2009 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 2009 in New Zealand.

Population

 * Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,332,100
 * Increase since 31 December 2008: 51,900 (1.21%)
 * Males per 100 Females: 95.8

Regal and vice-regal

 * Head of State – Elizabeth II
 * Governor-General – Anand Satyanand

Government
2009 was the first full year of the election of the 49th New Zealand Parliament.


 * Speaker of the House – Lockwood Smith
 * Prime Minister – John Key
 * Deputy Prime Minister – Bill English
 * Minister of Finance – Bill English
 * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Murray McCully

Other party leaders

 * Labour – Phil Goff (Leader of the Opposition since 11 November 2008)
 * Act – Rodney Hide, since 13 June 2004
 * Greens – Metiria Turei (since 30 May 2009) and Russel Norman (since 3 June 2006)
 * Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, both since 7 July 2004

Judiciary

 * Chief Justice — Sian Elias

Main centre leaders

 * Mayor of Auckland – John Banks, since October 2007
 * Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby, since October 2004
 * Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock, since May 2007
 * Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast, since October 2001
 * Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker, since October 2007
 * Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin, since October 2004

February

 * 27 February: Prime Minister John Key proposes a nine-day working fortnight, to counter the Late-2000s recession.

March

 * 6 March: Retrial of David Bain begins in the Christchurch High Court
 * 20 March: Roads of National Significance announced
 * 25 March: Former Prime Minister Helen Clark is appointed Head of the United Nations Development Program; her resignation necessitates the 2009 Mount Albert by-election
 * 26 March: the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance recommends eight Auckland Region local government bodies merge to form a "supercity".

April

 * 25 April: First indication of potential for Flu infection with return of students from Mexico, see 2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand

May

 * 7 May: Gunman Jan Molenaar shoots three police officers executing a routine cannabis search warrant, as well as a neighbour who tried to assist them. He killed Senior Constable Leonard Snee and seriously injured the others, and after a two-day siege, he was found dead.

June

 * 3 June: A police investigation leads to MP Richard Worth resigning ministerial portfolios including Minister of Internal Affairs "for personal reasons", with Prime Minister John Key saying, "If he hadn't resigned I would have sacked him".
 * 5 June: David Bain is found not guilty of the murder of five family members.
 * 12 June: Five members of the family of Janet Moses were found guilty of manslaughter after performing a fatal exorcism.
 * 24 June: A NZ$36.1 million first division jackpot in the New Zealand Lotteries Commission's Big Wednesday game is won by a Masterton-based lottery syndicate of four: the largest single lottery prize won in New Zealand.
 * 29 June: A state of emergency is declared in the Waikato due to landslides.

July

 * 4 July: The Ministry of Health confirms the first three deaths in New Zealand from the 2009 flu pandemic.
 * 15 July: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes in Fiordland at 9:22 pm, 90 km north-west of Tuatapere.

August

 * 4 August: Former MP Phillip Field found guilty on bribery, corruption and obstruction of justice charges.
 * 8–9 August: New Zealand's first Telethon for 16 years raises $2 million for the KidsCan Stand Tall Trust.

October

 * 30 October – Electricity supply to Northland and northern Auckland is cut for three hours, affecting 280,000 customers, after a forklift carrying a shipping container hits the only major transmission line supplying the region.

November

 * 30 November: Atea-1, the first New Zealand rocket into space, is launched from Great Mercury Island.

Full date unknown

 * Liz Duggan begins serving as Archdeacon of Central Otago.

Holidays and observances

 * 6 February - Waitangi Day (Friday)
 * 10 April/13 April Good Friday/Easter Monday
 * 25 April - ANZAC Day (Saturday)
 * 1 June - Queen's Birthday Monday
 * 24 June - Matariki (Wednesday)
 * 26 October - Labour Day Monday

Music

 * May - New Zealand Music Month
 * Vodafone Album of the year: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
 * Vodafone Single of the year: Ladyhawke - My Delerium
 * Best group: Midnight Youth
 * Best male solo artist: Savage
 * Best female solo artist: Ladyhawke
 * Breakthrough artist of the year: Ladyhawke
 * Best Music Video: Chris Graham – Brother (Smashproof)
 * Best Rock Album: Midnight Youth – "The Brave Don't Run"
 * Best Urban/Hip Hop Album: Ladi 6 – "Time Is Not Much"
 * Best Aotearoa Roots Album: Fat Freddy's Drop – "Dr Boondigga and the Big BW"
 * Best dance/electronica album: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
 * Best gospel/Christian album: Mumsdollar - Ruins
 * Best classical album: David Bremner – "Gung Ho"
 * The Vodafone People's Choice Award, voted by New Zealand music fans: Smashproof
 * Highest Selling NZ Single: Smashproof feat. Gin - Brother
 * Highest Selling NZ Album: The Feelers - The Best: 1998 - 2008
 * Radio Airplay Record of the Year: Tiki Taane- "Always on my mind"

Performing arts

 * Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Eddie Low MNZM.

Film

 * Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku

Harness racing

 * Auckland Trotting Cup: Auckland Reactor

Thoroughbred racing

 * Katie Lee becomes the first racehorse to win both the New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the New Zealand 1000 Guineas.

Soccer
The 2009 Chatham Cup is won by Wellington Olympic, who beat Three Kings United 2–1 in the final.

Shooting

 * Ballinger Belt –
 * David Rich (Australia)
 * Mike Collings (Te Puke), second, top New Zealander

Births

 * 27 August – Sacred Falls, Thoroughbred racehorse
 * 4 September – Habibi, Thoroughbred racehorse
 * 18 November – Dundeel, Thoroughbred racehorse
 * 20 November – Prince of Penzance, Thoroughbred racehorse

January

 * 4 January – Sonny Fai, rugby league player (born 1988)
 * 8 January – Wally Williams, water polo player (born 1921)
 * 17 January – Mike Parkinson, rugby union player (born 1948)
 * 20 January – Lyn Forster, arachnologist (born 1925)
 * 26 January – Gerry Merito, entertainer (born 1938)
 * 26 January – Don Ladner, rugby league player (born c. 1948)

February

 * 4 February – Antonie Dixon, convicted murderer (born 1968)
 * 27 February – Kilmeny Niland, artist and illustrator (born 1950)

March

 * 2 March – Robert Bruce, professional wrestler and talent agent (born 1943)
 * 9 March – Graham Mexted, rugby union player (born 1927)
 * 10 March – Dell Bandeen, netball player (born 1922)
 * 12 March – Mary Batchelor, politician (born 1927)
 * 13 March – Geoff Moon, veterinary surgeon, ornithologist and photographer (born 1915)
 * 21 March – Beach Towel, standardbred racehorse (foaled 1987)
 * 24 March – Denis Miller, air force bomber and airline pilot (born 1918)

April

 * 1 April – Kevin Briscoe, rugby union player (born 1936)
 * 11 April – James Brodie, geologist, oceanographer and amateur historian and philatelist (born 1920)
 * 17 April – Richard Sutton, chess player and legal academic (born 1938)
 * 26 April – Sir Pupuke Robati, Cook Islands politician (born 1925)
 * 27 April – John Bollard, lawyer, environment court judge (born 1940)

May

 * 1 May – Sunline, thoroughbred racehorse (foaled 1995)
 * 3 May – Percy Marunui Murphy, soldier and politician, first Māori mayor (born 1924)
 * 12 May – Dame Heather Begg, opera singer (born 1932)
 * 23 May
 * Jack McNab, rugby union player, coach and administrator (born 1924)
 * Sir Tangaroa Tangaroa, Cook Islands politician (born 1921)
 * 30 May – Ferris de Joux, automotive design, engineer and constructor (born 1935)

June

 * 7 June – Keith Steele, cricketer and lawyer (born 1951)
 * 8 June – Taini Morrison, kapa haka leader (born c. 1958)
 * 12 June – Ivan Lichter, thoracic surgeon and palliative care pioneer (born 1918)
 * 19 June – Ron Crocombe, Pacific studies academic (born 1929)
 * 28 June – Tom Paulay, earthquake engineer (born 1923)
 * 30 June – Joan Wiffen, amateur paleontologist (born 1922)

July

 * 3 July – Frank Devine, newspaper editor and journalist (born 1931)
 * 7 July – Ian Grey, rugby league player (born 1931)
 * 11 July –
 * Seddon Bennington, museum administrator (born 1947)
 * Cyril Paskell, rugby league player (born 1927)
 * 14 July – Bill Young, politician and diplomat (born 1913)
 * 18 July – Graham Stanton, New Testament scholar (born 1940)
 * 19 July – Ces Mountford, rugby league player and coach (born 1919)
 * 20 July
 * Tom Hellaby, cricketer (born 1958)
 * Hew McLeod, historian (born 1932)
 * 25 July – Lorrie Pickering, politician (born 1919)
 * 30 July –
 * Julian Dashper, artist (born 1960)
 * Diggeress Te Kanawa, tohunga raranga (born 1920)

August

 * 7 August
 * Jack Laird, potter (born 1920)
 * Eru Potaka-Dewes, actor, Māori religious leader and activist (born 1939)
 * 16 August – Alistair Campbell, poet, playwright and novelist (born 1925)
 * 18 August – Rufus Rogers, politician (born 1913)
 * 21 August – Reg King, association football player (born 1927)
 * 24 August – Kashin, elephant (born 1968)
 * 26 August – Sir Jack Harris, 2nd Baronet, businessman (born 1906)
 * 29 August – Bob Parker, rower (born 1934)
 * 30 August – Percy Tetzlaff, rugby union player (born 1920)

September

 * 8 September – Ahmed Said Musa Patel, Muslim religious leader (born 1937)
 * 9 September – Dame Patricia Bergquist, zoology and anatomy academic (born 1933)
 * 11 September – John Pattison, pilot, Battle of Britain veteran (born 1917)
 * 12 September – Helen Wily, mathematician (born 1921)
 * 20 September – Ken Hough, dual international cricketer and association footballer (born 1928)
 * 24 September – Sir Howard Morrison, entertainer (born 1935)
 * 26 September – Paul Medhurst, track cyclist (born 1953)
 * 27 September – Murray Smith, politician (born 1941)

October

 * 3 October – Leigh Davis, writer (born 1955)
 * 4 October – Roger Green, archaeologist (born 1932)
 * 9 October – Noel Bowden, rugby union player (born 1926)
 * 13 October – Betty Clegg, watercolour artist (born 1926)
 * 14 October – Martyn Sanderson, actor, filmmaker and poet (born 1938)
 * 17 October – Dame Doreen Blumhardt, potter, ceramicist and arts educator (born 1914)
 * 31 October – Tim Bickerstaff, broadcaster, newspaper columnist and author (born 1942)

November

 * 4 November – Sir Don Beaven, diabetes researcher (born 1924)
 * 5 November – Adam Firestorm, professional wrestler (born 1976)
 * 15 November – Tia Barrett, diplomat (born 1947)
 * 19 November – Pat Mackie, miner and trade unionist (born 1914)
 * 29 November – Bill Hunt, alpine skier (born 1929)
 * 30 November – Elva Simpson, netball player (born 1936)

December

 * 3 December – Brian Mason, geochemist and mineralogist (born 1917)
 * 6 December – Eldred Stebbing, record label founder and owner (born 1921)
 * 8 December – Bub Bridger, poet and short-story writer (born 1924)
 * 20 December – John Veitch, cricketer (born 1937)
 * 29 December – Paul Sapsford, rugby union player (born 1949)
 * 30 December – Jacqueline Sturm, poet and short-story writer (born 1927)