1958 in New Zealand

← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in New Zealand → 1959 1960 1961
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1958 Timeline of New Zealand history

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,316,000^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1957: 53,200 (2.35%)
• Males per 100 females: 101.3

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD.^[2]

Government

The 32nd New Zealand Parliament commenced. In power was the newly elected Labour government led by Walter Nash.

• Speaker of the House – Robert Macfarlane.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Walter Nash.
• Deputy Prime Minister – Clarence Skinner.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Rex Mason.^[3]

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Keith Holyoake (National).^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Keith Buttle
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert Macfarlane then George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright

Events

• 26 June – 'Black Budget', raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and petrol, passed by second Labour government.
• June – New Zealand's first supermarket, Foodtown, opens at Otahuhu.
• 3 September – Brian Barratt-Boyes performs New Zealand's first open heart surgery at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital.
• 29 September – The emergency number 111 for fire, police and ambulance is introduced; initially only in Masterton and Carterton.
• United States base for Operation Deep Freeze is established at Christchurch Airport.
• The Wairakei Power Station is commissioned. It is New Zealand's first geothermal power station, and only the second large-scale geothermal power station in the world.

Arts and literature

• The Robert Burns Fellowship is established to honour the bicentennary of the poet's birth.

See 1958 in art, 1958 in literature, Robert Burns Fellowship, Category:1958 books

Music

See: 1958 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1958 film awards, 1958 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1958 films

Sport

Athletics

• Raymond Puckett wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:37:28 in Lower Hutt.

Chess

• The 65th National Chess Championship was held in Christchurch, and was won by J.R. Phillips of Auckland.^[5]

Commonwealth Games

• New Zealand at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games: The New Zealand team of 63 athletes and 11 officials won four gold, six silver and nine bronze medals.^[6]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: False Step^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Macklin^[8]

Rugby union

• The All Blacks played three Test matches against the touring Australian side, retaining the Bledisloe Cup:^[9]
  • 23 August, Athletic Park (Wellington), Wellington: New Zealand 25 – 3 Australia
  • 6 September, Lancaster Park, Christchurch: New Zealand 3 – 6 Australia
  • 20 September, Epsom Showgrounds, Auckland: New Zealand 17 – 8 Australia

Soccer

• The national men's team played seven matches including five internationals:^[10]
  • 16 August, Wellington: NZ 2 – 3 Australia
  • 23 August, Auckland: NZ 2 – 2 Australia
  • 26 August, Hamilton: NZ 3 – 0 Waikato XI
  • 31 August, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 7 September, Nouméa: NZ 5 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 14 September, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 18 September, Auckland: NZ 1 – 1 Auckland
• The Chatham Cup was won by Seatoun for the second consecutive year. They beat Christchurch city 7-1 in the final.^[11]
• Provincial league champions:^[12]
  • Auckland: Onehunga
  • Bay of Plenty: Rangers
  • Buller: Millerton Thistle
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Spartans
  • Nelson: Settlers
  • Northland: Marlin Rovers
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Brigadiers
  • Taranaki: City
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: Masterton Athletic
  • Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
  • Wellington: Seatoun AFC

Births

• 1 January: Lesley Shankland (later Murdoch), cricketer.^[13]
• 7 February: Simon Upton, politician.
• 30 March: Peter Ellis, convicted for child abuse.
• 15 April: John Bracewell, cricket player and coach.
• 16 May (in the U.S.A.): Thomas "Tab" Baldwin, basketball coach.
• 27 May: Neil Finn, singer, songwriter.
• 28 May: Dennis May, karate master.
• 14 September: Jeff Crowe, cricketer.
• 27 September: Mitch Shirra, motorcycle speedway rider.
• 17 November: Frank van Hattum, soccer player.
• 23 November: Martin Snedden, cricketer and sports administrator.
• 30 November: Barry Cooper, cricketer.
• 3 December: Roger Sowry, politician.
• 14 December (In Scotland): Alan Boath, footballer.
• Daryl Crimp, writer, illustrator and cartoonist.
• A J Hackett, extreme sports entrepreneur.
• (in Zambia): Vicky Jones, children's author.
• Tuku Morgan, politician.
• Pio Terei, actor, singer and comedian.
• Jools and Lynda Topp (the Topp Twins, entertainers.
• Jane Wrightson, chief censor.

Category:1958 births

Deaths

• 12 March: Bill Barnard, politician – 10th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• 17 July: William Burgoyne Taverner, MP and Mayor of Dunedin
• 9 October: Merton Hodge, playwright.
• 25 October: James Chapman-Taylor, architect.
• Fred Baker, soldier.
• William Montgomery, Jr., politician.
• Robert William Smith, politician.

Category:1958 deaths

References

1. Statistics New Zealand:Historical Population Estimates
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". Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. List of New Zealand Chess Champions
6. NZOC
7. List of NZ Trotting cup winners
8. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
9. Pick and Go rugby results database
10. List of New Zealand national soccer matches
11. NZ Soccer
12. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
13. Lesley Murdoch

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