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← 1972 1971 1970 1973 in New Zealand → 1974 1975 1976
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1973 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December 1973: 3,024,900.
• Increase since 31 December 1972 – 65,200 (2.20%).
• Males per 100 females – 99.7.
• It took 21 years for the population to grow from 2 million to 3 million.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Denis Blundell

• Elizabeth II
• Denis Blundell

Government

The 37th New Zealand Parliament commences. Government is by a Labour majority of 55 seats to the National Party's 32 seats.

• Speaker of the House – Stan Whitehead
• Prime Minister – Norman Kirk
• Deputy Prime Minister – Hugh Watt
• Minister of Finance – Bill Rowling
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Norman Kirk
• Attorney-General – Martyn Finlay

• Stanley Whitehead
• Norman Kirk
• Hugh Watt
• Bill Rowling
• Martyn Finlay

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Jack Marshall (National)

• Jack Marshall

Judiciary

• Chief Justice — Richard Wild

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

• Dove-Myer Robinson
• Frank Kitts
• Neville Pickering
• Jim Barnes

Events

• 1 January – The 1973 New Year Honours are announced
• 11 January – Air New Zealand accepts delivery of its first McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jet.
• 4 February – The details of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement are announced
• 7 February – A heat wave affects large parts of New Zealand. Rangiora reaches 42.4 °C (108.3 °F), the highest temperature recorded in New Zealand as of December 2023.
• 11 February – The Rolling Stones play a single New Zealand concert, at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, on their 1973 Pacific Tour.
• 27 February – Leaking drums of organophosphate cotton defoliant spread fumes across Parnell, Auckland, causing 640 people to be treated in hospital and 6,000 people to be evacuated.
• 1 March – The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement is implemented
• 10 April – Prime Minister Kirk cancels the 1973 South African rugby tour to New Zealand over fears of civil unrest.
• 16 April – After a retrial, Arthur Allan Thomas is again found guilty of the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe.
• 2 June – The 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced
• 19 October – The New Zealand Day Act 1973, making 6 February a national holiday, receives royal assent.
• 31 October – Colour television is introduced.
• December – The national vehicle speed limit is reduced to 80 km/h to reduce fuel consumption.

Arts and literature

• Graham Billing wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1973 in art, 1973 in literature

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

• ALBUM OF THE YEAR John Donoghue – Spirit Of Pelorus Jack
• RECORDING ARTIST / GROUP OF THE YEAR Shona Laing
• BEST SINGLE / SINGLE OF THE YEAR John Hanlon – Damn The Dam
• BEST NEW ARTIST Shona Laing
• BEST NZ RECORDED COMPOSITION Anna Leah – Love Bug
• PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Keith Southern – Join Together
• ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Peter Hitchcock – Only Time Could Let Us Know
• ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Mike Harvey – Damn The Dam

See: 1973 in music

Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Ray Columbus.

Radio and television

• Colour television broadcasts begin at 7:45 pm on 31 October. The licence fee for a colour television is NZ$35.
• In December, Fred Dagg makes his first appearance.
• Feltex Television Awards:
  • Natural History Programme: Bird of a Single Flight
  • Best News, Current Affairs: Election Night '72
  • Best Light Entertainment: Loxene Golden Disc 1972
  • Best Drama and the Arts: Gone Up North and An Awful Silence
  • Best Documentary: Deciding
  • Allied Crafts: Loxene Golden Disc set and work on Pop Co.
• The first ZM radio stations were started in 1973 as 1ZM Auckland, 2ZM Wellington and 3ZM Christchurch.

See: 1973 in New Zealand television, 1973 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• Rangi's Catch

See: Category:1973 film awards, 1973 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1973 films

Sport

Athletics

• Terry Manners wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:18:28.7 on 10 March in Inglewood. In the same year, on 1 December, the title is taken over by John Robinson who wins his first national title, clocking 2:15:03.6 in Christchurch.

Chess

• The 80th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his 12th title).

Horse racing

From January 1973, all races are run at metric distances rather than imperial.

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Arapaho
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Arapaho

Soccer

• New Zealand National Soccer League is won by Christchurch United
• The Chatham Cup is won by Mount Wellington who beat North Shore United 3–0 in the final
• New Zealand hosts and wins the inaugural Oceania Cup tournament, beating Tahiti 2–0 in the final

Births

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• 25 January: Ruben Wiki, rugby league footballer
• 20 February: Leisen Jobe, field hockey player
• 1 April: Stephen Fleming, cricketer
• 8 April: Nicholas Tongue, freestyle swimmer
• 27 May:
  • Tana Umaga, rugby player
  • Ian Winchester, athlete
• 16 June: Shane Reed, athlete (died 2022)
• 2 July: Andrew Buckley, field hockey player
• 10 July: Andrew McCormick, rugby union footballer
• 23 July: Adrian Cashmore, rugby player
• 31 July: Tasha Williams, hammer thrower
• 4 August: Hymie Gill, field hockey player
• 5 August: Justin Marshall, rugby player
• 13 August: Martin Moana, rugby league footballer
• 19 August: Carl Bulfin, cricketer
• 23 August: Kerry Walmsley, cricketer
• 5 September: Lesley Nicol, netball player
• 1 September: Trent Bray, freestyle swimmer
• 14 November: Darren Smith, field hockey player
• 15 November: Shayne O'Connor, cricketer
• 16 November: Brendan Laney, rugby player
• 29 December: Garth da Silva, boxer
• Kirsten Cameron, swimmer
• Dom Harvey, podcaster and former radio host

Deaths

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• 5 February – John Stewart, politician (born 1902)
• 11 April – Rongowhakaata Pere Halbert, Māori leader, interpreter, historian, genealogist (born 1894)
• 20 May – Charles Brasch, poet and literary editor (born 1909)
• 18 November – Peter McKeefry, Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal (born 1899)
• 19 November – Cyril Allcott, cricketer (born 1896)
• 15 December – Keith Buttle, mayor of Auckland (born 1900)

Full date unknown

• Edith Louisa Niederer, farmer and community leader (born 1890)

References

1. ^ "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
2. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
3. ^ Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
4. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. "No. 45861". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 1 January 1973. pp. 33–36.
6. "Air New Zealand accepts DC10". The Press. 13 January 1973. p. 1.
7. ^ "Trans Tasman Travel Arrangement News Releases" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2014.
8. Wright, Michael (26 December 2023). "NZ's hottest day ever: Melted roads, workers striked and it killed 26,000 chickens". Stuff. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
9. Swarbrick, Nancy (11 March 2010). "Fires and fire services - Towards a national fire service". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
10. "AUCKLAND CIVIL EMERGENCY - 4000 moved after fumes escape". The Press. 28 February 1973. p. 1.
11. "Labour government cancels Springbok rugby tour". Retrieved 8 February 2023.
12. "P.M. SAYS DOOR NOT SHUT - Expects union to accept". The Press. 11 April 1973. p. 1.
13. "UPROAR AS THOMAS IS FOUND GUILTY". The Press. 17 April 1973. p. 1.
14. "No. 45985". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 2 June 1973. pp. 6507–6510.
15. ^ "COLOUR SHOULD GIVE LIFT TO LIFE". The Press. 1 November 1973. p. 1.
16. "Roading leaders challenge potential new 80km/h state highway speed limit". RNZ. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
17. "TVNZ timeline 1960–2005" (PDF). TVNZ. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
18. List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
19. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
20. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
21. Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
22. Morgan, Karen J. "Edith Louisa Niederer". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

See also

• List of years in New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• History of New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica

For world events and topics in 1973 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 1973

• 1973 in New Zealand
• 1973 by country
• Years of the 20th century in New Zealand