1977 in New Zealand

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 1977 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 3,166,400.^[1]
Increase since 31 December 1976: 3000 (0.09%).^[1]
Males per 100 females: 99.4.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Sir Denis Blundell GCMG GCVO KBE QSO, followed by The Rt Hon. Sir Keith Holyoake KG GCMG CH QSO.^[2]

Government

1977 was the second full year of the 38th Parliament. The Third National Government was in power.

Speaker of the House – Roy Jack.^[3]
Prime Minister – Robert Muldoon
Deputy Prime Minister – Brian Talboys.^[3]
Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon.^[3]
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Brian Talboys.^[3]
Attorney-General – Peter Wilkinson.^[3]
Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – Bill Rowling (Labour).^[4]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
Mayor of Hamilton – Bruce Beetham then Ross Jansen
Mayor of Wellington – Michael Fowler
Mayor of Christchurch – Hamish Hay
Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes then Clifford George (Cliff) Skeggs

Events

28 February: Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Beehive.

5 January – Led by Joe Hawke, members of Ngati Whatua occupy Bastion Point reserve (Takaparawha) to protest crown sales of land taken from Māori.^[5]
6 February – Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of New Zealand
28 February – The new Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament, nicknamed the "Beehive" due to its shape, is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, despite not being fully complete yet.
26 March – 1977 Mangere by-election: David Lange (Labour) is elected to replace Colin Moyle.
21 November – God Defend New Zealand becomes the second official national anthem of New Zealand, in conjunction with God Save The Queen.
6 December – The meat pie-based fast food chain Georgie Pie opens its first restaurant in Kelston, Auckland.
23 December – the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 passed into law
New Zealand proclaims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) – the seventh largest in the world at 4.3 million km²
Mushrooms and typewriters are added to the CPI basket.^[6]

Arts and literature

Keri Hulme and Roger Hall win the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1977 in art, 1977 in literature

Music

The New Zealand Music Awards were not held this year.

Waikino music festival at Bicknel's farm, Waitawheta Valley, between Waihi and Waikino. Attendance 5500.

See: 1977 in music

Radio and television

April: Fair Go airs for the first time.
June: Wellington's Radio Active 89FM first hits the airwaves
Feltex Television Awards:
- Best Current Affairs: News at Ten
- Best Documentary Series: Black Future
- Best Light Entertainment: Blerta
- Best Play: The God Boy
- Best Drama: Moynihan
- Best Speciality: Country Calendar
- Best Actor: Ian Mune in Winners and Losers and Moynihan
- Best Actress: Judy Douglas in The God Boy
- Best Script: The God Boy
- Best Personality: Roger Gascoigne

Sport

Athletics

Terry Manners wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:20:40 in Hawera.

Association football

New Zealand National Soccer League won by North Shore United
The Chatham Cup is won by Nelson United who beat Mount Wellington 1–0 in the final.^[7]

Chess

The 84th New Zealand Chess Championship is held in North Shore, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland.^[8]

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup: Sole Command^[9]
There was no 1977 running of the Auckland Trotting Cup as the race was being rescheduled from December (1976) to February (1978)^[10]

Thoroughbred racing

Births

22 January: Jono Gibbes, rugby player
25 February: Matthew Bell, cricketer
25 March: Brooke Walker, cricketer
16 May: Melanie Lynskey, actress
20 May: Raf de Gregorio, soccer player
25 May: Michael Bevin, field hockey goalkeeper
14 June: Duncan Oughton, footballer
9 July (in South Africa): Leana du Plooy, netball player'
5 July: Dale Rasmussen, rugby player^[11]
11 July: Matai Smith, television presenter
13 July: Xavier Rush, rugby player
5 September: Emily Gillam, field hockey player
8 September: Sheryl Scanlan, netball player
9 September: Caleb Ralph, rugby player
18 October: Ryan Nelsen, footballer
13 November: Chanel Cole, musician
28 November: Greg Somerville, rugby player
15 December: Dominic Bowden, television presenter
21 December: Leon MacDonald, rugby player

Category:1977 births

Deaths

22 January: Toby Hill, watersider and trade unionist
18 February: Ron Jarden, rugby player.
7 June (in England): Sir Rex Nan Kivell, art collector.
26 June; Alice May Palmer, public servant and union official
15 August: Margaret Escott, novelist and poet.^[12]
24 December: Sir Roy Jack, politician and 16th Speaker of the House of Representatives.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
^ Today in History | NZHistory
^ "100 years of CPI - Basket changes | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021.
^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Sky Sports – Rugby Union – Guinness Premiership – Worcester – Dale Rasmussen". Sky Sports. 14 September 2011.
^ McLeod, Aorewa. "Escott, Cicely Margaret. First published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol 4, 1998". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

External links

Media related to 1977 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons

[:02-1] "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

[almanac-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] Today in History | NZHistory

[6] "100 years of CPI - Basket changes | Stats NZ". www.stats.govt.nz. 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021.

[7] Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[8] List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[9] "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.

[10] Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[11] "Sky Sports – Rugby Union – Guinness Premiership – Worcester – Dale Rasmussen". Sky Sports. 14 September 2011.

[12] McLeod, Aorewa. "Escott, Cicely Margaret. First published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol 4, 1998". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

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