1951 in New Zealand
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The year was dominated by the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute.
New Zealand entered a mutual defence pact with the United States and Australia - ANZUS.
Population
A census was held in 1951.
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usually resident population | 967,647 (50.1%) | 962,835 (49.9%) |
1,930,482 |
| Overseas Visitors | 6,297 | 2,661 | 8,958 |
| Total | 973,968 | 965,505 | 1,939,473 |
- Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,970,500[1]
- Increase since 31 December 1950: 42,800 (2.22%)
- Males per 100 females: 100.9
Incumbents
Regal and viceregal
- Head of State - George VI
- Governor-General - Lieutenant-General The Lord Freyberg VC GCMG KCB KBE DSO[2]
Government
The 29th New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the National government under Sidney Holland. The general election saw the governing National Party re-elected with a twenty-seat margin, a substantial improvement on the twelve-seat margin it previously held.
The New Zealand Legislative Council voted itself out of existence, making New Zealand a unicameral democracy.[3]
- Speaker of the House - Mathew Oram
- Prime Minister - Sidney Holland
- Deputy Prime Minister - Keith Holyoake
- Minister of Finance - Sidney Holland
- Minister of Foreign Affairs - Frederick Doidge then Clifton Webb
Parliamentary opposition
- Leader of the Opposition - Vacant until 17 January, then Walter Nash (Labour).[4]
Main centre leaders
- Mayor of Auckland - John Allum
- Mayor of Hamilton - Harold David Caro
- Mayor of Wellington - Robert Macalister
- Mayor of Christchurch - Robert M. Macfarlane
- Mayor of Dunedin - Leonard Morton Wright
Events
- The Official Secrets Act is passed.
- 15 February: The start of the "1951 Waterfront dispute" a massive labor strike lasting for 151 days.
- 1 September: Signing of the ANZUS treaty.
Arts and literature
See 1951 in art, 1951 in literature, Category:1951 books
Music
See: 1951 in music
Radio and television
- Experimental television broadcasts had been allowed from 1951 (as long as they included nothing that could be classed as 'entertainment').
See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand
Film
See: Category:1951 film awards, 1951 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1951 films
Sport
Athletics
- George Bromley wins his fourth national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:48:16 on 3 March in Wellington.
Chess
- The 58th National Chess Championship was held in Christchurch, and was won by D.I. Lynch of Hastings.[5]
Horse racing
Harness racing
- New Zealand Trotting Cup: Van Dieman[6]
- Auckland Trotting Cup: Soangetaha[7]
Rugby league
- The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand is conducted
Rugby union
- Bledisloe Cup: New Zealand beat Australia in all three tests, winning back the cup.
- Ranfurly Shield: North Auckland defended the shield against Bay of Plenty (16-12) and Thames Valley (19-6) before losing it to Waikato (3-6). Waikato then defended successfully against Auckland (14-6), Bay of Plenty (32-10), Taranaki (21-12) and Wanganui (14-0).
Soccer
- The New Zealand national soccer team played 9 matches, 6 of them internationals:[8]
- 11 August, Wellington: NZ 3 - 1 Victoria (Australia)
- 10 September, Auckland: NZ 2 - 0 Auckland
- 15 September, Suva: NZ 6 - 1 Suva
- 19 September, Nouméa: NZ 0 - 2 New Caledonia
- 22 September, Nouméa: NZ 6 - 4 New Caledonia
- 24 September, Nouméa: NZ 0 - 2 New Caledonia
- 30 September, Nouméa: NZ 3 - 1 New Caledonia
- 4 October, Nouméa: NZ 9 - 0 New Hebrides
- 7 October, Suva: NZ 6 - 4 Fiji
- The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs of Auckland who beat Northern of Dunedin 5— 1in the final.[9]
- Provincial league champions:[10]
- Auckland: Eastern Suburbs AFC
- Buller: Millerton Thistle
- Canterbury: Technical OB
- Hawke's Bay: Napier HSOB
- Manawatu: St Andrews
- Nelson: Thistle
- Northland: Kamo Swifts
- Otago: Northern AFC
- Poverty Bay: Thistle
- South Canterbury: Northern Hearts
- Southland: Brigadiers
- Taranaki: Old Boys
- Waikato: Claudelands Rovers, Rotowaro (shared)
- Wanganui: Technical College Old Boys
- Wellington: Seatoun AFC
- West Coast: Runanga
Births
- 8 January: Garry Moore, mayor of Christchurch.
- 24 January Dianne Macaskill, former Chief Archivist of Archives New Zealand
- 21 February: John Parker, cricketer.
- 6 March: Maurice Williamson, politician, cabinet minister
- 29 March: Geoff Howarth, cricketer.
- 22 June: Todd Hunter, musician.
- 3 July: Richard Hadlee, cricketer.
- 21 July: (in Fiji) Bernie Fraser, rugby player.
- 14 August: Vern Hanaray, road cyclist.
- 14 September: Karen Plummer, cricketer.
- 20 September: Stephen Boock, cricketer.
- 11 October: Randal Dobbs, marketing entrepreneur.
- 27 October: Rick Barker, politician.
- 16 November: Andy Dalton, rugby player.
- 21 November: Joe Karam, rugby union and rugby league player, lobbyist.
- 8 December: Paul Brydon, road and track cyclist.
- 9 December: Tuariki Delamere, politician.
- Christopher 'Marty' Johnstone, drug trafficker ('Mr Asia')
- Paul Swain, politician
- Stephen Tindall, business leader
- Maurice Williamson, politician
Deaths
- 9 January: William "Massa" Johnston, rugby and rugby league player.
- 4 November: Oscar Natzka, opera singer.
- 1 December: Te Rangi Hīroa, Māori leader (born 1877)
- Charles Tilleard Natusch, architect
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
References
- ↑ Statistics New Zealand:Historical Population Estimates
- ↑ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
- ↑ New Zealand Parliament - Parliament timeline
- ↑ "Elections NZ - Leaders of the Opposition". Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- ↑ List of New Zealand Chess Champions
- ↑ List of NZ Trotting cup winners
- ↑ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
- ↑ List of New Zealand national soccer matches
- ↑ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com
- ↑ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
External links
Media related to 1951 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons
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