← 2007 2006 2005 2008 in New Zealand → 2009 2010 2011
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 2008 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 4,280,300.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 2007: 34,500 (0.81%).^[1]
• Males per 100 Females: 95.7.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and vice regal

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Anand Satyanand

• 
  Elizabeth II
• 
  Anand Satyanand

Government

2008 was the third and last year of the 48th Parliament, which was dissolved on 3 October. A general election was held on 8 November to elect the 49th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected.

• Speaker of the House – Margaret Wilson then Lockwood Smith
• Prime Minister – Helen Clark to 19 November, then John Key
• Deputy Prime Minister – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Finance – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Winston Peters to 29 August, then Helen Clark (acting) to 19 November, then Murray McCully

• 
  Margaret Wilson
• 
  Lockwood Smith
• 
  Helen Clark
• 
  John Key
• 
  Michael Cullen
• 
  Bill English
• 
  Winston Peters
• 
  Murray McCully

Party leaders

• Labour – Helen Clark to 11 November, then Phil Goff
• National – John Key
• Progressive – Jim Anderton
• New Zealand First – Winston Peters
• United Future – Peter Dunne
• Act – Rodney Hide
• Greens – Jeanette Fitzsimons and Russel Norman
• Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples

• 
  Helen Clark
• 
  Phil Goff
• 
  John Key
• 
  Jim Anderton
• 
  Winston Peters
• 
  Peter Dunne
• 
  Rodney Hide
• 
  Jeanette Fitzsimons
• 
  Russel Norman
• 
  Pita Sharples
• 
  Tariana Turia

Judiciary

• Chief Justice — Sian Elias

• 
  Dame Sian Elias

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – John Banks
• Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby
• Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock
• Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast
• Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker
• Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin

• 
  John Banks
• 
  Stuart Crosby
• 
  Kerry Prendergast
• 
  Bob Parker
• 
  Peter Chin

Events

January

• 22 January – State funeral for Sir Edmund Hillary

February

March

April

• 5 April – A propane explosion at a coolstore in Tamahere kills firefighter senior station officer Derek Lovell, and seriously injures seven others.^[2]

May

• 8 May – The Tapuae Marine Reserve is established.^[3]

June

• 5 June – A newly redesigned flag for the Governor General of New Zealand is flown for the first time at Government House, Auckland.^[4]

July

• 1 July – Rail transport network is renationalised as KiwiRail
• 11 July – Police Sergeant Derek Wootton (52) is struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police, while laying road spikes at Titahi Bay.^[5]

August

• 1 August – Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand merge to form the NZ Transport Agency
• 16 August – Dunedin Hospital is put in lockdown for a week after approximately 170 staff and patients fall ill to a norovirus outbreak, resulting in 2,300 appointments and procedures being delayed.^[6]

September

• 5 September – Fonterra advise Prime Minister Helen Clark of the 2008 baby milk scandal.^[7]
• 7 September – The Taputeranga Marine Reserve is opened.^[8]
• 11 September – Undercover police Sergeant Don Wilkinson (47) is fatally shot in Māngere, after being discovered attempting to secretly fix a tracking device to a car.^[9]
• 24 September - GO Wellington dispute - an industrial dispute between the GO Wellington bus company and drivers

October

On the 17th The Dominion Post Billboard Heading Reads "Market Madness" There is also a graph on the Billboard showing the NZX taking a big dive . This was indicative of the worlds sharemarkets in turmoil.

November

• 8 November – John Key and the New Zealand National Party win the 2008 general election. John Key is able to form a Government and in Helen Clark's speech that she resigns as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
• 9 November – Michael Cullen resigns as deputy leader of the Labour Party.^[10]
• 19 November – John Key is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 27 November – 2008 Air New Zealand A320 test flight crash. Air New Zealand A320 Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean during a test flight, killing five New Zealand and two German air crew.^[11]

December

Holidays and observances

• 6 February – Waitangi Day
• 21 March – Good Friday
• 23 March – Easter Sunday
• 24 March – Easter Monday
• 25 April – Anzac Day
• 2 June – Queen's Birthday
• 5 June – Matariki
• 27 October – Labour Day

Arts and literature

New books

• Brower, Ann (August 2008). Who Owns the High Country? The controversial story of tenure review in New Zealand. New Zealand: Nelson: Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 978-1-877333-78-1.
• Catton, Eleanor (2008). The Rehearsal. New Zealand: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-84708-116-2.

Awards

• BPANZ Book Design Awards - In association with Spectrum Print and the New Zealand Listener id=13
• BEST BOOK Title: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• BEST COVER Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• NON-ILLUSTRATED Winner: Dear to Me
• ILLUSTRATED Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• EDUCATIONAL Winner: Astronomy Aotearoa NCEA Level 1 by Robert Shaw ISBN 978-0-7339-9261-2^[12]
• CHILDREN’S Winner: The King's Bubbles by Ruth Paul

Music

• May - New Zealand Music Month
• 3 September: Technical Awards for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards
• 8 October: Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Suzanne Lynch MNZM.

Television

• Freeview|HD Digital television is launched.
• The country's first Chinese television channel, CTV8 (Chinese Television 8) is launched in early October.

Sport

Cricket

• New Zealand men's cricket team, the Black Caps plays three test matches against England and draws the series, each team having won a game

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Changeover^[13]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Gotta Go Cullen^[14]

Thoroughbred racing

Netball

• The ANZ Netball Championship begins in April 2008.

Motorsport

Olympic Games

• New Zealand sends a team of 182 competitors across 17 sports.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
3	2	4	9

Paralympics

• New Zealand sends a team of 30 competitors across seven sports.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
5	3	4	12

Rugby league

• The New Zealand national rugby league team won the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
• The New Zealand Warriors finished 8th in the National Rugby League and in the playoffs made it through to the semi-finals, beating minor premiers the Melbourne Storm in the progress.
• The inaugural season of the new Bartercard Premiership saw Auckland defeat Canterbury 38-10 in the grand final.

Rugby union

Rowing

Shooting

• Ballinger Belt – Brian Carter (Te Puke)^[15]

Soccer

• 30 October – 16 November – New Zealand hosts the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Matches are held in Albany, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington.
• The Chatham Cup is won by East Coast Bays AFC who beat Dunedin Technical 1—0 in the final.^[16]

Tennis

Births

• 18 September – Silent Achiever, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 23 September – Zurella, Thoroughbred racehorse
• 13 October – Ocean Park, Thoroughbred racehorse

Deaths