2010 in New Zealand

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,373,900.
• Increase since 31 December 2009: 41,700.
• Males per 100 Females: 95.7.

Incumbents

Regal and vice-regal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Anand Satyanand

Government

• Speaker of the House – Lockwood Smith
• Prime Minister – John Key
• [Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister of New Zealand|Deputy Prime Minister] – Bill English
• Minister of Finance – Bill English
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Murray McCully

Other party leaders

• [New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party|Labour] – Phil Goff
• Act – Rodney Hide, since 13 June 2004
• Greens – Metiria Turei and Russel Norman
• Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples

Judiciary

• Chief Justice — Sian Elias

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Banks since October 2007, followed by Len Brown for the Auckland super city
• Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby, since October 2004
• Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock since May 2007, followed by Julie Hardaker in October 2010
• Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast since October 2001, followed by Celia Wade-Brown in October 2010
• Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker, since October 2007
• Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin succeeded by Dave Cull

Events

January

• 17–19 January: Prince William of Wales visits New Zealand, and represents The Queen officially for the first time by opening the new Supreme Court building in Wellington.

March

• Tasers are nationally rolled out for police.

April

• 25 April: Three members of the air force are killed when their Iroquois helicopter crashes on the way to Wellington for Anzac day commemorations.

July

• 13 July: Two police officers are injured and police dog Gage is killed after being confronted by an armed offender during a routine drugs search in Phillipstown, Christchurch. Gage would later be posthumously awarded the PDSA Gold Medal after taking a fatal gunshot wound protecting his injured handler.

August

• 4 August: Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell becomes the first New Zealand fatality of the War in Afghanistan after his convoy is attacked.

September

• 4 September
• * The 7.1 magnitude 2010 Canterbury earthquake causes widespread damage and several power outages, particularly in Christchurch.
• * All nine passengers on board are killed in a Fletcher FU24 crash, the worst aircraft crash in New Zealand in 17 years.
• 14 September: The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010 receives royal assent.
• 17 September: MP and Corrections Minister David Garrett resigns from the ACT party caucus after revelations that in 1984 he obtained a false passport using details of a deceased child.
• 17–22 September: A "storm the size of Australia" passes to the south of New Zealand bringing snow, rain, gales, tornadoes and causing widespread damage – 72,000 homes lose power, and the roof of a stadium collapses under a snow load in Invercargill and numerous roads are closed.

October

• 1 October: The largest reform in the tax system since the 1980s takes effect: GST is raised to 15%, company tax rates drop from 30% to 28%, and the top tax bracket falls from 38% to 33%.
• 5 October: Breakfast broadcaster Paul Henry is suspended by TVNZ after questioning if New Zealand's ethnic minority Governor-General Anand Satyanand, is a proper New Zealander. On 7 October Henry is embroiled in further controversy as his mockery of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is declared "racist" and "unacceptable" and New Zealand's ambassador to India is summoned for a dressing down. Henry resigns from TVNZ on 10 October.
• 9 October: Elections held for all of New Zealand's city, district and regional councils, and all District Health Boards.
• 27 October: After crisis talks with Warner Bros executives, Prime Minister John Key announces the $670 million project to film The Hobbit will go ahead in New Zealand. Acting unions had threatened to boycott the movies, leading Warner Bros and New Line to consider taking the production elsewhere.

November

• 19 November: A gas explosion in the Pike River coal mine traps 29 workers underground.
• 20 November: Labour candidate Kris Faafoi wins the 2010 Mana by-election

December

• 28 December: A storm moves up the country. Two bridges on the Aorere River are swept away, including the historic Salisbury Swing Bridge.

Holidays and observances

• 6 February – Waitangi Day
• 25 April – ANZAC Day
• 2 June – Queen's Birthday Monday
• 5 June – Matariki
• 27 October – Labour Day

Awards

New Zealander of the year

• New Zealander of the Year: Ray Avery
• Senior New Zealander of the Year: Sir Eion Edgar
• Young New Zealander of the Year: Divya Dhar
• Community of the Year: Victory Village
• Local Hero: Haami (Sam) Tutu Chapman

Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Gary Daverne ONZM.

Film

• Boy
• Matariki
• Predicament
• Tracker
• Wound

Sports

Commonwealth Games

Olympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of 16 competitors in eight sports.

Paralympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of two competitors in one sport.

Rowing

Rugby league

• New Zealand co-hosted the 2010 Four Nations and also won the tournament, defeating Australia in the final at Suncorp Stadium.
• The New Zealand Warriors finished fifth in the National Rugby League, before being eliminated in the first round of the play-offs. The Junior Warriors won the Toyota Cup.
• Auckland won the Albert Baskerville Trophy, defeating Counties Manukau in the final.

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt –
• * Jonathan Cload
• * Ross Geange, second, top New Zealander

Soccer

Births

• 21 August – Suavito, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 25 September – Puccini, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 23 October – Tiger Tara, Standardbred racehorse

Deaths

January

• 7 January – Peggy Dunstan, poet, writer
• 12 January
• * Patricia Hook, religious sister, nurse and hospital administrator
• * Elizabeth Moody, actor
• * Juliet Peter, artist, potter, printmaker
• 23 January – Douglas J. Martin, religious leader
• 31 January – Pauly Fuemana, musician

February

• 7 February – Peter Lorimer, mathematician
• 8 February – Duncan McVey, association football player
• 23 February – Richard Giese, flautist

March

• 2 March – Mate Jakich, rugby union player
• 13 March
• * Sir Ian Axford, space scientist
• * Terry Heffernan, politician
• 17 March – Tim Chadwick, artist and author
• 21 March – Margaret Moth, photojournalist
• 25 March – Ben Gascoigne, astronomer
• 28 March – Sir Gaven Donne, jurist, former Chief Justice of various Pacific nations
• 30 March – Bruce Turner, field hockey player and cricketer

April

• 2 April – Malcolm Hahn, athlete
• 5 April – Jim Edwards, politician
• 6 April – Tony MacGibbon, cricketer
• 17 April – Mervyn Probine, physicist and public servant
• 28 April – Elma Maua, journalist

May

• 8 May – Deborah Pullen, association football player
• 12 May – John Warham, photographer and ornithologist
• 16 May – Jason Palmer, prison guard
• 20 May – Hugh Morris, founder of McDonald's New Zealand
• 21 May – Trevor Meale, cricketer
• 22 May – Peter Hall, World War II flying ace
• 23 May
• * Beaver, singer
• * Paul Reynolds, internet commentator
• 30 May – Dame Pat Evison, actor
• 31 May – Merata Mita, filmmaker

June

• 3 June
• * Ross Beever, geneticist and mycologist
• * Bill Clark, rugby union player
• 5 June – Sir Neil Anderson, naval officer
• 6 June – Vincent Ingram, Cook Islands politician
• 10 June – Paul Dobbs, motorcycle road racer
• 27 June – Eric Godley, botanist and biographer

July

• 7 July – Moko, bottlenose dolphin
• 8 July – Scott Guy, farmer
• 10 July
• * Eric Batchelor, soldier
• * David Gay, soldier, cricketer and educator
• 20 July
• * Sir Randal Elliott, ophthalmologist
• * Gus Fisher, fashion industry leader and philanthropist
• * Sir Gordon Mason, local-body politician
• * Peta Rutter, actor
• 25 July – Barrie Devenport, Cook Strait swimmer
• 28 July – Bob Quickenden, association footballer
• 30 July – Esme Tombleson, politician

August

• 1 August – Eric Tindill, cricketer and rugby player
• 11 August – Sir Ron Trotter, businessman
• 14 August – O. E. Middleton, writer
• 17 August – Koro Dewes, Ngāti Porou kaumātua and Māori language advocate
• 24 August – Sir Graham Liggins, medical scientist
• 28 August – Sir Patrick O'Dea, public servant

September

• 21 September – Sir Archie Taiaroa, Māori leader
• 22 September – Graeme Hunt, journalist, author and historian
• 25 September
• * Allan Elsom, rugby union player
• * Morrie McHugh, rugby union player

October

• 7 October – Ian Morris, musician
• 10 October – Les Gibbard, cartoonist
• 27 October – Maurice Goodall, Anglican bishop
• 28 October – Keith Bracey, broadcaster
• 29 October – John Mudgeway, rugby player
• 31 October – Alan Blake, rugby union player

November

• 7 November – Kurt Baier, philosophy academic
• 8 November – Tom Walker, soil science academic and television personality
• 9 November – John Cunneen, eighth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch
• 14 November – Sir Gordon Bisson, naval officer and jurist
• 17 November – Johnny Simpson, rugby player
• 28 November – Te Aue Davis, Māori weaver

December

• 4 December – Adrienne Simpson, broadcaster, historian, musicologist and writer
• 14 December – Ruth Park, author
• 15 December
• * Tom Newnham, political activist and educationalist
• * Sir Ross Jansen, local-body politician
• 28 December – Denis Dutton, philosophy academic
• 30 December – Rex Hamilton, sport shooter
• 31 December – Syd Ward, cricketer