← 1964 1963 1962 1965 in New Zealand → 1966 1967 1968
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 1965 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,663,800.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1964: 46,800 (1.79%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 100.7.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Brigadier Sir Bernard Fergusson GCMG GCVO DSO OBE.^[2]

Government

The 34th Parliament of New Zealand continued, with the 2nd National government in power.

• Speaker of the House – Ronald Algie.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake.^[3]
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Harry Lake.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Ralph Hanan.^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Arnold Nordmeyer (Labour) until 16 December, then Norman Kirk (Labour).^[4]

Main centre leaders

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

Events

• 27 March – A Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) Lockheed L-188 Electra on a training flight crashes and catches fire on landing at Whenuapai Airport. All occupants escape with only one minor injury.^[5]
• 1 April – TEAL is renamed Air New Zealand.
• 11 April – Qantas launches the first trans-Tasman jet service, between Christchurch and Sydney using Boeing 707 aircraft.^[6]
• 13 April – An explosion and fire at the General Plastics factory in Masterton kills four people and injures four others.^[7]
• April – The HVDC Inter-Island link is completed, connecting the North Island's electricity network and the South Island's electricity network together.
• 15 May – Benmore Dam is officially opened by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake.^[8]
• 27 May – Vietnam War: Prime Minister Keith Holyoake announces New Zealand will send its first combat forces, an artillery battery, to South Vietnam.^[9][10]
• 20 July – A 33-hour prison riot breaks out at Mount Eden Prison, Auckland, with inmates setting fire to large parts of the prison.^[11]
• 31 August – New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement signed.
• 3 November – Riccarton Mall, the South Island's first indoor shopping mall, opens to shoppers.^[12]

Arts and literature

• Janet Frame wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1965 in art, 1965 in literature

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

Loxene Golden Disc Ray Columbus & The Invaders – Till We Kissed

See: 1965 in music

Radio and television

• Television in the "four main centres" (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) is now broadcast seven nights a week. Broadcasting now totals 50 hours a week.
• There are 300,000 television licences. [1] Archived 15 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• 28 August – Christchurch's CHTV-3 switches to the new Sugarloaf transmitter in the Port Hills.^[13]
• The broadcast relay station at Mount Studholme is commissioned, extending television coverage to South Canterbury.^[14]
• New Zealand Television Workshop awards:
  • Best Factual: Compass
  • Best Light Entertainment: In the Groove
  • Best Children's Series: Junior Magazine with Jasmine

See: 1965 in New Zealand television, 1965 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1965 film awards, 1965 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1965 films

Sport

Athletics

Ray Puckett wins his fifth national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:24:26.8 on 13 March in Dunedin.

Chess

• The 72nd National Chess Championships are held in Wellington. The winner is J.R. Phillips of Wellington^[15]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Gary Dillon^[16]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Robin Dundee^[17]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland.^[18]

• Men's singles champion – Ron Buchan (Tui Park Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – Norm Lash, C.D. McGarry (skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – J. Miller, G. MacRae, A. Cotton, P. Jones (skip) (Otahuhu Railway Bowling Club)

Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs of Auckland who beat Saint Kilda 4–1 in the final.^[19]
• Provincial league champions:^[20]
  • Bay of Plenty: Rangers
  • Buller: Granity Athletic
  • Canterbury: Christchurch City
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Rovers
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Woodbourne
  • Nelson: Rangers
  • Otago: St Kilda
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Invercargill Thistle
  • Taranaki: Moturoa
  • Wairarapa: Masterton Athletic
  • Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
  • Wellington: Diamond
  • West Coast: Cobden-Kohinoor
• The Northern League is formed, incorporating top teams from Northland, Auckland, Franklin and Waikato. The first League champions are Eastern Suburbs of Auckland.^[21]

Births

• 10 January: John Radovonich, field hockey player.
• 11 February: Eric Rush, rugby union and rugby sevens player.
• 14 February: Zinzan Brooke, rugby player.
• 15 February: Jamie Smith, field hockey player.
• 15 March: Robyn Malcolm actor
• 4 April: Gail Jonson, swimmer.
• 8 April: Michael Jones, rugby player.
• 22 April: Carmel Clark, swimmer.
• 28 May (in Britain): Alan Henderson, bobsleigh pilot
• 28 June: Duane Mann, rugby league player.
• 29 July: Paresh Patel, field hockey player.
• 31 August: Willie Watson, cricketer.
• 1 September: Tania Roxborogh, writer.
• 7 September: Tea Ropati, rugby league player.
• 21 September: Belinda Cordwell, tennis player.
• 26 October: Ken Rutherford, cricketer.
• 24 November: Nyla Carroll, long-distance runner.
• 18 December: Anna Doig, freestyle and butterfly swimmer.
• John Leigh, actor.
• Se'e Solomona, rugby league player.
• Hilary Timmins, television presenter.

Deaths

• 21 June: Thomas Hislop, Jr., Mayor of Wellington 1931-45 (in Montreal, Canada).
• 10 September: John Weeks, painter.
• 10 September: Walter Broadfoot, politician.