2008 in New Zealand

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,280,300
• Increase since 31 December 2007: 34,500
• Males per 100 Females: 95.7

  Incumbents

Regal and vice regal

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Anand Satyanand

  Government

• Speaker of the House – Margaret Wilson then Lockwood Smith
• Prime Minister – Helen Clark to 19 November, then John Key
• Deputy Prime Minister – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Finance – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Winston Peters to 29 August, then Helen Clark to 19 November, then Murray McCully

  Party leaders

• Labour – Helen Clark to 11 November, then Phil Goff
• National – John Key
• Progressive – Jim Anderton
• New Zealand First – Winston Peters
• United Future – Peter Dunne
• Act – Rodney Hide
• Greens – Jeanette Fitzsimons and Russel Norman
• Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples

  Judiciary

• Chief Justice — Sian Elias

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Banks
• Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby
• Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock
• Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast
• Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker
• Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin

  Events

January

• 22 January – State funeral for Sir Edmund Hillary

  February

March

April

• 5 April – A huge propane explosion at a coolstore in Tamahere kills firefighter senior station officer Derek Lovell, and seriously injures seven others.

  May

• 8 May – The Tapuae Marine Reserve is established.

  June

• 5 June – A newly redesigned flag for the Governor General of New Zealand is flown for the first time at Government House, Auckland.

  July

• 1 July – Rail transport network is renationalised as KiwiRail
• 11 July – Police Sergeant Derek Wootton is struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police, while laying road spikes at Titahi Bay.

  August

• 1 August – Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand merge to form the NZ Transport Agency
• 16 August – Dunedin Public Hospital is put in lockdown for a week after approximately 170 staff and patients fall ill to a norovirus outbreak, resulting in 2,300 appointments and procedures being delayed.

  September

• 5 September – Fonterra advise Prime Minister Helen Clark of the 2008 baby milk scandal.
• 7 September – The Taputeranga Marine Reserve is opened.
• 11 September – Undercover police Sergeant Don Wilkinson is fatally shot in Mangere, after being discovered attempting to secretly fix a tracking device to a car.
• 24 September - GO Wellington dispute - an industrial dispute between the GO Wellington bus company and drivers

  October

November

• 8 November – John Key and the New Zealand National Party win the 2008 general election. John Key is able to form a Government and in Helen Clark's speech that she resigns as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
• 9 November – Michael Cullen resigns as deputy leader of the Labour Party.
• 19 November – John Key is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 27 November – 2008 Air New Zealand A320 test flight crash. Air New Zealand A320 Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean during a test flight, killing five New Zealand and two German air crew.

  December

Holidays and observances

• 6 February – Waitangi Day
• 21 March – Good Friday
• 23 March – Easter Sunday
• 24 March – Easter Monday
• 25 April – Anzac Day
• 2 June – Queen's Birthday
• 5 June – Matariki
• 27 October – Labour Day

  Arts and literature

New books

Awards

• BPANZ Book Design Awards - In association with Spectrum Print and the New Zealand Listener
• BEST BOOK Title: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• BEST COVER Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• NON-ILLUSTRATED Winner: Dear to Me
• ILLUSTRATED Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• EDUCATIONAL Winner: Astronomy Aotearoa NCEA Level 1 by Robert Shaw
• CHILDREN’S Winner: The King's Bubbles by Ruth Paul

  Music

• May - New Zealand Music Month
• 3 September: Technical Awards for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards
• 8 October: Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

  Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Suzanne Lynch MNZM.

  Television

• Freeview |Freeview|HD Digital television is launched.
• The country's first Chinese television channel, CTV8 is launched in early October.

  Sport

Cricket

• New Zealand men's cricket team, the Black Caps plays three test matches against England and draws the series, each team having won a game

  Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Changeover
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Gotta Go Cullen

  Thoroughbred racing

Netball

• The ANZ Netball Championship begins in April 2008.

  Motorsport

Olympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of 182 competitors across 17 sports.

Paralympics

• New Zealand sends a team of 30 competitors across seven sports.

Rugby league

• The New Zealand national rugby league team won the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
• The New Zealand Warriors finished 8th in the National Rugby League and in the playoffs made it through to the semi-finals, beating minor premiers the Melbourne Storm in the progress.
• The inaugural season of the new Bartercard Premiership saw Auckland defeat Canterbury 38-10 in the grand final.

  Rugby union

Rowing

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – Brian Carter

  Soccer

• 30 October – 16 November – New Zealand hosts the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Matches are held in Albany, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington.
• The Chatham Cup is won by East Coast Bays AFC who beat Dunedin Technical 1—0 in the final.

  Tennis

Births

• 18 September – Silent Achiever, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 23 September – Zurella, Thoroughbred racehorse

  Deaths

January

• 1 January – Joan Dingley, mycologist
• 2 January – Lindsay Poole, botanist and forester
• 4 January
• * Graham Percy, artist, designer and illustrator
• * Bert Walker, politician
• 6 January – Charlie Steele, Jr., association football player
• 10 January – Sir George Laking, diplomat
• 11 January – Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist
• 16 January – Hone Tūwhare, poet

  February

• 12 February – Ron Chippindale, pilot, air accident investigator
• 14 February – June Schoch, athlete
• 16 February – K. Radway Allen, fisheries biologist
• 19 February – Barry Barclay, filmmaker

  March

• 13 March – Tessa Birnie, concert pianist
• 18 March – Ruth Dallas, poet and children's author
• 21 March – Merv Wallace, cricketer

  April

• 2 April – Sir Geoffrey Cox, newspaper and television journalist
• 6 April – Tony Davies, rugby union player
• 10 April – Greg Hough, association football player
• 11 April – Fraser Colman, politician
• 12 April – Dame Augusta Wallace, jurist, first woman District Court judge
• 15 April – Mahinārangi Tocker singer–songwriter

  May

• 4 May – Colin Murdoch, pharmacist, veterinarian and inventor
• 8 May – William L. Holland, Pacific affairs academic
• 9 May – Nahega Molifai Silimaka, Niuean community leader

  June

• 1 June – Doug Zohrab, diplomat
• 4 June – John Armitt, wrestler
• 5 June
• * Colin Kay, athlete and politician, mayor of Auckland
• * Bruce Purchase, actor
• 24 June
• * Neill Austin, politician
• * Charlie Dempsey, association football administrator
• 27 June – Lyn Davis, rugby union player

  July

• 16 July – Bob Walton, police officer
• 17 July – Sir Graham Speight, jurist
• 25 July – Walter Metcalf, physical chemistry academic
• 31 July – Falani Aukuso, Tokelauan public servant

  August

• 6 August – Ken Going, rugby union player
• 9 August – Bob Cunis, cricket player and coach
• 16 August – Rei Hamon, artist
• 25 August – Hardwicke Knight, historian and photographer
• 31 August – Victor Yates, rugby union and league player

  September

• 7 September – Sir Hamish Hay, politician, mayor of Christchurch
• 8 September – Ron Guthrey, soldier, politician, mayor of Christchurch
• 11 September – Sue Garden-Bachop, rugby union player, coach and administrator
• 13 September – Duncan Laing, swimming coach
• 15 September
• * Peter Hanan, swimmer
• * Arthur Stubbs, soldier, oldest New Zealand war veteran
• 21 September – Al Hobman, professional wrestler
• 25 September
• * Wynne Bradburn, cricketer
• * Brian Donnelly, politician and diplomat

  October

• 2 October – Rob Guest, actor and singer
• 14 October – Dame Daphne Purves, educator
• 15 October – Des Townson, yacht designer
• 26 October – Neil Purvis, rugby union player
• 29 October – John Darwin, statistician and public servant

  November

• 6 November – Kevin J. Sharpe, mathematician, theologian and archaeologist
• 7 November – Hedley Howarth, cricketer
• 8 November – Hugh Cook, science fiction writer
• 27 November – Mike Minogue, politician
• 29 November – Robert Wade, chess player

  December

• 6 December – Peter Wardle, plant ecologist
• 13 December – John Drake, rugby union player
• 16 December – Peg Batty, cricketer
• 24 December – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter