2018 in New Zealand

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December 2018 – 4,886,100
• Increase since 31 December 2017 – 80,700
• Males per 100 females – 96.8

Incumbents

Regal and vice-regal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Patsy Reddy

Government

• Speaker of the House – Trevor Mallard
• Prime Minister – Jacinda Ardern
• Deputy Prime Minister – Winston Peters
• Leader of the House – Chris Hipkins
• Minister of Finance – Grant Robertson
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Winston Peters

Other party leaders in parliament

• National – Bill English until 27 February, then Simon Bridges
• New Zealand First – Winston Peters
• Green – James Shaw and, from 8 April, Marama Davidson
• ACT New Zealand – David Seymour

Judiciary

• Chief Justice – Sian Elias
• President of the Court of Appeal – Stephen Kós
• Chief High Court judge – Geoffrey Venning
• Chief District Court judge – Jan-Marie Doogue

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Phil Goff
• Mayor of Tauranga – Greg Brownless
• Mayor of Hamilton – Andrew King
• Mayor of Wellington – Justin Lester
• Mayor of Christchurch – Lianne Dalziel
• Mayor of Dunedin – Dave Cull

Events

January

• 31 January – Christchurch's Re:START container mall closes.

February

• 3 February – Murder of Amber-Rose Rush, a Dunedin teenager. A doctor named Venod Skantha is charged with her murder.

March

• 6 March – The 2018 New Zealand census is held.

May

• 2 May – Australian-based video rental chain Video Ezy pulls out of New Zealand, citing competition from online streaming services and video piracy.
• 11 May – A wave of about height, the highest ever recorded, is observed near Campbell Island south of New Zealand; the previous record wave in 2012 was about.
• 17 May – The 2018 New Zealand budget is presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson.
• 19 May – A yellow bow is placed on the Big Lemon & Paeroa bottle to celebrate its 50th birthday.
• 29 May – A state of emergency is declared in Ngongotaha and Rotorua District due to extreme weather and flooding.

June

• 4 June – The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced.
• 9 June – The Northcote by-election is won by National, who retain the seat.

July

• 3 July – The primary teachers' union New Zealand Educational Institute announces strike action on 15 August after the Ministry of Education rejected their demand for a 16% pay rise.
• 9 July – 4,000 Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment workers go on strike for two hours demanding higher salaries.
• 12 July – 30,000 nurses went on strike for 24 hours after the New Zealand Nurses Organisation rejected the government's offer of a 12.5% pay rise.

August

• 7 August – Nurses accepted a pay offer from district health boards including pay rights and a commitment to pay equity by the end of next year.
• 15 August – Parliament passes the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018, which bans the sale of existing homes to most non-resident foreigners

October

• 30 October – Parliament is suspended after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes south-west of Taumarunui.

December

• 1 or 2 December – Murder of Grace Millane, a British tourist. A 26-year-old man is charged with her murder on 8 December.
• 31 December – The 2019 New Year Honours are announced.

Sports

Commonwealth Games

• New Zealand sends a team of 253 competitors in 17 sports.

Olympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of 21 competitors in five sports.

Paralympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of three competitors in two sports.

Sailing

• 24 February – 18 March: Auckland is a stopover on the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – John Snowden

Youth Olympics

• New Zealand sends a team of 61 competitors.

Births

• 10 November – Asterix, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths

January

• 4 January
• * Owen Hardy, World War II fighter pilot.
• * Gail McIntosh, politician, MP for Lyttelton, Tauranga City Councillor .
• 5 January
• * Barry Thomas, rugby union player .
• * Peter Wells, Olympic and British Empire and Commonwealth Games high jumper.
• 7 January
• * Jim Anderton, politician, MP for Sydenham and Wigram, Labour Party president, NewLabour Party leader, Alliance leader, Progressive Party leader, Deputy Prime Minister .
• * Buster Stiggs, musician .
• 12 January – Richard Peterson, British Commonwealth Games fencer.
• 17 January – Ted McCoy, architect, president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, NZIA Gold Medal .
• 21 January – Michael Selby, geomorphologist .
• 22 January
• * Jack Doms, swimmer, British Empire and Commonwealth Games champion and silver medallist .
• * Kevin Tate, soil chemist and climate scientist, Marsden Medal, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• 25 January – Graham Williams, rugby union player .
• 27 January – Grant Fell, musician .
• 31 January – Pat Booth, journalist, editor, writer, and local-body politician, Far North District Councillor, Waitakere City Councillor .
• Late January – Nigel the gannet of Mana Island.

February

• 3 February – Ted Corbett, organic chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• 6 February – Thomas, goose in Waikanae.
• 8 February – Gary Seear, rugby union player .
• 10 February – Bevan Congdon, cricketer .
• 11 February – Darien Boswell, Olympic rower, British Empire and Commonwealth Games silver medallist .
• 21 February – Beryl Fletcher, feminist novelist, Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book .
• 25 February – Noel Scott, school teacher and politician, principal of Makoura College, MP for Tongariro, Minister for Sport and Recreation .
• 27 February – Keith Murdoch, rugby union player .

March

• 2 March – Gordon Challis, poet.
• 9 March – Robin Archer, rugby union player and coach .
• 11 March – Paddy Donovan, Olympic boxer and British Empire and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, rugby union player .
• 14 March
• * Peter Entwisle, art historian and curator, writer, and heritage advocate.
• * Mac McCallion, rugby union player and coach .
• 20 March – Dylan Mika, rugby union player .
• 28 March – Norm Wilson, cricketer and cricket administrator, groundsman .

April

• 6 April – Colin McLeod, civil engineer, Commissioner of Works .
• 10 April – Fergie McCormick, rugby union player .
• 11 April – Robert Matthews, Hall of Fame athlete, octuple Paralympic champion .
• 16 April – Ivan Mauger, Hall of Fame motorcycle speedway rider, speedway world champion, long-track world champion, New Zealand Sportsman of the Year .
• 23 April – Haddon Donald, soldier and politician, MP for Wairarapa .
• 24 April – Arthur Eustace, athlete, athletics coach and administrator, British Empire Games bronze medallist, New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association president, patron of Athletics New Zealand, Halberg lifetime achievement award .
• 25 April – Margo Buchanan-Oliver, marketing academic .
• 26 April – David Mitchell, architect, writer and television presenter, NZIA Gold Medal .

May

• 2 May – Katherine O'Regan, politician, Waipa County Councillor, MP for Waipa, National list MP, Minister of Consumer Affairs .
• 4 May – Tony Steel, rugby union player, sprinter, educator and politician, headmaster of Hamilton Boys' High School, MP for Hamilton East .
• 9 May
• * Norma, Lady Beattie – viceregal consort .
• * Carl Perkins, musician .
• 15 May – Hopeful Christian, founder of Gloriavale Christian Community.
• 16 May – Tom Hadfield, rugby league player .
• 19 May – John Moorfield, Māori language academic .
• 28 May – Dick Quax, Hall of Fame athlete and politician, Olympic silver medallist, British Commonwealth Games silver medallist, 5000 metres world record holder, Manukau City Councillor, Auckland Councillor .

June

• 4 June – J. B. Munro, politician and disability advocate, MP for Invercargill, Invercargill City Councillor, national secretary / chief executive of IHC New Zealand .
• 7 June – Sir Neil Waters, inorganic chemist and academic administrator, vice-chancellor of Massey University, chair of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, chair of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• 13 June – Milan Mrkusich, artist and designer, Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon .
• 14 June
• * Vincent Gray, entertainer, physical chemist and climate-change denier, director of the Building Research Association of New Zealand .
• * Steve Kuzmicich, statistician, Government Statistician .
• 18 June – Graham Davy, athlete, sports administrator, president of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, 1990 Commonwealth Games director of athletics.
• 23 June – Koro Wētere, politician, MP for Western Maori, Minister of Maori Affairs .
• 30 June – Mark Irwin, rugby union player .

July

• 1 July – Merv Richards, pole vaulter, British Empire and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, gymnastics coach, pole vault coach, and lapidarist.
• 3 July – Gary Bold, physicist .
• 4 July – Harry M. Miller, impresario and media agent.
• 9 July
• * Sam Chisholm, media executive .
• * Colin Quincey, first person to row solo across the Tasman Sea.
• 13 July – Naturalism, Thoroughbred racehorse, Australian Derby, Rosehill Guineas, Caulfield Stakes .
• 14 July – Janet Holm, environmental activist, and historian.
• 17 July – David Stevens, playwright, screenwriter, director, and novelist .
• 24 July – Rick Littlewood, Olympic judoka .
• 29 July
• * Graham Finlay, Olympic and British Empire and Commonwealth Games boxer.
• * Phillip Orchard, rugby league player .

August

• 2 August – Bob Berry, dendrologist, founder of Hackfalls Arboretum, Veitch Memorial Medal .
• 3 August
• * Reinhart Langer, botanist and university administrator, acting principal of Lincoln College, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• * Murray Matthewson, orthopaedic surgeon, president of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand .
• 4 August – Delwyn Costello, cricketer .
• 6 August – Helen Mackenzie, British Empire Games swimmer, and bacteriologist.
• 17 August – Warwick Roger, journalist and magazine editor, founder of Metro.
• 18 August – Ronnie Moore, Hall of Fame speedway rider, individual world champion, world pairs champion .
• 19 August – Margaret Reid, first woman in New Zealand ordained as a Presbyterian minister, moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand .
• 20 August – Greg Boyed, television presenter .
• 21 August – Spencer P. Jones, musician .
• 23 August – Wendy Hutton, travel and food writer.
• 30 August – Jack Garrick, ichthyologist .

September

• 5 September
• * Alan Peart, World War II fighter ace .
• * John Stacpoole, heritage architect, architectural historian, and bibliophile.
• 7 September – John O'Sullivan, rugby league player .
• 14 September – Ruth Dowman, long jumper and sprinter, British Empire Games bronze medallist .
• 16 September – Assid Corban, businessman and politician, Mayor of Henderson, Mayor of Waitakere City, Waitakere City Councillor .
• 22 September – Hayden Poulter, convicted serial killer.
• 24 September – Merv Smith, radio personality, and railway enthusiast.

October

• 2 October – Barry Linton, comic artist.
• 3 October – David Fergusson, psychologist, founder of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• 4 October
• * Penny Bright, activist.
• * Barrie Frost, psychologist and neuroscientist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada .
• 6 October – Wilf Malcolm, mathematician and university administrator, vice-chancellor of the University of Waikato .
• 13 October – Bob Doran, computer scientist and computing historian .
• 14 October – Tom Delahunty, association football referee, FIFA international referee .
• 17 October
• * Denis Adam, insurance broker, art collector and philanthropist .
• * Sir Ngātata Love, Māori leader, local-body politician, public servant, business development academic, and convicted fraudster, Petone Borough Councillor, Te Puni Kōkiri chief executive officer .
• * Sir Thomas Thorp, lawyer and jurist, High Court judge .
• 19 October – Sir John McGrath, lawyer and jurist, Queen's Counsel, Solicitor-General, Court of Appeal judge, Supreme Court judge .
• 24 October – Keith Hunter, marine and freshwater chemist, Marsden Medal, Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand .
• 27 October – Murray Khouri, clarinettist, clarinet lecturer, and broadcaster .
• 29 October
• * Peter Hawes, television presenter and scriptwriter, actor, playwright, and novelist, best performance in a short film .
• * June Kerr, ballerina .
• 31 October
• * Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice, president of the New Zealand Law Society, Queen's Counsel, Privy Counsellor .
• * Maurice Mahoney, architect, Distinguished Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects .

November

• 4 November – Tama Renata, Hall of Fame musician, and composer.
• 6 November – Gordon Whiting, lawyer and judge, Environment Court judge .
• 13 November – Sir John Anderson, Hall of Fame banker, health and sports administrator, chair of Capital and Coast and Hawke's Bay District Health Boards, chair of New Zealand Cricket .
• 14 November – Douglas Wright, dancer and choreographer, Arts Foundation laureate .
• 18 November – Peter Peryer, photographer, Arts Foundation laureate .
• 19 November – Neil Collins, broadcaster and local-body politician, Dunedin City Councillor .
• 20 November – Cyril Belshaw, anthropologist .
• 24 November – Gordon Copeland, politician, United Future and independent list MP .
• 28 November – Georgie Salter, netball player and coach, world championship bronze medallist .

December

• 1 December – Vivian Lynn, artist.
• 2 December – William Smith, naval officer .
• 3 December – Geoff Murphy, film director and screenwriter, New Zealand Film Awards lifetime achievement award, Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon .
• 5 December – John Armstrong, politician and businessman, New Plymouth City Councillor, MP for New Plymouth .
• 6 December – Robin Clark, inorganic chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society, Bakerian Medal .
• 11 December
• * Winifred Griffin, Olympic and British Empire and Commonwealth Games swimmer, British Empire Games silver medallist .
• * Hiwi Tauroa, rugby union player and coach, teacher and public servant, principal of Wesley College and Tuakau College, Race Relations Conciliator .
• 20 December
• * Randall Carrington, cricketer .
• * Trevor Chinn, glaciologist .
• 21 December – Fay Gock, market gardener and horticulturalist.
• 25 December – Bill Baillie, Hall of Fame Olympic and British Empire and Commonwealth Games athlete, Lonsdale Cup .
• 30 December – Harry Atkinson, physicist and science administrator, chair of the European Space Agency Council .