← 1959 1958 1957 1960 in New Zealand → 1961 1962 1963
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1960 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,403,600.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1959: 43,900 (1.86%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.0.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

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

Government

The 32nd New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the Second Labour government under Walter Nash. The general election saw the governing Labour Party defeated by a twelve-seat margin, and replaced by the Second National government.

• Speaker of the House – Robert Macfarlane.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Walter Nash then Keith Holyoake
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jerry Skinner then Jack Marshall.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer then Harry Lake.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash then Keith Holyoake.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Rex Mason, then Ralph Hanan.^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Keith Holyoake (National) until 12 December, then Walter Nash (Labour)^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton – Denis Rogers
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Stuart Sidey

Events

• Passing of the Waitangi Day Act 1960, first step towards a national day.
• 26 November: 1960 New Zealand general election

Arts and literature

• Maurice Duggan wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1960 in art, 1960 in literature

Music

See: 1960 in music

Radio and television

• 1 June: At 7.30 pm New Zealand's first official television transmission begins.^[5] For the first six weeks programs are limited to two hours a night and two nights a week.^[6] In mid-July this is extended to four nights a week. A television licence fee of £4 per year is introduced in August.

Film

See: Category:1960 film awards, 1960 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1960 films

Sport

• See: 1960 in sports, Category:1960 in sports

Athletics

• Ray Puckett wins his third national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:23:12.6 on 8 March in Invercargill.

Chess

• The 67th National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland.^[7]

Cricket

• The Australian team toured but games against the national side did not have Test status.
• Plunket Shield was won by Canterbury (1959-1960 season)

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – False Step (3rd win)^[8]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Damian^[9]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Dunedin.^[10]

• Men's singles champion – Stanley Snedden (Linwood Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – E.H. Taylor, Pete Skoglund (skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – H. Roy, J. Scott, B. Moore, Bill O'Neill (skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2	0	1	3

• New Zealand enters 38 competitors in nine sports, winning two gold (Peter Snell – Athletics, Men's 800m, Murray Halberg – Athletics, Men's 5,000m) and one bronze (Barry Magee – Athletics, Men's Marathon) medals.

Winter Olympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
0	0	0	0

• New Zealand enters the Winter Olympics for the second time, with a team of four competitors.

Rugby league

• New Zealand national rugby league team
• Rugby League World Cup

Rugby union

• The All Blacks toured South Africa, losing the four-test series 2–1 with one game drawn.^[11]
  • 25 June, Ellis Park, Johannesburg: New Zealand 0 – 13 South Africa
  • 23 July, Newlands, Cape Town: New Zealand 11 – 3 South Africa
  • 13 Aug, Free State Stadium, Blomfontein: New Zealand 11 – 11 South Africa
  • 27 August, Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth: New Zealand 3 – 8 South
• Ranfurly Shield: Auckland managed successful defences against Thames Valley (22-6) and Counties (14-3) before losing to North Auckland, 17–11. North Auckland managed to defend the shield against Poverty Bay, (24-3) before losing 3–6 to Auckland. Auckland held the shield for the remainder of the season, beating Manawatu (31-8), Bay of Plenty (9-6), Wellington (22-9), Taranaki (25-6) and Canterbury (19-18).

Soccer

• The national men's team made a short tour to Tahiti.^[12]
  • 5 September, Papeete: NZ 5 – 1 Tahiti
  • 8 September, Papeete: NZ 8 – 0 Tahiti Juniors
  • 12 September, Papeete: NZ 2 – 1 Tahiti
• Chatham Cup won by North Shore United, who beat Technical Old Boys (of Christchurch) 5–3 in the final.^[13]
• Provincial league champions:^[14]
  • Auckland: North Shore United
  • Bay of Plenty: Kahukura
  • Buller: Waimangaroa United
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Franklin: Papatoetoe
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Rovers
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Woodbourne
  • Nelson: Athletic
  • Northland: Otangarei United
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: Thistle
  • Southland: Invercargill Thistle
  • Taranaki: Moturoa
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: YMCA
  • Wanganui: Blue Rovers
  • Wellington: Railways
  • West Coast: Cobden-Kohinoor

Births

• 21 January: Phil Horne, cricketer
• 15 February: Michael James "Jock" Hobbs, rugby player and administrator
• 6 April: Richard Loe, rugby player
• 10 April – Rex Wilson, long-distance runner
• 2 May – Rhys Jones, New Zealand Army officer
• 14 May: Frank Nobilo, golfer
• 7 June: Lianne Dalziel, politician
• 15 July: Gary Robertson, cricketer
• 9 September: Chris White, rower
• 29 September: Tau Henare, politician
• 1 November: Jenny Bornholdt, poet
• 17 December: Steve Walsh, long jumper
• 26 December: Temuera Morrison, actor

Deaths

• 17 January Andrew Kennaway Henderson, illustrator, cartoonist and pacifist. (b. 1879)
• 1 June Alfred Murdoch, politician. (b. 1877)
• 25 July Edgar Neale, politician. (b. 1889)
• 10 September: Sir Harold Gillies, plastic surgery pioneer (b. 1882)
• 8 October Sir William Polson, politician. (b. 1875)
• 29 November Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, soldier. (b. 1868)