1969 in New Zealand

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,804,000
• Increase since 31 December 1968: 31,000
• Males per 100 females: 99.7.

  Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Arthur Porritt Bt GCMG GCVO CBE.

  Government

• Speaker of the House – Roy Jack.
• Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall.
• Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon.
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake.
• Attorney-General – Ralph Hanan until 24 July, then vacant until Jack Marshall appointed on 22 December.
• Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild

  Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Norman Kirk.
• Leader of the Social Credit Party – Vernon Cracknell until 26 November

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton – Mike Minogue
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – Ron Guthrey
• Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes

  Events

• The voting age is lowered from 21 to 20.
• A law change allows the number of seats in Parliament to increase in order to preserve the number of South Island seats. This increases the number of MPs from 80 to 84.
• The trading banks computerise cheque handling and money transfer between banks with overnight processing, between February and November, see Databank Systems Limited.
• The Maui gas field was discovered, 35 km off the coast of Taranaki.
• The Save Manapouri campaign was launched at a public meeting in Invercargill in October.
• The Auckland Harbour Bridge was widened from 4 to 8 lanes.
• Blood and breath alcohol limits introduced for drivers.

  Arts and literature

• Warren Dibble wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

Music

[New Zealand Music Awards]

Radio and television

• Coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing on videotape was flown from Sydney to Wellington by the RNZAF, and a microwave link was put together to allow its simultaneous broadcast throughout the country.
• 5 November: the first Network News bulletin was read at 7.35 pm by Dougal Stevenson and received simultaneously around the country

Film

Performing arts

• Grand Master of Magic Award established and presented to Edgar Benyon.
• Benny Award established by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand and presented to Edgar Benyon.

  Sport

Athletics

• Track events within New Zealand switch from imperial to metric distances. Field events would switch later in 1972.
• Jeff Julian wins his third national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:19:07.6 on 8 March in Christchurch.

  Chess

• The 76th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and the title is shared by B.R. Anderson of Christchurch and Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland.

  Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Spry
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Leading Light

  Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – Ian Ballinger

  Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs who beat New Brighton 2–0 in the final.
• Teams in the Northern and Central leagues were playing for places in the planned 1970 National league, with the top three in each league being promoted. The Southern League would be represented by Christchurch United, a new club backed by Christchurch City, Shamrock, Rangers and Christchurch Technical, who would continue to play independently in the Southern League.
• Northern League premier division won by Mt Wellington.
• Central League won by Western Suburbs FC
• Southern League First Division won by Christchurch Technical

  Births

• 5 January: David Dixon, American football player
• 20 January: Blair Larsen, rugby player
• 27 January: Shane Thomson, cricketer
• 23 February: Michael Campbell, golfer
• 24 April: Tony Tuimavave, rugby league player
• 3 May: Chris Zoricich, soccer player
• 25 June: Liza Hunter-Galvan, long-distance runner
• 3 July : Leonard King, basketball player
• 26 July: Tony Tatupu, rugby league player
• 27 July: Brendon Pongia, basketballer and television presenter
• 6 August: Simon Doull, cricketer
• 6 September: Doug Pirini, decathlete
• 9 September: Rachel Hunter, model
• 10 September: Craig Innes, rugby footballer
• 6 October: Kirsten Smith, javelin thrower
• 10 October: Scott Nelson, race walker
• 13 October: Hugh McCutcheon, volleyball player and coach
• 11 November: Michael Owens, cricketer
• 20 November: Chris Harris, cricketer
• 5 December : Eric Saindon, visual effects supervisor

Deaths

• 9 January: Brigadier General Leslie Andrew, VC, DSO, soldier.
• William Denham, politician.
• Ralph Hanan, politician.
• Frank Langstone, politician.
• Sir Matthew Oram, politician and 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• Sir Sydney Smith, forensic expert.