1972 in New Zealand

← 1971 1970 1969 1972 in New Zealand → 1973 1974 1975
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1972 Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

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

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• 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

The 36th Parliament of New Zealand concluded. A general election was held on 8 December 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]

Parliamentary opposition

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

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland - Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton - Mike Minogue
• Mayor of Wellington - Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch - Neville G. Pickering
• Mayor of Dunedin - Jim Barnes

Events

• Chile and New Zealand establish embassies in each other's capitals.^[5]
• The Values Party is formed.

Arts and literature

• Ian Wedde wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1972 in art, 1972 in literature, Category:1972 books

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

• Loxene Golden Disc Suzanne - Sunshine Through A Prism
• Loxene Golden Disc Creation - Carolina

See: 1972 in music

Performing arts

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

Radio and Television

• 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.

• 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, Category:New Zealand television, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• To Love a Māori

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

Sport

Athletics

• 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

• The 79th National Chess Championship is held in Hamilton, and is won by R.J. Sutton of Auckland (his third title).^[6]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Globe Bay^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Royal Ascot^[8]

Olympic games

• New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Soccer

• 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^[9]

Births

• 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
• 16 May: Matthew Hart, cricketer
• 3 June: Robert Kennedy, cricketer
• 7 June: Karl Urban, actor
• 21 June (in South Africa): Irene van Dyk, netball player
• 4 July: Craig Spearman, cricketer
• 12 August: Tony Marsh, rugby player
• 27 October: John Steel, swimmer
• 20 December: Jonathan Wyatt, long-distance runner

• Veeshayne Armstrong, television presenter.
• Brooke Howard-Smith, broadcaster.
• (in Britain): Warwick Murray, academic.
• (in Hong Kong): Jack Yan, publisher, designer and businessman.

Category:1972 births

Deaths

• 4 March: Major-General Sir Harold Eric Barrowclough, former Chief Justice
• 14 April: Bert Hawthorne, motor racing driver
• 10 July: Charles Bowden, politician
• 22 October: James Keir Baxter, poet
• 11 December: John Mills, cricketer

• Ronald Hugh Morrieson, writer
• Billy Wallace, rugby player

Category:1972 deaths

References

See also

• 1972 in science
• Category:1972 in Australia
• 1972 in Australia
• History of New Zealand
• Category: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

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

1972 in Oceania Sovereign states Australia Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Associated states of New Zealand Cook Islands Niue