← 1953 1952 1951 1954 in New Zealand → 1955 1956 1957
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1954 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,118,400.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1953: 43,700 (2.11%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.2.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, from 6 February 1952
• Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Norrie GCMG GCVO CB DSO MC, from 1952 to 1957^[2]

Government

The 30th New Zealand Parliament expired this year. The National Party was elected to a third term in office under Sidney Holland on 13 November.

• Speaker of the House – Matthew Oram from 1950 to 1957
• Prime Minister – Sidney Holland from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.
• Deputy Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.
• Minister of Finance – Sidney Holland until November, followed by Jack Watts
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Clifton Webb from 19 September 1951 to 26 November 1954, followed by Tom Macdonald
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Walter Nash (Labour).^[3]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Luxford from 1953 to 1956
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite from 1953 to 1959
• Mayor of Wellington – Robert Macalister from 1950 to 1956
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert M. Macfarlane from 1938 to 1941 and again from 1950 to 1958
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright from 1950 to 1959

Events

• 12 January: 50,000 people mass in Wellington as Elizabeth II attends the state opening of Parliament.^[4]
• 30 January: The Royal tour by Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh concludes at Bluff as they depart on the SS Gothic^[5]
• 23 June – Teenagers Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme are arrested for the murder of Parker's mother.
• 20 September – the Mazengarb Report on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents is presented to Parliament.
• 8 November – eighteen-year-old golf amateur Bob Charles causes a sensation by beating a top international field to win the New Zealand Golf Open
• 13 November – the National Party wins re-election at a general election
• Hastings becomes the first town in New Zealand to fluoridate its water supply.^[6]

Arts and literature

See 1954 in art, 1954 in literature

Music

See: 1954 in music

Radio

• 2 January – First radio episode of It's in the Bag, hosted by Selwyn Toogood^[7]

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• The Seekers

See: Category:1954 film awards, 1954 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1954 films

Sport

Athletics

• 20 February: Yvette Williams breaks the world long jump record by jumping 20 feet 7+1⁄2 inches (6.287 metres) at Gisborne.^[8]
• Edwin Rye wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:35:45 on 6 March in Hamilton, New Zealand.

British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
7	7	5	19

Chess

• The 61st National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his third successive title).^[9]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Johnny Globe^[10]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Caduceus^[11]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.^[12]

• Men's singles champion – Robin Andrew (Onehunga Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – N.A. McNabb, C.L. Spearman (skip) (Christchurch RSA Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – J. Rothwell, H.L. Rule, W. O'Neill, Pete Skoglund (skip) (Otahuhu Bowling Club)

Rugby union

• The All Blacks played four Test Matches on a tour of Europe:^[13]
  • 9 January, Lansdowne Road, Dublin: New Zealand 14 – 3 Ireland
  • 30 January, Twickenham, London: New Zealand 5 – 0 England
  • 13 February, Murrayfield, Edinburgh New Zealand 3 – 0 Scotland
  • 27 February, Stade Colombes, Paris: New Zealand 0 – 3 France

Soccer

• The national men's team undertook a 10-match tour of Australia, which included 3 internationals. They played one warm-up match prior to the tour.^[14]
  • 31 July, Wellington: NZ 6 – 0 Wellington
  • 3 August, Adelaide: NZ 3 – 2 South Australia
  • 7 August, Adelaide: NZ 3 – 1 Australian XI
  • 11 August, Melbourne: NZ 1 – 2 Victoria
  • 14 August, Melbourne: NZ 2 – 1 Australia
  • 18 August, Granville: NZ 0 – 3 Granville
  • 21 August, Sydney: NZ 4 – 1 New South Wales Benge (2), Charlton, Olley
  • 25 August, Brisbane: NZ 2 – 2 Queensland Smith, Steele
  • 28 August, Brisbane: NZ 1 – 4 Australia'
  • 29 August, Newcastle: NZ 1 – 1 Northern Districts Smith
  • 4 September, Sydney: NZ 1 – 4 Australia
  • 5 September, Bulli: NZ 4 – 4 South Coast
• The Chatham Cup is won by Onehunga who beat Western of Christchurch 1–0 in the final.^[15]
• Provincial league champions:^[16]
  • Auckland: North Shore United
  • Bay of Plenty: Mangakino Utd
  • Buller: Millerton Thistle
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Hastings Wanderers
  • Manawatu: Palmerston North United
  • Nelson: Settlers
  • Northland: Otangarei United
  • Otago: Northern
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: Northern Hearts
  • Southland: Brigadiers
  • Taranaki: Old Boys
  • Waikato: Huntly Thistle
  • Wanganui: New Settlers
  • Wellington: Stop Out

Births

• 17 February: Brian Houston, New Zealand-born Australian pastor.
• 17 March: Peter Dunne, politician
• 30 April: Jane Campion, film director.
• 11 May: Murray Haszard, technology entrepreneur.
• 20 May: Julie Brougham, Olympic equestrian (died 2021)
• 15 June: Larry Ross, motorcycle speedway rider.
• 17 June: Trevor Mallard, politician
• 5 July: John Wright, cricket player and coach
• 24 October: Tu Wyllie, politician
• 18 November: Evan Gray, cricketer
• 24 December: Graham Sligo, field hockey player

Category:1954 births

Deaths

• 7 May: Cyril Brownlie, rugby union player.
• 26 May: Frederick Doidge, former cabinet minister and New Zealand High Commissioner (London)
• 1 June: Charles E. Major, politician.
• 5 June: Alexander Stuart, politician
• 1 August: Arthur Stallworthy, politician.
• 7 December: George William Smith, athlete, rugby union and league player.
• John Buckland Wright, engraver.