2008 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 2008 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,280,300.
• Increase since 31 December 2007: 34,500 (0.81%).
• Males per 100 Females: 95.7.

Incumbents

Regal and vice regal

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

Government

2008 was the third and last year of the 48th Parliament, which was dissolved on 3 October. A general election was held on 8 November to elect the 49th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected.

• 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 (acting) 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

• 17 February – A helicopter and a Cessna 152 collide mid-air in Paraparaumu, causing the deaths of three people. The aeroplane hit the roof of a house, and the helicopter fell onto a PlaceMakers store.

March

April

• 5 April – A 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 (52) is struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police, while laying road spikes at Titahi Bay.
• 30 July – A state of emergency is declared in Marlborough due to flooding.

August

• 1 August – Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand merge to form the NZ Transport Agency
• 16 August – Dunedin 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 (47) is fatally shot in Māngere, 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

On the 17th The Dominion Post Billboard Heading Reads "Market Madness" There is also a graph on the Billboard showing the NZX taking a big dive . This was indicative of the worlds sharemarkets in turmoil.

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 id=13
• 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<nowiki>|</nowiki>HD Digital television is launched.
• The country's first Chinese television channel, CTV8 (Chinese Television 8) 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 (Te Puke)

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

• 17 March - Nate Wilbourne, environmentalist and activist
• 12 April – Luke Harrold, freestyle skier
• 12 August – Dwayne Li, figure skater
• 18 September – Silent Achiever, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 23 September – Zurella, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 13 October – Ocean Park, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths

January

• 1 January – Joan Dingley, mycologist (born 1916)
• 2 January – Lindsay Poole, botanist and forester (born 1908)
• 4 January
• Graham Percy, artist, designer and illustrator (born 1938)
• Bert Walker, politician (born 1919)
• 6 January – Charlie Steele, Jr., association football player (born 1930)
• 10 January – Sir George Laking, diplomat (born 1912)
• 11 January – Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist (born 1919)
• 16 January – Hone Tuwhare, poet (born 1922)

February

• 12 February – Ron Chippindale, pilot, air accident investigator (born 1933)
• 14 February – June Schoch, athlete (born 1926)
• 16 February – K. Radway Allen, fisheries biologist (born 1911)
• 19 February – Barry Barclay, filmmaker (born 1944)
• 28 February – Peter Bannister, botanist (born 1939)

March

• 13 March – Tessa Birnie, concert pianist (born 1934)
• 18 March – Ruth Dallas, poet and children's author (born 1919)
• 21 March – Merv Wallace, cricketer (born 1916)

April

• 2 April – Sir Geoffrey Cox, newspaper and television journalist (born 1910)
• 6 April – Tony Davies, rugby union player (born 1939)
• 10 April – Greg Hough, association football player (born 1958)
• 11 April – Fraser Colman, politician (born 1925)
• 12 April – Dame Augusta Wallace, jurist, first woman District Court judge (born 1929)
• 15 April – Mahinārangi Tocker singer–songwriter (born 1955)

May

• 4 May – Colin Murdoch, pharmacist, veterinarian and inventor (born 1929)
• 8 May – William L. Holland, Pacific affairs academic (born 1907)
• 20 May – Mihi Edwards, writer, social worker, teacher (born 1918)

June

• 1 June – Doug Zohrab, diplomat (born 1917)
• 4 June – John Armitt, wrestler (born 1925)
• 5 June
• Colin Kay, athlete and politician, mayor of Auckland (1980–83) (born 1926)
• Bruce Purchase, actor (born 1938)
• 24 June
• Neill Austin, politician (born 1924)
• Charlie Dempsey, association football administrator (born 1921)
• 27 June – Lyn Davis, rugby union player (born 1943)
• 30 June – Just An Excuse, Standardbred racehorse (foaled 1998)

July

• 16 July – Bob Walton, police officer (born 1921)
• 17 July – Sir Graham Speight, jurist (born 1921)
• 25 July – Walter Metcalf, physical chemistry academic (born 1918)
• 31 July – Falani Aukuso, Tokelauan public servant

August

• 6 August – Ken Going, rugby union player (born 1942)
• 9 August – Bob Cunis, cricket player and coach (born 1941)
• 16 August – Rei Hamon, artist (born 1919)
• 25 August – Hardwicke Knight, historian and photographer (born 1911)
• 31 August – Victor Yates, rugby union and league player (born 1939)

September

• 7 September – Sir Hamish Hay, politician, mayor of Christchurch (1974–89) (born 1927)
• 8 September – Ron Guthrey, soldier, politician, mayor of Christchurch (1968–71) (born 1916)
• 11 September – Sue Garden-Bachop, rugby union player, coach and administrator (born 1961)
• 13 September – Duncan Laing, swimming coach (born 1933)
• 15 September
• Peter Hanan, swimmer (born 1915)
• Arthur Stubbs, soldier, oldest New Zealand war veteran (born 1904)
• 21 September – Al Hobman, professional wrestler (born 1925)
• 25 September
• Wynne Bradburn, cricketer (born 1938)
• Brian Donnelly, politician and diplomat (born 1949)

October

• 2 October – Rob Guest, actor and singer (born 1950)
• 14 October – Dame Daphne Purves, educator (born 1908)
• 15 October – Des Townson, yacht designer (born 1934)
• 26 October – Neil Purvis, rugby union player (born 1953)
• 29 October – John Darwin, statistician and public servant (born 1923)

November

• 6 November – Kevin J. Sharpe, mathematician, theologian and archaeologist (born 1950)
• 7 November – Hedley Howarth, cricketer (born 1943)
• 8 November – Hugh Cook, science fiction writer (born 1956)
• 27 November – Mike Minogue, politician (born 1923)
• 29 November – Robert Wade, chess player (born 1921)

December

• 6 December – Peter Wardle, plant ecologist (born 1931)
• 13 December – John Drake, rugby union player (born 1959)
• 16 December – Peg Batty, cricketer (born 1920)
• 24 December – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter (born 1925)

See also

• List of years in New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• History of New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica

For world events and topics in 2008 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 2008

References

External links