2012 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 2012 in New Zealand.

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 2012 in New Zealand

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Decades:
  • 1990s
  • 2000s
  • 2010s
  • 2020s
See also:

Population
  • Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,425,900[1]
  • Increase since 31 December 2011: 26,400 (0.60%)
  • Males per 100 Females: 95.7

Incumbents

Regal and vice-regal
  • Elizabeth II
  • Jerry Mateparae

Government

2012 is the first full year of the 50th Parliament, which first sat on 20 December 2011 and will dissolve on 17 December 2014 if not dissolved prior. The Fifth National Government, first elected in 2008, continues.

  • Lockwood Smith
  • John Key
  • Bill English
  • Gerry Brownlee
  • Murray McCully

Other Party leaders
  • David Shearer
  • Russel Norman
  • Metiria Turei
  • Winston Peters
  • Pita Sharples
  • Tariana Turia

Judiciary
  • Sian Elias

Main centre leaders
  • Len Brown
  • Stuart Crosby
  • Julie Hardaker
  • Celia Wade-Brown
  • Bob Parker
  • Dave Cull

Events

January

February

March
  • 2 March – It is announced that the 131-year-old landmark ChristChurch Cathedral will be demolished as a result of damage from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.[9]
  • 19 March – "Marmageddon": It is announced by manufacturer Sanitarium that the sole production line of the popular breakfast spread Marmite, of which New Zealanders eat 640 tonnes annually, had stopped in November due to earthquake damage at the Papanui, Christchurch factory, and the company's own stocks had run out. It would be February 2013 before production resumed.[10]
  • 25 March – The largest changes to the nation's road rules in 35 years sees two rules regarding priority at intersections change, including the unique left-turn verses right-turn rule.[11]

April
  • 10 April – For the first time since records began, the Easter weekend road toll period ends with no fatal road accidents.
  • 21 April – A referendum is held in Nelson City and the Tasman District on whether the two councils should amalgamate. A majority of Nelson City vote for amalgamation, while the majority of Tasman District votes against amalgamation, resulting in the merger being rejected.[12]
  • 30 April – The Ministry for Primary Industries, a merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Fisheries and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, comes into operation.

May
  • 19 May – The finding of the remains of murder victim Jayne Furlong at Port Waikato, 19 years after she went missing in Auckland.
  • 24 May – Finance Minister Bill English delivers the 2012 government budget, described for the second consecutive year as a "zero" budget. The National government aims to record a $197m surplus in 2014/15, down from $1300m in the 2011 budget.[13][14]

June

July
  • 3 July – A magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes off the Taranaki coast and is widely felt across the country. Only minor damage is reported to have occurred as a result of the earthquake.
  • 27 July – 12 August – 184 New Zealand athletes in sixteen sports compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, achieving six gold, two silver and five bronze medals, including the nation's 100th Olympic medal.

August
  • 5 August – The Radio Network House in Christchurch which was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake is demolished by implosion, becoming the first building to be demolished this way in New Zealand.
  • 6 August – Mount Tongariro in the central North Island erupts, spreading volcanic ash across the area and as far east as Hawke's Bay.[15]
  • 30 August – Members of Parliament votes on three options for the national legal drinking age – the existing 18 years, 20 years, or an 18 on-licence/20 off-licence split. After the 18/20 split was eliminated in the first round of voting, Parliament votes in the second round to keep the age at 18 years, with 68 votes in favour to 53.[16][17]
  • The payroll of 110,000 teachers and support staff in state and state-integrated schools is switched to the new Novopay system. The error-ridden system would ultimately cause thousands of pay errors, resulting in staff being overpaid, underpaid, or not paid at all, continuing into 2013.

September

October

November

December
  • 6 December – A tornado hits the suburb of Hobsonville in northwestern Auckland, causing widespread damage and killing three people.[20]

Holidays and observances
  • 6 February – Waitangi Day
  • 25 April – Anzac Day
  • 4 June – Queen's Birthday Monday
  • 22 October – Labour Day

Arts and literature

New Books

Awards

Music

Performing Arts

Television
  • C4 to be renamed FOUR

Films

Internet

Sport

Events


Olympic Games
Main article: New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Olympics
  • New Zealand sends a team of 184 competitors across 16 sports.
 Gold Silver BronzeTotal
62513

Paralympics
Main article: New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
  • New Zealand sends a team of 24 competitors across seven sports.
 Gold Silver BronzeTotal
67417

Shooting
  • Ballinger Belt – Brian Carter (Te Puke)[22]

Births
  • 29 September – Tarzino, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

  • 1 July – Alister McLellan, mathematician and physicist (born 1919)
  • 2 July – Jeff Leigh, cricketer (born 1950)
  • 7 July – David Baldwin, lawn bowls player (born 1921)
  • 18 July – Aston Greathead, painter (born 1921)
  • 21 July – Vida Stout, limnographer and academic administrator (born 1930)
  • 23 July – Margaret Mahy, children's author (born 1936)
  • 27 July – Pauline Thompson, artist (born 1942)
  • 28 July – Colin Horsley, classical pianist and music teacher (born 1920)
  • 30 July – Jonathan Hardy, actor, screenwriter and movie director (born 1940)
  • 31 July

August

  • 3 August – Mama Tere Strickland, transgender advocate, politician (born 1963)
  • 6 August – Gregor Yeates, soil zoologist and ecologist (born 1944)
  • 11 August – Roger Sandall, anthropologist (born 1933)
  • 23 August – Col Campbell, television and radio gardening presenter (born 1933)
  • 29 August – Jeremy Pope, lawyer and activist (born 1938)
  • 30 August – Bill Kini, boxer, Commonwealth Games gold medallist (1966) (born 1937)

September

October

November

December

gollark: I really hate working on this code because it's unfathomable and makes no sense.
gollark: You need some kind of hardware debug access to *use* them.
gollark: https://twitter.com/_markel___/status/1373059797155778562
gollark: Did you read about those undocumented Intel microcode read/write instructions? Do you plan to become an x86 microcode programmer?
gollark: It has palaiologolegal issues attached *and* is obfuscated and does ???.

See also

References
  1. "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand.
  2. Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae Archived 3 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 8 June 2012
  3. "11 dead in hot air balloon tragedy". The New Zealand Herald. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  4. "Hot Air Balloon Crash Kills 11 in New Zealand". Fox News Channel. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. Kirsty Johnston; Karla Akuhata; Angela Cuming; Michael Daly (10 January 2012). "Split Rena Sinking". Waikato Times (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  6. Kirsty Johnston; Paloma Migone (20 January 2012). "NZ residents on piracy charges denied bail". Fairfax Media (via Stuff). Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  7. Williams, David (9 February 2012). "Company claims CTV building report 'inadequate'". Fairfax Media (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  8. Whiteman, Hilary (21 February 2012). "Christchurch marks quake anniversary". CNN. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  9. Gates, Charlie; Moore, Christopher (2 March 2012). "Christ Church Cathedral to be demolished". The Press. Christchurch. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  10. "Marmite shortage spurs 'Marmageddon' fears". The New Zealand Herald. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  11. "New give way rules introduced today". Television New Zealand. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  12. "Nelson-Tasman council merger voted down". Television New Zealand. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  13. "'Zero' 2012 Budget aims for surplus". The New Zealand Herald. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  14. Migone, Paloma; Levy, Danya (24 May 2012). "Budget 2012: English's nickel and dime Budget". Fairfax Media (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  15. "Tongariro eruption: 1km ash radius". The New Zealand Herald. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  16. Hartevelt, John (31 August 2012). "Status quo: Drinking age stays at 18". Fairfax Media (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  17. "Alcohol Reform Bill – In Committee". New Zealand Parliament. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  18. "When is my area going digital?". Going Digital. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  19. "Prince Charles and Camilla to visit NZ on jubilee tour". Television New Zealand. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  20. "Three dead after Auckland storm and tornadoes". The New Zealand Herald. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  21. "IOC withdraws gold medal from shot put athlete Nadzeya Ostapchuk". International Olympics Committee. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  22. "New Zealand champion shot / Ballinger Belt winners". National Rifle Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

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