1969 in New Zealand

← 1968 1967 1966 1969 in New Zealand → 1970 1971 1972
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	Other events of 1969 Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,804,000^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1968: 31,000 (1.12%)
• Males per 100 females: 99.7.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State - Elizabeth II
• Governor-General - Sir Arthur Porritt Bt GCMG GCVO CBE.^[2]

Government

The 35th parliament concluded and a general election was held on 26 November. It saw the Second National Government of New Zealand returned for a fourth term, with 45 of the 84 seats. The Social Credit Party lost its only seat. The overall vote was very close, with National only 1% ahead of Labour in total votes cast.

• Speaker of the House - Roy Jack .^[3]
• Prime Minister - Keith Holyoake
• Deputy Prime Minister - Jack Marshall.^[3]
• Minister of Finance - Robert Muldoon.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs - Keith Holyoake.^[3]
• Attorney-General - Ralph Hanan until 24 July, then vacant until Jack Marshall appointed on 22 December.^[3]

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition - Norman Kirk (Labour).^[4]
• Leader of the Social Credit Party - Vernon Cracknell until 26 November

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland - Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton - Mike Minogue
• Mayor of Wellington - Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch - Ron Guthrey
• Mayor of Dunedin - Jim Barnes

Events

• The voting age is lowered from 21 to 20.^[5]
• A law change allows the number of seats in Parliament to vary in order to preserve the number of South Island seats. This increases the number of MPs from 80 to 84.^[5]
• The trading banks computerise cheque handling and money transfer between banks with overnight processing, between February and November, see Databank Systems Limited.

Arts and literature

• Warren Dibble wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1969 in art, 1969 in literature, Category:1969 books

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

Loxene Golden Disc Shane - Saint Paul

See: 1969 in music

Radio and television

• Coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing on videotape was flown from Sydney to Wellington by the RNZAF, and a microwave link was put together to allow its simultaneous broadcast throughout the country.
• 5 November: the first Network News bulletin was read at 7.35 pm by Dougal Stevenson and received simultaneously around the country^[6] TVNZ website

See: 1969 in New Zealand television, 1969 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Public broadcasting in New Zealand Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television programmes.

Film

See: Category:1969 film awards, 1969 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1969 films

Performing arts

• Grand Master of Magic Award established and presented to Edgar (The Great) Benyon.^[7]
• Benny Award established by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand and presented to Edgar (The Great) Benyon.^[7]

Sport

Athletics

• Jeff Julian wins his third national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:19:07.6 on 8 March in Christchurch.

Chess

• The 76th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and the title is shared by B.R. Anderson of Christchurch and Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland.^[8]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Spry^[9]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Leading Light^[10]

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – Ian Ballinger (Sydenham)^[11]

Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs who beat New Brighton 2—0 in the final.^[12]
• Teams in the Northern and Central leagues were playing for places in the planned 1970 National league, with the top three in each league being promoted. The Southern League would be represented by Christchurch United, a new club backed by Christchurch City, Shamrock, Rangers and Christchurch Technical, who would continue to play independently in the Southern League.^[13]
• Northern League premier division (Thompson Shield) won by Mt Wellington.^[13]
• Central League won by Western Suburbs FC^[13]
• Southern League First Division won by Christchurch Technical^[13]

Births

• 5 January: David Dixon, American football player
• 27 January: Shane Thomson, cricketer
• 23 February: Michael Campbell, golfer
• 24 April: Tony Tuimavave, rugby league player
• 3 May: Chris Zoricich, soccer player
• 25 June: Liza Hunter-Galvan, long-distance runner
• 3 July (in Florida, USA): Leonard King, basketball player
• 26 July: Tony Tatupu, rugby league player
• 27 July: Brendon Pongia, basketballer and television presenter
• 6 August: Simon Doull, cricketer
• 6 September: Doug Pirini, decathlete
• 9 September: Rachel Hunter, model
• 10 September: Craig Innes, rugby footballer
• 6 October: Kirsten Smith, javelin thrower
• 10 October: Scott Nelson, race walker
• 13 October: Hugh McCutcheon, volleyball player and coach
• 11 November: Michael Owens, cricketer
• 20 November: Chris Harris, cricketer
• 5 December (in Maine, USA): Eric Saindon, visual effects supervisor (film)

Category:1969 births

Deaths

• 9 January: Brigadier General Leslie Andrew, VC, DSO, soldier.
• William Denham, politician.
• Ralph Hanan, politician.
• Frank Langstone, politician.
• Sir Matthew Oram, politician and 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• Sir Sydney Smith, forensic expert.

Category:1969 deaths

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

External links

Media related to 1969 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons