This is a timeline of the history of New Zealand that includes only events deemed to be of principal importance – for less important events click the year heading or refer to List of years in New Zealand.
Full independence (1947 to date)
1947 to 1949
- 1947
- 1948
- 1949
- 1 January: New Zealanders become "British Subjects and New Zealand Citizens"
- Referendum agrees to compulsory military training.
- New Zealand gets first four navy frigates.
- 30 November: General election: National Government elected.
1950s
- 1950
- 1951
- 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1956
- New Zealand troops sent to Malaya.
- Roxburgh and Whakamaru power stations in operation.
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
1960s
- 1960
- Regular television programmes begin in Auckland.
- Government Service Equal Pay Act passed.
- 26 November: General election, National Government elected.
- Treasury leases New Zealand's first computer from IBM.
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- NAFTA agreement negotiated with Australia.
- Benmore Dam commissioned.
- Inter-Island HVDC commissioned, connecting the North and South Island power grids.
- Support for United States in Vietnam; New Zealand combat force sent, protest movement begins.
- Cook Islands becomes self-governing.
- 1 April: TEAL renamed Air New Zealand.
- Air New Zealand introduces the Douglas DC-8 jet aircraft on international routes.
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- Vote extended to 20-year-olds.
- First output from Glenbrook Steel Mill.
- Television networked nationwide.
- Breath and blood tests introduced for suspected drunk drivers.
- 29 November: General election, National wins fourth election in a row.
1970s
- 1970
- US Vice President Spiro Agnew Visits New Zealand to prop up the NZ Governments support for the Vietnam War and is met by an anti-war protest in Auckland which turns violent.
- Natural gas network commissioned, supplying gas from Kapuni to Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Wellington.
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- Naval frigate dispatched in protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
- New Zealand's population reaches three million.
- Oil price hike means worst terms of trade in 30 years.
- Colour TV introduced.
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- New Zealand's national day 6 February renamed from New Zealand Day to Waitangi Day
- Matrimonial Property Act passed.
- Pacific Islands "overstayers" deported.
- EEC import quotas for New Zealand butter set until 1980.
- Introduction of metric system of weights and measures.
- Subscriber toll dialling introduced.
- Lyttelton–Wellington steamer ferry service ends.
- 1977
- 1978
- Registered unemployed reaches 25,000.
- New Zealand Film Commission established.
- 12 February: 17 arrested after protestors led by Eva Rickard set up camp on the Raglan golf course.
- 1 April: National Airways Corporation merges with Air New Zealand.
- 25 May: Army and Police remove protesters from Bastion Point, 218 arrests are made.
- 25 November: General election, National re-elected.
- 1979
1980s
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- Anti-nuclear policy leads to refusal of a visit by the American warship, the USS Buchanan.
- 10 July: Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior bombed and sunk by French DGSE agents in Auckland harbour.
- 4 March: New Zealand dollar floated.
- First case of locally contracted AIDS is reported.
- Waitangi Tribunal given power to hear grievances arising since 1840.
- 20 November: Archbishop Paul Reeves appointed Governor General.
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- Number of unemployed exceeds 100,000.
- Bastion Point land returned to Māori ownership.
- Combined Council of Trade Unions formed. Royal Commission on Social Policy issues April Report.
- Gibbs Report on hospital services and Picot Report on education published.
- State Sector Act passed.
- Cyclone Bola strikes northern North Island.
- Electrification of the central section of the North Island Main Trunk railway completed.
- New Zealand Post closes 432 post offices.
- Fisheries quota package announced for Māori iwi.
- 1989
- Prime Minister David Lange suggests formal withdrawal from ANZUS.
- Jim Anderton founds NewLabour Party.
- Lange resigns and Geoffrey Palmer becomes 33rd Prime Minister.
- First annual balance of payments surplus since 1973.
- Reserve Bank Act sets bank's role as one of maintaining price stability.
- First school board elections under Tomorrow's Schools reforms.
- First elections under revised local government structure.
- Sunday trading begins.
- The final Remnants of capital punishment are abolished
- 26 November: Third TV channel begins.
- Māori Fisheries Act passed.
1990s
- 1990
- 1991
- The Resource Management Act 1991 is enacted, rewriting planning law.[34]
- One- and two-dollar coins introduced to replace their respective banknotes.
- The "Mother of All Budgets" is presented by Finance Minister Ruth Richardson.
- The Alliance party is formed.
- Employment Contracts Act passed.
- Consumers Price Index has lowest quarterly increase for 25 years.
- Welfare payments cut.
- Number of unemployed exceeds 200,000 for the first time.
- New Zealand troops join multi-national force in the Gulf War.
- An avalanche on Aoraki / Mount Cook reduces its height by 10.5 metres.
- 1992
- Government and Māori interests negotiate Sealord fisheries deal.
- Public health system reforms.
- State housing commercialised.
- New Zealand gets seat on United Nations Security Council.
- Student Loan system is started / Tertiary Fees raised
- 1993
- 1994
- Government commits 250 soldiers to front-line duty in Bosnia.
- Government proposes $1 billion cap in plan for final settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims.
- New Zealand's first casino opens in Christchurch.
- David Bain is convicted of murdering five members of his family.
- First fast-ferry service begins operation across Cook Strait.
- 1995
- 1996
- Imported pests Mediterranean fruit flies and white-spotted tussock moths cause disruption to export trade and to Aucklanders.
- Kahurangi National Park, the 13th National Park, is opened in north-west Nelson.
- Waitangi Tribunal recommends generous settlement of Taranaki land claims.
- First legal sports betting at TAB.
- The commercial radio stations and networks owned by Radio New Zealand are sold to Clear Channel creating The Radio Network.
- $170 million Ngāi Tahu settlement proposed, $40 million Whakatohea settlement announced.
- 12 October: First MMP election brings National/New Zealand First coalition government.
- 1997
- America's Cup damaged in an attack by a Māori activist.
- TV4 begins daily broadcasts.
- Customs Service cracks down on imported Japanese used cars following claims of odometer fraud.
- Auckland's Sky Tower is opened.
- Compulsory superannuation is rejected by a margin of more than nine to one in New Zealand's first postal referendum.
- Jim Bolger resigns as prime minister after losing the support of the National Party caucus and is replaced by New Zealand's first woman prime minister, Jenny Shipley.
- 1998
- Auckland city businesses hit by a power cut lasting several weeks. The crisis of over a month results in an inquiry into Mercury Energy.
- The women's rugby team, the Black Ferns, become the world champions.
- The National – New Zealand First coalition Government is dissolved leaving the Jenny Shipley led National Party as a minority government.
- Several cases of tuberculosis discovered in South Auckland in the worst outbreak for a decade.
- The Hikoi of Hope marches to Parliament, calling for more support for the poor.
- The government announces plans to lease 28 new fighter aircraft but says no to a new naval frigate.
- Prime TV launched
- 1999
2000s
- 2000
- January: The name suppression of American billionaire Peter Lewis, who was arrested and convicted of drug possession charges, causes controversy.
- Knighthoods are Abolished
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- Labour enacts its election promise to remove interest on loans to students living in New Zealand.[45]
- Five cent coins are dropped from circulation and existing 10-cent, 20-cent and 50-cent coins are replaced with smaller coins.[46]
- The government announces a NZ$11.5 billion surplus, the largest in the country's history and second only to Denmark in the Western World.[47]
- South Island population reaches 1 million[48]
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- Knighthoods, Abolished by the previous government, are restored.
- 6 March: David Bain retrial begins, resulting in not guilty verdicts on all five murder charges on 5 June.[59]
- 28 April: First confirmed New Zealand case in the 2009 swine flu pandemic.[60]
2010s
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 5 November: Royal Commission into the Pike River mine disaster reports.
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- February: New Zealand joins the fight against ISIS by sending troops to Iraq to train Iraqi Soldiers against the Islamic Terror Group.
- 25 October: The All Blacks Win the Rugby World Cup, the only team to ever win the tournament twice in a row.
- 2016
- 14 November: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes near the town of Kaikoura in the South Island.
- 5 December: John Key announces he will stand down as prime minister and leader of the National Party on 12 December.
- 12 December: Bill English becomes the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
- 2017
- 2019
- 15 March: Christchurch mosque shootings, 51 people are killed during an attack on two mosques.
- December 2019: Whakaari / White Island eruption. 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found and were later declared dead. A further 25 people suffered injuries, with the majority needing intensive care for severe burns.
2020s
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2024)