2008 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 2008 in New Zealand.

Population

 * Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,280,300.
 * Increase since 31 December 2007: 34,500 (0.81%).
 * Males per 100 Females: 95.7.

Regal and vice regal

 * Monarch – Elizabeth II
 * Governor-General – Anand Satyanand

Government
2008 was the third and last year of the 48th Parliament, which was dissolved on 3 October. A general election was held on 8 November to elect the 49th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected.


 * Speaker of the House – Margaret Wilson then Lockwood Smith
 * Prime Minister – Helen Clark to 19 November, then John Key
 * Deputy Prime Minister – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
 * Minister of Finance – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
 * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Winston Peters to 29 August, then Helen Clark (acting) to 19 November, then Murray McCully

Party leaders

 * Labour – Helen Clark to 11 November, then Phil Goff
 * National – John Key
 * Progressive – Jim Anderton
 * New Zealand First – Winston Peters
 * United Future – Peter Dunne
 * Act – Rodney Hide
 * Greens – Jeanette Fitzsimons and Russel Norman
 * Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples

Judiciary

 * Chief Justice — Sian Elias

Main centre leaders

 * Mayor of Auckland – John Banks
 * Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby
 * Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock
 * Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast
 * Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker
 * Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin

January

 * 22 January – State funeral for Sir Edmund Hillary

April

 * 5 April – A propane explosion at a coolstore in Tamahere kills firefighter senior station officer Derek Lovell, and seriously injures seven others.

May

 * 8 May – The Tapuae Marine Reserve is established.

June

 * 5 June – A newly redesigned flag for the Governor General of New Zealand is flown for the first time at Government House, Auckland.

July

 * 1 July – Rail transport network is renationalised as KiwiRail
 * 11 July – Police Sergeant Derek Wootton (52) is struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police, while laying road spikes at Titahi Bay.
 * 30 July – A state of emergency is declared in Marlborough due to flooding.

August

 * 1 August – Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand merge to form the NZ Transport Agency
 * 16 August – Dunedin Hospital is put in lockdown for a week after approximately 170 staff and patients fall ill to a norovirus outbreak, resulting in 2,300 appointments and procedures being delayed.

September

 * 5 September – Fonterra advise Prime Minister Helen Clark of the 2008 baby milk scandal.
 * 7 September – The Taputeranga Marine Reserve is opened.
 * 11 September – Undercover police Sergeant Don Wilkinson (47) is fatally shot in Māngere, after being discovered attempting to secretly fix a tracking device to a car.
 * 24 September - GO Wellington dispute - an industrial dispute between the GO Wellington bus company and drivers

October
On the 17th The Dominion Post Billboard Heading Reads "Market Madness" There is also a graph on the Billboard showing the NZX taking a big dive. This was indicative of the worlds sharemarkets in turmoil.

November

 * 8 November – John Key and the New Zealand National Party win the 2008 general election. John Key is able to form a Government and in Helen Clark's speech that she resigns as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
 * 9 November – Michael Cullen resigns as deputy leader of the Labour Party.
 * 19 November – John Key is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
 * 27 November – 2008 Air New Zealand A320 test flight crash. Air New Zealand A320 Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean during a test flight, killing five New Zealand and two German air crew.

Holidays and observances

 * 6 February – Waitangi Day
 * 21 March – Good Friday
 * 23 March – Easter Sunday
 * 24 March – Easter Monday
 * 25 April – Anzac Day
 * 2 June – Queen's Birthday
 * 5 June – Matariki
 * 27 October – Labour Day

Awards

 * BPANZ Book Design Awards - In association with Spectrum Print and the New Zealand Listener id=13
 * BEST BOOK Title: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
 * BEST COVER Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
 * NON-ILLUSTRATED Winner: Dear to Me
 * ILLUSTRATED Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
 * EDUCATIONAL Winner: Astronomy Aotearoa NCEA Level 1 by Robert Shaw ISBN 978-0-7339-9261-2
 * CHILDREN’S Winner: The King's Bubbles by Ruth Paul

Music

 * May - New Zealand Music Month
 * 3 September: Technical Awards for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards
 * 8 October: Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

Performing arts

 * Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Suzanne Lynch MNZM.

Television

 * Freeview | HD Digital television is launched.
 * The country's first Chinese television channel, CTV8 (Chinese Television 8) is launched in early October.

Cricket

 * New Zealand men's cricket team, the Black Caps plays three test matches against England and draws the series, each team having won a game

Harness racing

 * New Zealand Trotting Cup: Changeover
 * Auckland Trotting Cup: Gotta Go Cullen

Netball

 * The ANZ Netball Championship begins in April 2008.

Olympic Games

 * New Zealand sends a team of 182 competitors across 17 sports.

Paralympics

 * New Zealand sends a team of 30 competitors across seven sports.

Rugby league

 * The New Zealand national rugby league team won the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
 * The New Zealand Warriors finished 8th in the National Rugby League and in the playoffs made it through to the semi-finals, beating minor premiers the Melbourne Storm in the progress.
 * The inaugural season of the new Bartercard Premiership saw Auckland defeat Canterbury 38-10 in the grand final.

Shooting

 * Ballinger Belt – Brian Carter (Te Puke)

Soccer

 * 30 October – 16 November – New Zealand hosts the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Matches are held in Albany, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington.
 * The Chatham Cup is won by East Coast Bays AFC who beat Dunedin Technical 1—0 in the final.

Births

 * 12 August – Dwayne Li, figure skater
 * 18 September – Silent Achiever, Thoroughbred racehorse
 * 23 September – Zurella, Thoroughbred racehorse
 * 13 October – Ocean Park, Thoroughbred racehorse

January

 * 1 January – Joan Dingley, mycologist (born 1916)
 * 2 January – Lindsay Poole, botanist and forester (born 1908)
 * 4 January
 * Graham Percy, artist, designer and illustrator (born 1938)
 * Bert Walker, politician (born 1919)
 * 6 January – Charlie Steele, Jr., association football player (born 1930)
 * 10 January – Sir George Laking, diplomat (born 1912)
 * 11 January – Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist (born 1919)
 * 16 January – Hone Tuwhare, poet (born 1922)

February

 * 12 February – Ron Chippindale, pilot, air accident investigator (born 1933)
 * 14 February – June Schoch, athlete (born 1926)
 * 16 February – K. Radway Allen, fisheries biologist (born 1911)
 * 19 February – Barry Barclay, filmmaker (born 1944)
 * 28 February – Peter Bannister, botanist (born 1939)

March

 * 13 March – Tessa Birnie, concert pianist (born 1934)
 * 18 March – Ruth Dallas, poet and children's author (born 1919)
 * 21 March – Merv Wallace, cricketer (born 1916)

April

 * 2 April – Sir Geoffrey Cox, newspaper and television journalist (born 1910)
 * 6 April – Tony Davies, rugby union player (born 1939)
 * 10 April – Greg Hough, association football player (born 1958)
 * 11 April – Fraser Colman, politician (born 1925)
 * 12 April – Dame Augusta Wallace, jurist, first woman District Court judge (born 1929)
 * 15 April – Mahinārangi Tocker singer–songwriter (born 1955)

May

 * 4 May – Colin Murdoch, pharmacist, veterinarian and inventor (born 1929)
 * 8 May – William L. Holland, Pacific affairs academic (born 1907)
 * 20 May – Mihi Edwards, writer, social worker, teacher (born 1918)

June

 * 1 June – Doug Zohrab, diplomat (born 1917)
 * 4 June – John Armitt, wrestler (born 1925)
 * 5 June
 * Colin Kay, athlete and politician, mayor of Auckland (1980–83) (born 1926)
 * Bruce Purchase, actor (born 1938)
 * 24 June
 * Neill Austin, politician (born 1924)
 * Charlie Dempsey, association football administrator (born 1921)
 * 27 June – Lyn Davis, rugby union player (born 1943)
 * 30 June – Just An Excuse, Standardbred racehorse (foaled 1998)

July

 * 16 July – Bob Walton, police officer (born 1921)
 * 17 July – Sir Graham Speight, jurist (born 1921)
 * 25 July – Walter Metcalf, physical chemistry academic (born 1918)
 * 31 July – Falani Aukuso, Tokelauan public servant

August

 * 6 August – Ken Going, rugby union player (born 1942)
 * 9 August – Bob Cunis, cricket player and coach (born 1941)
 * 16 August – Rei Hamon, artist (born 1919)
 * 25 August – Hardwicke Knight, historian and photographer (born 1911)
 * 31 August – Victor Yates, rugby union and league player (born 1939)

September

 * 7 September – Sir Hamish Hay, politician, mayor of Christchurch (1974–89) (born 1927)
 * 8 September – Ron Guthrey, soldier, politician, mayor of Christchurch (1968–71) (born 1916)
 * 11 September – Sue Garden-Bachop, rugby union player, coach and administrator (born c. 1961)
 * 13 September – Duncan Laing, swimming coach (born 1933)
 * 15 September
 * Peter Hanan, swimmer (born 1915)
 * Arthur Stubbs, soldier, oldest New Zealand war veteran (born 1904)
 * 21 September – Al Hobman, professional wrestler (born 1925)
 * 25 September
 * Wynne Bradburn, cricketer (born 1938)
 * Brian Donnelly, politician and diplomat (born 1949)

October

 * 2 October – Rob Guest, actor and singer (born 1950)
 * 14 October – Dame Daphne Purves, educator (born 1908)
 * 15 October – Des Townson, yacht designer (born 1934)
 * 26 October – Neil Purvis, rugby union player (born 1953)
 * 29 October – John Darwin, statistician and public servant (born 1923)

November

 * 6 November – Kevin J. Sharpe, mathematician, theologian and archaeologist (born 1950)
 * 7 November – Hedley Howarth, cricketer (born 1943)
 * 8 November – Hugh Cook, science fiction writer (born 1956)
 * 27 November – Mike Minogue, politician (born 1923)
 * 29 November – Robert Wade, chess player (born 1921)

December

 * 6 December – Peter Wardle, plant ecologist (born 1931)
 * 13 December – John Drake, rugby union player (born 1959)
 * 16 December – Peg Batty, cricketer (born 1920)
 * 24 December – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter (born 1925)