1958 in New Zealand

← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in New Zealand → 1959 1960 1961
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1958 Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,316,000^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1957: 53,200 (2.35%)
• Males per 100 females: 101.3

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD.^[2]

Government

The 32nd New Zealand Parliament commenced. In power was the newly elected Labour government led by Walter Nash.

• Speaker of the House – Robert Macfarlane.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Walter Nash.
• Deputy Prime Minister – Clarence Skinner.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Rex Mason.^[3]

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Keith Holyoake (National).^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Keith Buttle
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert Macfarlane then George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Wright

Events

• 26 June – 'Black Budget', raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and petrol, passed by second Labour government.
• June – New Zealand's first supermarket, Foodtown, opens at Otahuhu.
• 3 September – Brian Barratt-Boyes performs New Zealand's first open heart surgery at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital.
• 29 September – The emergency number 111 for fire, police and ambulance is introduced; initially only in Masterton and Carterton.
• United States base for Operation Deep Freeze is established at Christchurch Airport.
• The Wairakei Power Station is commissioned. It is New Zealand's first geothermal power station, and only the second large-scale geothermal power station in the world.

Arts and literature

• The Robert Burns Fellowship is established to honour the bicentennary of the poet's birth.

See 1958 in art, 1958 in literature, Robert Burns Fellowship, Category:1958 books

Music

See: 1958 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1958 film awards, 1958 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1958 films

Sport

Athletics

• Raymond Puckett wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:37:28 in Lower Hutt.

Chess

• The 65th National Chess Championship was held in Christchurch, and was won by J.R. Phillips of Auckland.^[5]

Commonwealth Games

• New Zealand at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games: The New Zealand team of 63 athletes and 11 officials won four gold, six silver and nine bronze medals.^[6]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: False Step^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Macklin^[8]

Rugby union

• The All Blacks played three Test matches against the touring Australian side, retaining the Bledisloe Cup:^[9]
  • 23 August, Athletic Park (Wellington), Wellington: New Zealand 25 – 3 Australia
  • 6 September, Lancaster Park, Christchurch: New Zealand 3 – 6 Australia
  • 20 September, Epsom Showgrounds, Auckland: New Zealand 17 – 8 Australia

Soccer

• The national men's team played seven matches including five internationals:^[10]
  • 16 August, Wellington: NZ 2 – 3 Australia
  • 23 August, Auckland: NZ 2 – 2 Australia
  • 26 August, Hamilton: NZ 3 – 0 Waikato XI
  • 31 August, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 7 September, Nouméa: NZ 5 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 14 September, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 18 September, Auckland: NZ 1 – 1 Auckland
• The Chatham Cup was won by Seatoun for the second consecutive year. They beat Christchurch city 7-1 in the final.^[11]
• Provincial league champions:^[12]
  • Auckland: Onehunga
  • Bay of Plenty: Rangers
  • Buller: Millerton Thistle
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Spartans
  • Nelson: Settlers
  • Northland: Marlin Rovers
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Brigadiers
  • Taranaki: City
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: Masterton Athletic
  • Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
  • Wellington: Seatoun AFC

Births

• 1 January: Lesley Shankland (later Murdoch), cricketer.^[13]
• 7 February: Simon Upton, politician.
• 30 March: Peter Ellis, convicted for child abuse.
• 15 April: John Bracewell, cricket player and coach.
• 16 May (in the U.S.A.): Thomas "Tab" Baldwin, basketball coach.
• 27 May: Neil Finn, singer, songwriter.
• 28 May: Dennis May, karate master.
• 14 September: Jeff Crowe, cricketer.
• 27 September: Mitch Shirra, motorcycle speedway rider.
• 17 November: Frank van Hattum, soccer player.
• 23 November: Martin Snedden, cricketer and sports administrator.
• 30 November: Barry Cooper, cricketer.
• 3 December: Roger Sowry, politician.
• 14 December (In Scotland): Alan Boath, footballer.

• Daryl Crimp, writer, illustrator and cartoonist.
• A J Hackett, extreme sports entrepreneur.
• (in Zambia): Vicky Jones, children's author.
• Tuku Morgan, politician.
• Pio Terei, actor, singer and comedian.
• Jools and Lynda Topp (the Topp Twins, entertainers.
• Jane Wrightson, chief censor.

Category:1958 births

Deaths

• 12 March: Bill Barnard, politician – 10th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• 17 July: William Burgoyne Taverner, MP and Mayor of Dunedin
• 9 October: Merton Hodge, playwright.
• 25 October: James Chapman-Taylor, architect.

• Fred Baker, soldier.
• William Montgomery, Jr., politician.
• Robert William Smith, politician.

Category:1958 deaths

References

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

Years in New Zealand   17th century 1642 1643   18th century 1768 1769 1770 1772 1773 1774 1775 1777 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800   19th century 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900   20th century 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000   21st century 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Timeline of New Zealand history

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