1973 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1973 in New Zealand.

Population

 * Estimated population as of 31 December 1973: 3,024,900.
 * Increase since 31 December 1972 – 65,200 (2.20%).
 * Males per 100 females – 99.7.
 * It took 21 years for the population to grow from 2 million to 3 million.

Regal and viceregal

 * Head of State – Elizabeth II
 * Governor-General – Denis Blundell

Government
The 37th New Zealand Parliament commences. Government is by a Labour majority of 55 seats to the National Party's 32 seats.


 * Speaker of the House – Stan Whitehead
 * Prime Minister – Norman Kirk
 * Deputy Prime Minister – Hugh Watt
 * Minister of Finance – Bill Rowling
 * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Norman Kirk
 * Attorney-General – Martyn Finlay

Parliamentary opposition

 * Leader of the Opposition – Jack Marshall (National)

Judiciary

 * Chief Justice — Richard Wild

Main centre leaders

 * Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
 * Mayor of Hamilton – Mike Minogue
 * Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
 * Mayor of Christchurch – Neville Pickering
 * Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes

Events

 * 1 January – The 1973 New Year Honours are announced
 * 11 January – Air New Zealand accepts delivery of its first McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jet.
 * 4 February – The details of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement are announced
 * 7 February – A heat wave affects large parts of New Zealand. Rangiora reaches 42.4 C, the highest temperature recorded in New Zealand.
 * 11 February – The Rolling Stones play a single New Zealand concert, at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, on their 1973 Pacific Tour.
 * 27 February – Leaking drums of organophosphate cotton defoliant spread fumes across Parnell, Auckland, causing 640 people to be treated in hospital and 6,000 people to be evacuated.
 * 1 March – The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement is implemented
 * 10 April – Prime Minister Kirk cancels the 1973 South African rugby tour to New Zealand over fears of civil unrest.
 * 16 April – After a retrial, Arthur Allan Thomas is again found guilty of the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe.
 * 2 June – The 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced
 * 19 October – The New Zealand Day Act 1973, making 6 February a national holiday, receives royal assent.
 * 31 October – Colour television is introduced.

Arts and literature

 * Graham Billing wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1973 in art, 1973 in literature

New Zealand Music Awards

 * ALBUM OF THE YEAR John Donoghue – Spirit Of Pelorus Jack
 * RECORDING ARTIST / GROUP OF THE YEAR Shona Laing
 * BEST SINGLE / SINGLE OF THE YEAR John Hanlon – Damn The Dam
 * BEST NEW ARTIST Shona Laing
 * BEST NZ RECORDED COMPOSITION Anna Leah – Love Bug
 * PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Keith Southern – Join Together
 * ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Peter Hitchcock – Only Time Could Let Us Know
 * ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Mike Harvey – Damn The Dam

See: 1973 in music

Performing arts

 * Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Ray Columbus.

Radio and television

 * Colour television broadcasts begin at 7:45pm on 31 October. The licence fee for a colour television is NZ$35.
 * In December, Fred Dagg makes his first appearance.
 * Feltex Television Awards:
 * Natural History Programme: Bird of a Single Flight
 * Best News, Current Affairs: Election Night '72
 * Best Light Entertainment: Loxene Golden Disc 1972
 * Best Drama and the Arts: Gone Up North and An Awful Silence
 * Best Documentary: Deciding
 * Allied Crafts: Loxene Golden Disc set and work on Pop Co.
 * The first ZM radio stations were started in 1973 as 1ZM Auckland, 2ZM Wellington and 3ZM Christchurch.

See: 1973 in New Zealand television, 1973 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

 * Rangi's Catch

See: Category:1973 film awards, 1973 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1973 films

Athletics

 * Terry Manners wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:18:28.7 on 10 March in Inglewood. In the same year, on 1 December, the title is taken over by John Robinson who wins his first national title, clocking 2:15:03.6 in Christchurch.

Chess

 * The 80th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his 12th title).

Horse racing
From January 1973, all races are run at metric distances rather than imperial.

Harness racing

 * New Zealand Trotting Cup – Arapaho
 * Auckland Trotting Cup – Arapaho

Soccer

 * New Zealand National Soccer League is won by Christchurch United
 * The Chatham Cup is won by Mount Wellington who beat North Shore United 3–0 in the final
 * New Zealand hosts and wins the inaugural Oceania Cup tournament, beating Tahiti 2–0 in the final

Births

 * 25 January: Ruben Wiki, rugby league footballer
 * 20 February: Leisen Jobe, field hockey player
 * 1 April: Stephen Fleming, cricketer
 * 8 April: Nicholas Tongue, freestyle swimmer
 * 27 May:
 * Tana Umaga, rugby player
 * Ian Winchester, athlete
 * 16 June: Shane Reed, athlete (died 2022)
 * 2 July: Andrew Buckley, field hockey player
 * 10 July: Andrew McCormick, rugby union footballer
 * 23 July: Adrian Cashmore, rugby player
 * 31 July: Tasha Williams, hammer thrower
 * 4 August: Hymie Gill, field hockey player
 * 5 August: Justin Marshall, rugby player
 * 13 August: Martin Moana, rugby league footballer
 * 19 August: Carl Bulfin, cricketer
 * 23 August: Kerry Walmsley, cricketer
 * 5 September: Lesley Nicol, netball player
 * 1 September: Trent Bray, freestyle swimmer
 * 14 November: Darren Smith, field hockey player
 * 15 November: Shayne O'Connor, cricketer
 * 16 November: Brendan Laney, rugby player
 * 29 December: Garth da Silva, boxer
 * Kirsten Cameron, swimmer
 * Dom Harvey, podcaster and former radio host

Deaths

 * 5 February – John Stewart, politician (born 1902)
 * 11 April – Rongowhakaata Pere Halbert, Māori leader, interpreter, historian, genealogist (born 1894)
 * 20 May – Charles Brasch, poet and literary editor (born 1909)
 * 18 November – Peter McKeefry, Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal (born 1899)
 * 19 November – Cyril Allcott, cricketer (born 1896)
 * 15 December – Keith Buttle, mayor of Auckland (born 1900)

Full date unknown

 * Edith Louisa Niederer, farmer and community leader (born 1890)