1978 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 1978 in New Zealand.
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Population
- Estimated population as of 31 December: 3,165,200[1]
- Decrease since 31 December 1977: 1,200 (0.04%)
- Males per 100 females: 99.2
- This was the first year since 1941 in which New Zealand's population declined (due to emigration, largely to Australia).
Incumbents
Regal and viceregal
- Head of State – Elizabeth II
- Governor-General – The Rt Hon. Sir Keith Holyoake KG GCMG CH QSO.[2]
Government
- Speaker of the House – Richard Harrison.[3]
- Prime Minister – Robert Muldoon
- Deputy Prime Minister – Brian Talboys.[3]
- Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon.[3]
- Minister of Foreign Affairs – Brian Talboys.[3]
- Attorney-General – Peter Wilkinson until 13 December, then Jim McLay.[3]
- Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild (until 20 January), Sir Ronald Davison (starting 3 February)
Parliamentary opposition
Events
- The Pureora Forest Park was established after a series of protests and tree sittings.
- 18 February: The Rangitikei by-election was won by Bruce Beetham for Social Credit.
- 1 April: Flag carriers Air New Zealand and the National Airways Corporation merge to form a single airline under the Air New Zealand name.
- 12 September: Kaimai Rail Tunnel on the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, at 8896 m the longest tunnel in New Zealand, opened.
- December: Holy Name Seminary, Christchurch (Catholic) closed.
Arts and literature
- Roger Hall and Peter Olds win the Robert Burns Fellowship.
See 1978 in art, 1978 in literature, Category:1978 books
January
October
- Nambassa winter road show, toured the North Island of NZ, promoting the 1979 festival.
New Zealand Music Awards
Winners were as follows:[5]
- ALBUM OF THE YEAR Hello Sailor – Hello Sailor
- SINGLE OF THE YEAR Golden Harvest – I Need Your Love
- TOP MALE VOCALIST John Rowles
- TOP GROUP Hello Sailor
- TOP FEMALE VOCALIST Sharon O’Neill
- ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Ian Morris – Hello Sailor
- PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Rob Aicken – Hello Sailor
- MOST PROMISING GROUP Citizen Band
- MOST PROMISING FEMALE VOCALIST Kim Hart
- MOST PROMISING MALE VOCALIST Dennis O’Brien
See: 1978 in music
Performing arts
- Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to George Tumahai.
Radio and television
- The AM broadcast band moves from 10 kHz spacing to 9 kHz spacing.
- Feltex Television Awards:
- Best Current Affairs: Dateline Monday
- Best Information: Fair Go
- Best Documentary: Birth with R.D. Laing
- Best Light Entertainment: A Week of It
- Best Drama: The Governor
- Best Speciality: Sport on One
- Best Actor: David McPhail on A Week of It
- Best Personality: Roger Gascoigne
- Best Script: He Iwi Ko Tahi Tatou: episode four of The Governor
See: 1978 in New Zealand television, 1978 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand
Film
- Angel Mine
- Skin Deep
See: Category:1978 film awards, 1978 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1978 films
Sport
Athletics
- Paul Ballinger wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:17:33 on 11 March in Hastings.
Chess
- The 85th New Zealand Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Craig Laird of Tauranga.[6]
Commonwealth Games
 Gold |  Silver |  Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6 | 9 | 20 |
Cricket
- 15 February: After 48 years of trying, New Zealand beats England in a Test match for the first time, winning the Test at the Basin Reserve.[7]
Harness racing
- New Zealand Trotting Cup: Trusty Scot[8]
- Auckland Trotting Cup: Sole Command. From 1978–86 the race was over 2700m and there was no handicapping.[9]
Soccer
- New Zealand National Soccer League won by Christchurch United
- The Chatham Cup is won by Manurewa who beat Nelson United 1–0 in the final.[10]
Births
- 2 January: Dan Ward-Smith, rugby union player
- 5 January: Adi Dick, musician.
- 21 January (in the United States): Mike Chappell, basketballer.
- 3 February: Keith Cameron, rugby union player.[11]
- 26 February: Rico Gear, rugby union player.
- 8 April: Nathan Mauger, rugby union player.
- 29 April: Donna Loffhagen, netball and basketball player.
- 19 May: Willie Walker, rugby union player.
- 28 May: John Dennison, poet.
- 1 June: Ben Lummis, singer and winner of New Zealand Idol (season 1).
- 11 June: Daryl Tuffey, cricketer.
- 4 July: Bianca Russell, field hockey player.
- 6 July: Kevin Senio, rugby union player.
- 12 July: Claire Chitham, actor.
- 26 July: David Kosoof, field hockey player.
- 28 July: Jacob Oram, cricketer.
- 14 August (in South Africa): Greg Rawlinson, rugby union player.
- 5 September: Chris Jack, rugby union player.
- 10 September: Nish Selvadurai, comedian.
- 13 September: Andrew Hore, rugby union player.
- 18 September: Iain Lees-Galloway, politician.
- 21 September: Doug Howlett, rugby union player.
- 10 October: Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell (twins), rowers, Olympic gold medallists (2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing)
- 26 October: Ricky Cockerill, figure skater.
- 6 November: Dean Kent, swimmer.
- 11 November: Lou Vincent, cricketer.
- 19 November (in Australia): Mahé Drysdale, rower, Olympic gold medallist (2012 London)
- 21 November: Paul Urlovic, soccer player.
- William Dwane Bell, convicted murderer.
- Mok TzeMing, writer.
Category:1978 births
Deaths
- 6 January: Burt Munro, record-setting motorcyclist
- 30 March: Sir Charles William Hamilton (Bill Hamilton), inventor of the jetboat.
- 13 May: Alby Roberts, cricketer.
- 22 May: Sir Richard Wild, 9th Chief Justice of New Zealand.
- 23 July: Sir Ronald Algie, politician and former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- 18 August: Ronald L. Meek, economist.
- John Hutton, glass engraver
Category:1978 deaths
See also
References
- "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand.
- Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
- Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
- "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- "1978 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- nzhistory.net.nz
- "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
- Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Keith Cameron profile Archived 19 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
External links
Media related to 1978 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons
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