotive completed at Addington.
- Maritime Strike involves 8000 unionists.
- "Sweating" Commission reports on employment conditions.
- First election on a one-man one-vote basis.
- John McKenzie introduces the first of a series of measures to promote closer land settlement.
- John Ballance becomes Premier of first Liberal Government.
- First Kotahitanga Mäori Parliament meets.
- Franchise extended to women.
- John Ballance dies and is succeeded by Richard John Seddon.
- Liquor licensing poll introduced.
- Elizabeth Yates becomes first woman mayor, of Onehunga.
- Banknotes become legal tender.
- Compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes and reform of employment laws.
- Advances to Settlers Act.
- Clark, Fyfe and Graham become the first peopleto climb Mt Cook.
- Wreck of SS "Wairarapa".
- National Council of Women is founded.
- Brunner Mine explosion, 67 people killed.
- Census measures national population as 743,214.
- Death of former premier Harry Atkinson.
- First of series of colonial and later imperial conferences held in London.
- Apirana Ngata and others form Te Aute College Students' Association.
- Old Age Pensions Act.
- First cars imported to New Zealand.
- New Zealand army contingent is sent to the South African war.
- First celebration of Labour Day.
- Mäori Councils Act passed.
- Public Health Act passed setting up Department of Public Health in 1901.
- Cook and other Pacific Islands annexed.
- Penny postage first used.
- Pacific cable begins operating between New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.
- Wreck of SS "Elingamite".
- Richard Pearse achieves semi-controlled flight near Timaru.
- New Zealand rugby team tours England and becomes known as the All Blacks.
- Old Age Pension increases to £26 per year; however, eligibility tightened.
- Seddon dies and is succeeded by Joseph Ward as Premier.
- New Zealand constituted as a Dominion.
- Fire destroys Parliament buildings.
- Auckland to Wellington main trunk railway line opens.
- Blackball coal miner strike lasts 11 weeks
- Ernest Rutherford is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- New Zealand's population reaches one million.
- "Red" Federation of Labour formed.
- SS "Penguin" wrecked in Cook Strait, 75 people die.
- Compulsory military training introduced.
- Stamp-vending machine invented and manufactured in New Zealand.
- Halley's Comet sighted in New Zealand.
- William Massey wins vote in the House and becomes first Reform Party Prime Minister.
- Waihi miners strike.
- Waterfront strikes in Auckland and Wellington.
- World War I begins and German Samoa is occupied.
- New Zealand Expeditionary Forces are despatched to Egypt.
- Huntly coal mine disaster, 43 people die.
- New Zealand forces take part in Gallipoli campaign.
- Reform and Liberal parties form National War Cabinet.
- Britain announces its intention to purchase all New Zealand meat exports during war.
- New Zealand troops transfer from Western Front.
- Conscription introduced.
- Labour Party formed.
- Lake Coleridge electricity supply scheme opened.
- Battle of Passchendaele, 3,700 New Zealanders killed.
- Six o'clock public house closing introduced.
- Lord Liverpool becomes first Governor-General.
- New Zealand Division in the Battle of the Somme.
- End of World War I.
- Influenza epidemic in which an estimated 8,500 die.
- Creation of power boards for electricity distribution.
- Prohibition petition with 242,001 signatures presented to Parliament.
- Women eligible for election to Parliament.
- Massey signs Treaty of Versailles.
- First official airmail flight from Auckland to Dargaville.
- Anzac Day established.
- New Zealand gets League of Nations mandate to govern Western Samoa.
- First aeroplane flight across Cook Strait.
- New Zealand Division of Royal Navy established.
- Meat Producers' Board placed in control of meat exports.
- Otira tunnel opens. Ross Dependency proclaimed. Death of Katherine Mansfield.
- National public broadcasting begins under auspices of Radio Broadcasting Co. Ltd.
- New Zealand Summer Time introduced.
- General election won by new United Party.
- Kingsford-Smith completes first flight across Tasman Sea.
- Economic depression gets worse.
- Severe earthquake in Murchison-Karamea district, 17 people die.
- First health stamps issued.
- Unemployment Board set up to provide relief work.
- [[February 14] - Death of Thomas Mackenzie , former Prime Minister.
- Newly formed Coalition Government under George Forbes wins general election.
- Hawke's Bay earthquake, 256 die.
- Substantial percentage reductions in public service wages and salaries.
- Airmail postage stamps introduced.
- Compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes abolished.
- Unemployed riots in Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch.
- Reductions in old-age and other pensions.
- Elizabeth McCombs becomes first woman MP.
- Distinctive New Zealand coins first issued.
- Reserve Bank and Mortgage Corporation established.
- First trans-Tasman airmail.
- First Labour Government elected under Michael Joseph Savage.
- Air services begin across Cook Strait.
- May 21 Birth of Jim Bolger, Future Prime Minister.
- Reserve Bank taken over by state.
- State housing programme launched.
- Guaranteed prices for dairy products introduced.
- National Party formed from former Coalition MPs.
- Inter-island trunk air services introduced.
- Jack Lovelock wins New Zealand's first Olympic gold.
- Jean Batten's record flight from England.
- Working week reduced from 44 to 40 hours.
- Federation of Labour unifies trade union movement.
- RNZAF set up as separate branch of armed forces.
- Social Security Act establishes revised pensions structure and the basis of a national health service.
- Import and exchange controls are introduced.
- Birth of Jim Anderton , future political leader.
- Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force formed.
- Bulk purchases of farm products by Great Britain.
- HMS Achilles takes part in Battle of the River Plate.
- Michael Joseph Savage dies and is succeeded by Peter Fraser.
- Sidney Holland becomes Leader of Opposition.
- Conscription for military service.
- German mines laid across Hauraki Gulf.
- Mäori War Effort Organisation set up.
- Pharmaceutical and general practitioner medical benefits introduced.
- Economic stabilisation.
- New Zealand troops in Battle of El Alamein.
- Food rationing introduced.
- Mobilisation of women for essential work.
- New Zealand troops take part in invasion of Italy.
- Australia-New Zealand Agreement provides for co-operation in the South Pacific.
- New Zealand signs United Nations charter.
- Mäori Social and Economic Advancement Act passed.
- National Airways Corporation founded.
- Family benefit of £1 per week becomes universal.
- Bank of New Zealand nationalised.
- Statute of Westminster adopted by New Zealand Parliament.
- First public performance by National Orchestra.
- Mabel Howard becomes first woman cabinet minister.
- Fire in Ballantyne's department store, Christchurch, 41 people die.
- Protest campaign against exclusion of Maori players from rugby tour of South Africa. * Polio epidemic closes schools.
- Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe erupt.
- Meat rationing ends.
- Referendum agrees to compulsory military training.
- National Government elected.
- New Zealand gets first four navy frigates.
- Naval and ground forces sent to Korean War.
- Legislative Council abolished.
- Wool boom.
- February 26 - Birth of Helen Clark, Future Prime Minister.
- Prolonged waterfront dispute, state of emergency proclaimed.
- ANZUS treaty signed between United States, Australia and New Zealand.
- Mäori Women's Welfare League established.
- Population reaches over two million.
- February 4 - Birth of Jenny Shipley , future Prime Minister.
- First tour by a reigning monarch.
- Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first to climb Mount Everest.
- Railway disaster at Tangiwai, 151 people die
- World sheep-shearing record set by Godfrey Bowen.
- New Zealand signs South East Asia Collective Defence Treaty.
- Gains seat on United Nations Security Council.
- Social Credit gets 10 percent of vote in general election, but no seat in Parliament.
- Pulp and paper mill opens at Kawerau.
- Rimutaka rail tunnel opened.
- National loses election; Walter Nash leads second Labour Government.
- Last hanging.
- Scott Base established in Ross Dependency.
- Court of Appeal constituted.
- Dairy products gain 10 years of unrestricted access to Britain.
- PAYE tax introduced.
- Arnold Nordmeyer's "Black Budget".
- First geothermal electricity generated at Wairakei.
- First heart-lung machine used at Greenlane Hospital, Auckland.
- Antarctic Treaty signed with other countries involved in scientific exploration in Antarctica.
- Auckland harbour bridge opened.
- Regular television programmes begin in Auckland.
- National Government elected.
- Government Service Equal Pay Act passed.
- New Zealand joins the International Monetary Fund.
- Capital punishment abolished.
- New Zealand troops sent to Malaysia during confrontation with Indonesia.
- Western Samoa becomes independent.
- Sir Guy Powles becomes first Ombudsman.
- New Zealand Maori Council established.
- Cook Strait rail ferry service begins.
- Taranaki gas well opens.
- Peter Snell establishes mile and half-mile world running records.
- Marsden Point oil refinery opens at Whangarei.
- Cook Strait power cables laid.
- Auckland's population reaches half a million.
- NAFTA agreement negotiated with Australia.
- Support for United States in Vietnam; New Zealand combat force sent, protest movement begins.
- Cook Islands becomes self-governing.
- International airport officially opens at Auckland.
- New Zealand labour force reaches one million.
- National Library of New Zealand created.
- Te Ata-i-rangi-kaahu becomes first Maori Queen.
- Referendum extends hotel closing hours to 10pm.
- Decimal currency introduced.
- Lord Arthur Porritt becomes first New Zealand-born Governor-General.
- Breath and blood tests introduced for suspected drinking drivers.
- Inter-island ferry Wahine sinks in severe storm in Wellington Harbour, 51 people die.
- Three die in Inangahua earthquake.
- Vote extended to 20-year-olds.
- National Government wins fourth election in a row.
- First output from Glenbrook Steel Mill.
- Natural gas from Kapuni supplied to Auckland.
- New Zealand secures continued access of butter and cheese to the United Kingdom.
- Nga Tamatoa protest at Waitangi celebrations.
- Tiwai Point aluminium smelter begins operating.
- Warkworth satellite station begins operation.
- Labour Government led by Norman Kirk elected.
- Equal Pay Act passed.
- Great Britain becomes a member of the EEC.
- Naval frigate despatched in protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
- New Zealand's population reaches three million.
- Rugby tour of South Africa cancelled.
- Oil price hike means worst terms of trade in 30 years.
- Colour TV introduced.
- Prime Minister Norman Kirk dies.
- Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch.
- Robert Muldoon becomes Prime Minister after National election victory.
- Mäori land march protests against land loss.
- The Waitangi Tribunal is established.
- Second TV channel starts broadcasting.
- Matrimonial Property Act passed.
- Pacific Islands "overstayers" deported.
- EEC import quotas for New Zealand butter set until 1980.
- Introduction of metric system of weights and measures.
- Subscriber toll dialling introduced.
- National Superannuation scheme begins.
- New Zealand signs the Gleneagles Agreement.
- The 200-mile exclusive economic zone is established.
- Bastion Point occupied by protesters.
- Registered unemployed reaches 25,000.
- National Government re-elected.
- Air New Zealand plane crashes on Mount Erebus, Antarctica, 257 people die.
- Carless days introduced to reduce petrol consumption.
- Social Credit wins East Coast Bays by-election.
- Saturday trading partially legalised.
- Eighty-day strike at Kinleith Mill.
- South African rugby team's tour brings widespread disruption.
- CER agreement signed with Australia.
- First köhanga reo established.
- Year-long wage, price and rent freeze imposed lasts until 1984.
- Visit by nuclear-powered United States Navy frigate "Texas" sparks protests.
- Official Information Act replaces Official Secrecy Act.
- New Zealand Party founded.
Restructuring ( after 1984 )
- Labour Party wins snap general election.
- Finance Minister Roger Douglas begins deregulating the economy.
- New Zealand ratifies the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
- Te Hikoi ki Waitangi march and disruption of Waitangi Day celebrations.
- Auckland's population exceeds that of the South Island.
- Government devalues New Zealand dollar by 20 percent.
- Anti-nuclear policy leads to refusal of a visit by the American warship, the USS "Buchanan".
- Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior bombed and sunk by French agents in Auckland harbour.
- New Zealand dollar floated.
- Keri Hulme wins Booker Prize for "The Bone People".
- First case of locally-contracted AIDS is reported.
- Waitangi Tribunal given power to hear grievances arising since 1840.
- Homosexual Law Reform Bill passed.
- Royal Commission reports in favour of MMP electoral system.
- Jim Bolger becomes National Party leader.
- Soviet cruise ship, the "Mikhail Lermontov", sinks in Marlborough Sounds.
- Goods and Services Tax introduced.
- First visit to New Zealand by the Pope.
- Share prices plummet by 59 percent in four months.
- Labour wins general election.
- Mäori Language Act making Mäori an official language passed.
- Anti-nuclear legislation enacted.
- First lotto draw.
- New Zealand's first heart transplant is performed.
- New Zealand wins Rugby World Cup.
- Significant earthquake in the Bay of Plenty.
- Number of unemployed exceeds 100,000.
- Bastion Point land returned to Mäori ownership.
- Combined Council of Trade Unions formed. Royal Commission on Social Policy issues April Report.
- Gibbs Report on hospital services and Picot Report on education published.
- State Sector Act passed.
- Cyclone Bola strikes northern North Island.
- Electrification of North Island's main trunk line completed.
- New Zealand Post closes 432 post offices.
- Fisheries quota package announced for Mäori iwi.
- Prime Minister David Lange suggests formal withdrawal from ANZUS.
- Jim Anderton founds NewLabour Party.
- Lange resigns and Geoffrey Palmer becomes Prime Minister.
- First annual balance of payments surplus since 1973.
- Reserve Bank Act sets bank's role as one of maintaining price stability.
- First school board elections under Tomorrow's Schools reforms.
- First elections under revised local government structure.
- Sunday trading begins.
- Third TV channel begins.
- Mäori Fisheries Act passed.
- New Zealand celebrates its sesquicentennial.
- Maori leaders inaugurate National Congress of Tribes.
- Dame Catherine Tizard becomes first woman Governor-General.
- Geoffrey Palmer resigns as Prime Minister and is replaced by Mike Moore.
- National Party has landslide victory. Jim Bolger becomes Prime Minister.
- One and two cent coins are no longer legal tender.
- Commonwealth Games are held in Auckland.
- Telecom sold for $4.25 billion.
- Welfare payments cut.
- Big earthquake in Hawke's Bay
- First budget of new Finance Minister, Ruth Richardson. Welfare payments further reduced.
- The Alliance Party is formed.
- Employment Contracts Act passed.
- Consumers Price Index has lowest quarterly increase for 25 years.
- Number of unemployed exceeds 200,000 for the first time.
- New Zealand troops join multi-national force in the Gulf War.
- An avalanche on Mount Cook reduces its height by 10.5 metres.
- Government and Maori interests negotiate Sealords fisheries deal.
- Public health system reforms.
- State housing commercialised.
- Watties Foods is bought by American company, Heinz.
- New Zealand gets seat on United Nations Security Council.
- Centennial of women's suffrage celebrated.
- New Zealand First Party launched by Winston Peters.
- National wins election without majority
- Opposition MP Peter Tapsell becomes Speaker of the House, thus giving the government a majority.
- Referendum favours MMP electoral system.
- New Zealand film The Piano has international success.
- Government commits 250 soldiers to front-line duty in Bosnia.
- Government proposes $1 billion cap in plan for final settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims.
- Sharemarket reaches highest level since 1987 crash.
- New Zealand's first casino opens in Christchurch.
- First fast-ferry passenger service begins operation across Cook Strait.
- Team New Zealand wins America's Cup.
- Occupation of Moutua Gardens, Wanganui.
- Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act passed.
- New political parties form: the Conservative, Christian Heritage and United New Zealand.
- Renewal of French nuclear tests results in New Zealand protest flotilla and navy ship "Tui" sailing for Moruroa Atoll.
- Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Auckland, Nelson Mandela visits.
- New Zealand contingent returns from Bosnia.
- Imported pests Mediterranean fruit flies and white-spotted tussock moths cause disruption to export trade and to Aucklanders.
- Thirteenth National Park, Kahurangi, opened in north-west Nelson.
- Waitangi Tribunal recommends generous settlement of Taranaki land claims.
- First legal sports betting at TAB.
- $170 million Ngai Tahu settlement proposed, $40 million Whakatohea settlement announced.
- First MMP election brings National/New Zealand First coalition government.
- America's Cup damaged in attack by a Maori activist.
- TV4 begins daily broadcasts.
- Customs Service cracks down on imported Japanese used cars following claims of odometer fraud.
- Auckland's Sky Tower is opened.
- Beatrice Faumuina wins gold for discus at the World Track and Field championships in Athens.
- Auckland band OMC's album "How Bizarre" goes gold in the United States.
- Compulsory superannuation is rejected by a margin of more than 9 to 1 in New Zealand's first postal referendum.
- Jim Bolger resigns as Prime Minister after a National Party coup; he is replaced by New Zealand's first woman Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley.
- Auckland city businesses hit by a power cut lasting several weeks. The crisis continues for over a month and results in an inquiry into Mercury Energy.
- The women's rugby team, the Black Ferns, become the world champions.
- Mortgage rates and the New Zealand dollar both take a slide leaving NZ$1 below the US50c mark for the first time in 12 years.
- The Coalition Government is dissolved leaving the Jenny Shipley-led National party as a minority government.
- Several cases of tuberculosis discovered in South Auckland in the worst outbreak for a decade.
- The Hikoi of Hope marches to Parliament calling for more support for the poor.
- The government announces plans to lease 28 new fighter aircraft but says no to a new naval frigate.
- October 28 - Don Brash becomes parliamentary leader of the National Party.
See also
- This article incorporates text from this Statistics New Zealand page , which is under
[http://www.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/aboutsnz.nsf/htmldocs/Copyright+and+terms+of+use this copyright].