1925 in New Zealand

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – Sir Charles Fergusson

Government

• Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
• Prime Minister – William Massey until 10 May, then Francis Bell from 14 to 30 May, then Gordon Coates
• Minister of Finance – William Massey until 10 May, then William Nosworthy from 14 May
• Minister of External Affairs – Francis Bell

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Thomas Wilford until 13 August, then George Forbes until 4 November, then vacant

Judiciary

• Chief Justice – Sir Robert Stout

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – James Gunson, succeeded by George Baildon
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Wright, succeeded by Charles Norwood
• Mayor of Christchurch – James Flesher, succeeded by John Archer
• Mayor of Dunedin – Harold Tapley

Events

• 1 January
• * National scheme for vehicle registration plates comes into force
• * Ernest Rutherford is appointed to the Order of Merit
• 1 April – The Foodstuffs cooperative is registered
• 21 April – Alfred Averill succeeds Churchill Julius as Archbishop of New Zealand
• 10 May – Prime Minister William Massey dies in office
• 31 May – Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana announces his intention to form the Rātana Church
• 17 June – The Franklin by-election, caused by the death of William Massey, is won by Ewen McLennan
• August – The U.S. Navy's Pacific battlefleet of 57 vessels including 12 battleships visits New Zealand during a goodwill tour of the South Pacific after manoeuvres off Hawaii.
• September – A leopard escapes Auckland Zoo and remains loose for several weeks.
• 3–4 November – The 1925 general election is held, with the Reform Party winning 55 of the 80 seats in the House of Representatives
• 4 November – An Order in Council provides for the transfer of Tokelau from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony to New Zealand
• 17 November – The New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition opens at Logan Park, Dunedin
• Undated – Lloyd Mandeno develops the single-wire earth return electrical distribution system

Arts and literature

Radio

• The Radio Broadcasting Company began broadcasts throughout New Zealand

Film

• Rewi's Last Stand by Rudall Hayward
• The Adventures of Algy
• The Romance of Hinemoa

Sport

Chess

• The 34th National Chess Championship is held in Nelson, and is won by C. J. S. Purdy of Sydney

Football

• The Chatham Cup is won by YMCA
• Provincial league champions:
• * Auckland – Thistle
• * Canterbury – Sunnyside
• * Hawke's Bay – Whakatu
• * Nelson – Thistle
• * Otago – Northern
• * South Canterbury – Rangers
• * Southland – Central
• * Taranaki – Manaia
• * Wanganui – Eastown Workshops
• * Wellington – YMCA

Golf

• The 15th New Zealand Open championship is won by Ewen MacFarlane, an amateur, with an aggregate of 308
• The 29th National Amateur Championships are held at Christchurch and Miramar
• * Men – Tom Horton
• * Women – Phyllis Dodgshun

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Ahuriri
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Nelson Derby

Thoroughbred racing

• New Zealand Cup – The Banker
• Avondale Gold Cup – Star Ranger
• Auckland Cup – Rapine
• Wellington Cup – Surveyor
• New Zealand Derby – Runnymede

Lawn bowls

• Men's singles champion – J. D. Best
• Men's pair champions – C. W. Davis, J. W. Sexton
• Men's fours champions – H. J. Wernham, F. T. Wilson, A. C. McIntyre, R. N. Pilkington

Rugby union

• The All Blacks tour New South Wales
• The Auckland Rugby Union makes Eden Park its headquarters
• defends he Ranfurly Shield for the third consecutive full season, defeating Wairarapa,,,, and

Births

January

• 4 January – Roger Drayton, politician
• 12 January – Allan Burnett, anarchist activist
• 13 January – Elwyn Welch, ornithologist
• 22 January – Harata Solomon, Māori leader, entertainer
• 25 January – Eric Dempster, cricketer
• 26 January – Barbara Heslop, immunologist

February

• 1 February – Assid Corban, politician
• 2 February – Mirek Smíšek, potter
• 3 February – Tay Wilson, sports administrator
• 7 February
• * Ron Broom, cricketer
• * John Oakley, cricketer
• 19 February – Trevor Martin, cricket umpire
• 22 February – Alexander Grant, ballet dancer and teacher, dance company director
• 23 February
• * Fraser Colman, politician
• * Ted McCoy, architect
• 25 February – Campbell Smith, playwright, poet, engraver
• 27 February – Joan Hastings, swimmer

March

• 8 March – Leonard Mitchell, artist
• 9 March
• * Johnny Borland, high jumper, athletics administrator
• * Aubrey Ritchie, cricketer
• 13 March
• * John McCraw, pedologist, local historian
• * Rahera Windsor, Māori leader in the United Kingdom
• 21 March – John Heslop, surgeon, cricket administrator
• 25 March – O. E. Middleton, writer

April

• 4 April – Harvey Kreyl, rugby league player
• 5 April – Milan Mrkusich, artist
• 17 April – Vern Clare, musician, cabaret owner
• 19 April
• * Eva Rickard, Māori leader and activist
• * Maurie Robertson, rugby league player and coach
• 23 April – Al Hobman, professional wrestler, trainer and promoter
• 24 April – Dorothy Butler, children's author and bookseller, memoirist, reading advocate
• 25 April – Neville Black, rugby union and rugby league player
• 28 April – David Brokenshire, architect, potter

May

• 2 May – Frances Porter, writer, historian
• 14 May
• * Gordon Gostelow, actor
• * W. H. Oliver, poet, historian
• 16 May – John Ziman, physicist, humanist
• 20 May
• * Maurice Crow, weightlifter, rowing coxswain
• * Bert Potter, commune leader
• 27 May – Arthur Campbell, chemist

June

• 3 June – Trevor Barber, cricketer
• 11 June – Tiny White, rugby union player and administrator, politician
• 25 June – Alistair Campbell, poet, playwright, novelist
• 27 June – Ben Couch, rugby union player, politician
• 29 June – Doody Townley, harness-racing driver

July

• 2 July – Philip Liner, radio broadcaster
• 8 July – Elwyn Richardson, educationalist
• 9 July – Rex Bergstrom, econometrician
• 10 July – Dixie Cockerton, netball player and coach, cricketer, school principal
• 15 July – Stuart Jones, golfer
• 16 July – J. B. Trapp, historian
• 18 July – Allan Elsom, rugby union player
• 20 July – Eric Watson, cricketer
• 26 July – Alister Atkinson, rugby league player
• 31 July
• * John O'Brien, politician
• * Helen Ryburn, school principal, local-body politician

August

• 3 August – John Robertson, public servant
• 5 August – Bob Duff, rugby union player, local-body politician
• 13 August – Peter Beaven, architect
• 15 August – James Brown, public servant
• 23 August – John Armitt, amateur wrestler
• 28 August – Trevor Young, politician
• 30 August – Joan Hart, athlete

September

• 1 September – Te Aue Davis, tohunga raranga
• 4 September
• * Phil Amos, politician
• * Bruce Stewart, television scriptwriter
• 19 September – Lyn Forster, arachnologist

October

• 7 October
• * Bryan Drake, opera singer
• * Bill Wolfgramm, musician
• 9 October – Bill Schaefer, field hockey player
• 19 October – David Gould, rower, businessman
• 21 October – Ian Ballinger, sports shooter
• 22 October – George Grindley, geologist
• 23 October – Brian Nordgren, rugby league player
• 25 October – Donald Brian, cricketer
• 30 October
• * Audrey Eagle, botanical illustrator
• * Colin Kay, athlete, politician
• 31 October – Ngaire Lane, swimmer

November

• 6 November – Ian Cross, novelist, journalist, broadcasting and arts administrator
• 12 November – Bill Toomath, architect
• 20 November – Bill Subritzky, property developer, evangelist
• 23 November – Tui Flower, food writer
• 26 November – Ross Taylor, geochemist, planetary scientist
• 27 November – Reginald Johansson, field hockey player
• 29 November – Peter Jacobson, poet

December

• 1 December
• * Noeline Gourley, field hockey player, athlete, woodturner
• * Thomas Thorp, jurist
• 5 December – Jack Tynan, field hockey player, cricketer
• 10 December – Betty Maker, cricketer
• 23 December – Ellis Child, cricketer
• 31 December – Ray Bell, rugby union player

Exact date unknown

• Nightmarch, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths

January–March

• 3 January – John Endean, gold miner, hotel proprietor
• 11 January – Oliver Samuel, politician
• 13 February – Margaret McKenzie, pioneer

April–June

• 14 April – Don Hamilton, rugby union player, cricketer
• 27 April – George Williams, rugby union player
• 10 May – William Massey, politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 15 May – Stephen Boreham, trade unionist
• 18 May – Sir Theophilus Cooper, jurist
• 19 May
• * Andrew Cameron, Presbyterian minister, educationalist, community leader
• * Frances Wimperis, artist
• 21 May – Samuel Kirkpatrick, businessman
• 3 June – Frank Surman, rugby union player, athlete

July–September

• 18 July – John Sinclair, carpenter, builder, harbourmaster
• 19 July – James Cox, diarist
• 22 July – William McCullough, politician
• 5 August – Emily Harris, painter
• 9 August – Catherine Adamson, diarist
• 19 August – Harriet Morison, trade unionist, suffragist, public servant
• 1 September – Donald Petrie, botanist
• 7 September Thomas Ronayne, NZR General Manager
• 15 September – Charles Melvill, military leader
• 18 September – Charles Hayward Izard, politician
• 19 September – Henry Reynolds, butter manufacturer and exporter
• 27 September – Thomas MacGibbon, politician

October–December

• 2 October – Thomas Hislop, politician
• 20 November – Charles Mackesy, military leader
• 28 November – William Joseph Napier, politician
• 10 December – John Liddell Kelly, journalist, poet
• 13 December - Isa Outhwaite, watercolour artist, poet, social activist and philanthropist
• 29 December – John Crewes, Bible Christian minister, social worker, journalist