| Time Zone | Standard Time | Daylight Time |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | UTC+12:00 | UTC+13:00 |
| Chatham Islands | UTC+12:45 | UTC+13:45 |
| Tokelau | UTC+14:00 | |
| Cook Islands | UTC-10:00 | |
| Niue | UTC-11:00 | |
| The current time in New Zealand is: 09:18 20 February 2012 |
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| The current time in the Cook Islands is: 10:18 19 February 2012 |
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New Zealand has two time zones. The main islands use New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), 12 hours in advance of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), while the outlying Chatham Islands use Chatham Standard Time (CHAST), 12 hours 45 minutes in advance of UTC.
During summer (see below for exact dates) daylight saving time is observed and clocks are advanced one hour. New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) is thus 13 hours ahead of UTC, and Chatham Daylight Time (CHADT) 13 hours 45 minutes ahead.
The Ross Dependency in Antarctica maintains NZST/NZDT, along with McMurdo Station and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
Furthermore, there are dependencies of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean, in two different time zones on the other side of the International Date Line:
In 2011, Tokelau moved its timezone forward by 24 hours, by skipping 30 December.[1] This followed a similar decision by Samoa, as the only way to travel to Tokelau is by boat from Samoa. This has the result of putting Tokelau on the same date as New Zealand.
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On 2 November 1868, New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally, and was perhaps the first country to do so. It was based on longitude 172°30′ East of Greenwich, 11½ hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).[2] This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time (NZMT).
In 1941, during the Second World War, clocks were advanced half an hour, making New Zealand 12 hours ahead of GMT. This change was made permanent from 1946 by the Standard Time Act 1945, at which the time at the 180°E meridian was made the basis for New Zealand Time. NZST remained half an hour ahead of NZMT, and the Chatham Islands 45 minutes ahead of NZST.
In the late 1940s the atomic clock was developed and several laboratories began atomic time scales. A new time scale known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) was adopted internationally in 1972. This was based on the readings of atomic clocks, updated periodically in accordance with time variations in the Earth's rotation by the addition or deletion of seconds (called leap seconds).
The Time Act 1974 defines New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) as 12 hours in advance of UTC.
Starting in 2007, daylight saving in New Zealand is observed from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April.
The standard for time in New Zealand is maintained by the Measurement Standards Laboratory, part of Industrial Research Limited. It is disseminated by various means, including time pips broadcast on Radio New Zealand, a speaking clock service, and Network Time Protocol.
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