1972 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1972 in New Zealand.

← 1971 1970 1969 1972 in New Zealand → 1973 1974 1975
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,959,700.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1971: 61,200 (2.11%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 99.7.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Arthur Porritt Bt GCMG GCVO CBE, followed by Sir Denis Blundell GCMG GCVO KBE QSO.^[2]

Government

The 36th Parliament of New Zealand concluded. A general election was held on 25 November and saw the second National government defeated by a large margin, with the Labour Party winning 55 of 87 seats in Parliament.

• Speaker of the House – Roy Jack until 8 December, then Alfred Allen.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake then Jack Marshall then Norman Kirk
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall then Robert Muldoon then Hugh Watt.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon then Bill Rowling.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake then Jack Marshall then Norman Kirk.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Dan Riddiford until 9 February, then Roy Jack until 8 December, then Martyn Finlay.^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Norman Kirk (Labour) until 8 December, then Jack Marshall (National).^[4]

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

Mount Ngauruhoe eruption

• 7 February – Jack Marshall replaces Keith Holyoake as prime minister.
• 14 September – As a part of the Māori protest movement, activist group Ngā Tamatoa, the Te Reo Māori Society of Victoria University, and Te Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association) presented a petition signed by over 33,000 people calling for te Reo Māori to be taught in schools, leading to the creation of te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) in 1975, and a revitalisation of Māori language.^[5][6]
• 20 October – Restrictions on the manufacture and sale of margarine in New Zealand are removed.^[7]
• 25 November – The 1972 general election is held. The Labour Party, led by Norman Kirk, wins 55 of the 87 seats and forms the third Labour government.
• 3 December – Qantas commences the first Boeing 747 service in New Zealand, between Christchurch and Sydney.^[8]
• 8 December – Qantas commences Boeing 747 service between Auckland and Sydney.^[8]
• Chile and New Zealand establish embassies in each other's capitals.^[9]
• The Values Party is formed.
• Mount Ngauruhoe erupts.

Arts and literature

• Ian Wedde wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1972 in art, 1972 in literature

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

• Loxene Golden Disc Suzanne – Sunshine Through A Prism
• Loxene Golden Disc Creation – Carolina

See: 1972 in music

Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Jon Zealando and Lou Clauson QSM.

Radio and Television

• The Broadcasting Authority in March grants the right to broadcast a second television channel to the private consortium Independent Television Corporation. After the election of the Labour Government in November, Norman Kirk announces the second channel will be run by NZBC.
• In September, the first live broadcast of an All Black match takes place. The All Blacks played against Australia. Archived 22 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Feltex Television Awards:
  • Best Programme: Charlie's Rock – Pukemanu
  • Outstanding Performance: Peter Sinclair in Golden Disc Award
  • Best Drama: Charlie's Rock – Pukemanu

See: 1972 in New Zealand television, 1972 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• To Love a Māori

See: 1972 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand

Sport

Athletics

• Field events within New Zealand switch from imperial to metric measurements. Track events changed earlier in 1969.
• David McKenzie wins his fourth and last national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:14:11.2 on 11 March in Dunedin.

Chess

• The 79th National Chess Championship is held in Hamilton, and is won by R.J. Sutton of Auckland (his third title).^[10]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Globe Bay^[11]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Royal Ascot^[12]

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	1	1	3

• New Zealand sends a team of 89 competitors.

Winter Olympics

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
0	0	0	0

• New Zealand sends a team of two alpine skiers.

Paralympic Games

Summer Paralympics

Main article: New Zealand at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

• New Zealand sends a team of 10 competitors.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
3	3	3	9

Soccer

• New Zealand National Soccer League won by Mt. Wellington AFC
• The Chatham Cup is won by Christchurch United who met Mount Wellington.
  • Final 4-4 after extra time
  • First replay 1-1 after extra time
  • Second replay 2-1^[13]

Births

• 3 January: Shaun Longstaff, rugby player
• 9 January: Gary Stead, cricketer
• 3 March: Peter O'Leary, soccer referee
• 27 March: David Bain, originally served 12 years for murder of his family, conviction quashed by Privy Council and subsequently found not guilty at retrial.
• 29 March: Paul Kent, swimmer
• 12 April: Jenny Shepherd, field hockey player
• 17 April: Dylan Mika, All Black (died 20 March 2018)
• 16 May: Matthew Hart, cricketer
• 3 June: Robert Kennedy, cricketer
• 7 June: Karl Urban, actor
• 11 June: Stephen Kearney, rugby league player and coach
• 21 June (in South Africa): Irene van Dyk, netball player
• 4 July: Craig Spearman, cricketer
• 12 August: Tony Marsh, rugby player
• 6 October: Brooke Howard-Smith, broadcaster.
• 27 October: John Steel, swimmer
• 16 December: Angela Bloomfield, actress
• 18 December: Julian Arahanga, actor
• 20 December: Jonathan Wyatt, long-distance runner
• Veeshayne Armstrong, television presenter.
• (in Britain): Warwick Murray, academic.
• (in Hong Kong): Jack Yan, publisher, designer and businessman

Deaths

March

• 2 March – Billy Wallace, rugby player and All Black (born 1878)
• 4 March – Major-General Sir Harold Barrowclough, former chief justice (born 1894)

April

• 14 April – Bert Hawthorne, motor racing driver (born 1943)

July

• 10 July – Charles Bowden, politician (born 1886)

August

• 8 August – Agnes Weston, politician (MLC) (born 1879)

September

• 8 September – Harold Temple White, music teacher, conductor, organist and composer (born 1881)^[14]

October

• 5 October – Jim Barclay, politician (born 1882)
• 8 October – Laurie Brownlie, rugby player and All Black (born 1899)
• 20 October – John Pascoe, photographer and mountaineer (born 1908)
• 22 October – James K. Baxter, poet (born 1926)

December

• 11 December – John Mills, cricketer (born 1905)
• 26 December – Ronald Hugh Morrieson, writer (born 1922)