1972 in New Zealand

* 1971
* 1970
* 1969
*   *

|  | 1972

New Zealand |

* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
*   *

|
|
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Decades:|

* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s

See also:|

* History of New Zealand
* List of years in New Zealand
* Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1972 in New Zealand.

## Population

[edit]

* Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,959,700.[1]
* Increase since 31 December 1971: 61,200 (2.11%).[1]
* Males per 100 females: 99.7.[1]

## Incumbents

[edit]

### Regal and viceregal

[edit]

* Head of State – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Sir Arthur Porritt Bt GCMG GCVO CBE, followed by Sir Denis Blundell GCMG GCVO KBE QSO.[2]

### Government

[edit]

The 36th Parliament of New Zealand concluded. A general election was held on 25 November and saw the second National government defeated by a large margin, with the Labour Party winning 55 of 87 seats in Parliament.

* Speaker of the House – Roy Jack until 8 December, then Alfred Allen.[3]
* Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake then Jack Marshall then Norman Kirk
* Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall then Robert Muldoon then Hugh Watt.[3]
* Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon then Bill Rowling.[3]
* Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake then Jack Marshall then Norman Kirk.[3]
* Attorney-General – Dan Riddiford until 9 February, then Roy Jack until 8 December, then Martyn Finlay.[3]
* Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild

### Parliamentary opposition

[edit]

* Leader of the Opposition – Norman Kirk (Labour) until 8 December, then Jack Marshall (National).[4]

### Main centre leaders

[edit]

* Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
* Mayor of Hamilton – Mike Minogue
* Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
* Mayor of Christchurch – Neville Pickering
* Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes

## Events

[edit]

Mount Ngauruhoe eruption

* 7 February – Jack Marshall replaces Keith Holyoake as prime minister.
* 14 September – As a part of the Māori protest movement, activist group Ngā Tamatoa, the Te Reo Māori Society of Victoria University, and Te Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association) presented a petition signed by over 33,000 people calling for te Reo Māori to be taught in schools, leading to the creation of te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) in 1975, and a revitalisation of Māori language.[5][6]
* 20 October – Restrictions on the manufacture and sale of margarine in New Zealand are removed.[7]
* 25 November – The 1972 general election is held. The Labour Party, led by Norman Kirk, wins 55 of the 87 seats and forms the third Labour government.
* 3 December – Qantas commences the first Boeing 747 service in New Zealand, between Christchurch and Sydney.[8]
* 8 December – Qantas commences Boeing 747 service between Auckland and Sydney.[8]
* Chile and New Zealand establish embassies in each other's capitals.[9]
* The Values Party is formed.
* Mount Ngauruhoe erupts.

## Arts and literature

[edit]

* Ian Wedde wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1972 in art, 1972 in literature

### Music

[edit]

#### New Zealand Music Awards

[edit]

* Loxene Golden Disc Suzanne – Sunshine Through A Prism
* Loxene Golden Disc Creation – Carolina

See: 1972 in music

### Performing arts

[edit]

* Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Jon Zealando and Lou Clauson QSM.

### Radio and Television

[edit]

* The Broadcasting Authority in March grants the right to broadcast a second television channel to the private consortium Independent Television Corporation. After the election of the Labour Government in November, Norman Kirk announces the second channel will be run by NZBC.
* In September, the first live broadcast of an All Black match takes place. The All Blacks played against Australia. [1] Archived 22 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
* Feltex Television Awards:
* Best Programme: Charlie's Rock – Pukemanu
* Outstanding Performance: Peter Sinclair in Golden Disc Award
* Best Drama: Charlie's Rock – Pukemanu

See: 1972 in New Zealand television, 1972 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

### Film

[edit]

* To Love a Māori

See: 1972 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand

## Sport

[edit]

### Athletics

[edit]

* Field events within New Zealand switch from imperial to metric measurements. Track events changed earlier in 1969.
* David McKenzie wins his fourth and last national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:14:11.2 on 11 March in Dunedin.

### Chess

[edit]

* The 79th National Chess Championship is held in Hamilton, and is won by R.J. Sutton of Auckland (his third title).[10]

### Horse racing

[edit]

#### Harness racing

[edit]

* New Zealand Trotting Cup: Globe Bay[11]
* Auckland Trotting Cup: Royal Ascot[12]

### Olympic Games

[edit]

#### Summer Olympics

[edit]

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Gold |  Silver |  Bronze | Total

|
|
|

1 | 1 | 1 | 3

* New Zealand sends a team of 89 competitors.

#### Winter Olympics

[edit]

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Gold |  Silver |  Bronze | Total

|
|
|

0 | 0 | 0 | 0

* New Zealand sends a team of two alpine skiers.

### Paralympic Games

[edit]

#### Summer Paralympics

[edit]

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

* New Zealand sends a team of 10 competitors.

Gold |  Silver |  Bronze | Total

|
|
|

3 | 3 | 3 | 9

### Soccer

[edit]

* New Zealand National Soccer League won by Mt. Wellington AFC
* The Chatham Cup is won by Christchurch United who met Mount Wellington.
* Final 4-4 after extra time
* First replay 1-1 after extra time
* Second replay 2-1[13]

## Births

[edit]

* 3 January: Shaun Longstaff, rugby player
* 9 January: Gary Stead, cricketer
* 3 March: Peter O'Leary, soccer referee
* 27 March: David Bain, originally served 12 years for murder of his family, conviction quashed by Privy Council and subsequently found not guilty at retrial.
* 29 March: Paul Kent, swimmer
* 12 April: Jenny Shepherd, field hockey player
* 17 April: Dylan Mika, All Black (died 20 March 2018)
* 16 May: Matthew Hart, cricketer
* 3 June: Robert Kennedy, cricketer
* 7 June: Karl Urban, actor
* 11 June: Stephen Kearney, rugby league player and coach
* 21 June (in South Africa): Irene van Dyk, netball player
* 4 July: Craig Spearman, cricketer
* 12 August: Tony Marsh, rugby player
* 6 October: Brooke Howard-Smith, broadcaster.
* 27 October: John Steel, swimmer
* 16 December: Angela Bloomfield, actress
* 18 December: Julian Arahanga, actor
* 20 December: Jonathan Wyatt, long-distance runner
* Veeshayne Armstrong, television presenter.
* (in Britain): Warwick Murray, academic.
* (in Hong Kong): Jack Yan, publisher, designer and businessman

## Deaths

[edit]

### March

[edit]

* 2 March – Billy Wallace, rugby player and All Black (born 1878)
* 4 March – Major-General Sir Harold Barrowclough, former chief justice (born 1894)

### April

[edit]

* 14 April – Bert Hawthorne, motor racing driver (born 1943)

### July

[edit]

* 10 July – Charles Bowden, politician (born 1886)

### August

[edit]

* 8 August – Agnes Weston, politician (MLC) (born 1879)

### September

[edit]

* 8 September – Harold Temple White, music teacher, conductor, organist and composer (born 1881)[14]

### October

[edit]

* 5 October – Jim Barclay, politician (born 1882)
* 8 October – Laurie Brownlie, rugby player and All Black (born 1899)
* 20 October – John Pascoe, photographer and mountaineer (born 1908)
* 22 October – James K. Baxter, poet (born 1926)

### December

[edit]

* 11 December – John Mills, cricketer (born 1905)
* 26 December – Ronald Hugh Morrieson, writer (born 1922)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
2. ^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
3. ^ a b c d e Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
4. ^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. ^ Keane, Basil (20 June 2012). "Ngā rōpū tautohetohe – Māori protest movements: Cultural rights". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
6. ^ "History of the Māori language: Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
7. ^ Margarine Amendment Act 1972 No 127
8. ^ a b "No hitches in first jumbo service". The Press. 4 December 1972. p. 1.
9. ^ "New Zealand and Chile". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
10. ^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
11. ^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
12. ^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ White, Judith. "Harold Temple White". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

## See also

[edit]

* 1972 in science
* 1972 in Australia
* History of New Zealand
* Military history of New Zealand
* Timeline of the New Zealand environment
* Timeline of New Zealand history
* Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica

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Timeline of New Zealand history

* v
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1972 in Oceania

Sovereign states|

* Australia
* Federated States of Micronesia
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* Nauru
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* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
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Associated states
of New Zealand|

* Cook Islands
* Niue

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