1958 in New Zealand

← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in New Zealand → 1959 1960 1961
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 1958 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,316,000. ^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1957: 53,200 (2.35%). ^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 101.3. ^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

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

Government

The 32nd New Zealand Parliament commenced. In power was the newly elected Labour government led by Walter Nash.

• Speaker of the House – Robert Macfarlane . ^[3]
• Prime Minister – Walter Nash .
• Deputy Prime Minister – Jerry Skinner . ^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer . ^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash . ^[3]
• Attorney-General – Rex Mason . ^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Keith Holyoake (National). ^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Keith Buttle
• Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite
• Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
• Mayor of Christchurch – Robert Macfarlane then George Manning
• Mayor of Dunedin – Leonard Morton Wright

Events

• 26 June – 'Black Budget', raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and petrol, passed by second Labour government.^{[ citation needed ]}
• June – New Zealand's first supermarket, Foodtown, opens at Ōtāhuhu.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 3 September – Brian Barratt-Boyes performs New Zealand's first open heart surgery at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 29 September – The emergency number 111 for fire, police and ambulance is introduced; initially only in Masterton and Carterton.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 19 October - A march of over six thousand people is held in Paraparaumu to mark the construction of the Our Lady of Lourdes statue. ^[5]
• United States base for Operation Deep Freeze is established at Christchurch Airport.^{[ citation needed ]}
• The Wairakei Power Station is commissioned. It is New Zealand's first geothermal power station, and only the second large-scale geothermal power station in the world.^{[ citation needed ]}

Arts and literature

• The Robert Burns Fellowship is established to honour the bicentenary of the poet's birth.

See 1958 in art, 1958 in literature, Robert Burns Fellowship, Category:1958 books

Music

See: 1958 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

See: Category:1958 film awards, 1958 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1958 films

Sport

Athletics

• Ray Puckett wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:37:28 in Lower Hutt.

British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Main article: New Zealand at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
4	6	9	19

Chess

• The 65th National Chess Championship was held in Christchurch, and was won by J.R. Phillips of Auckland. ^[6]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – False Step ^[7]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Macklin ^[8]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch. ^[9]

• Men's singles champion – Phil Skoglund (Northern Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – C.J. Rogers, James Pirret (skip) (Tuakau Bowling Club)
• Men's fours champions – W.H. Woods, L.G. Donaldson, A. Connew, Pete Skoglund (skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)

Rugby union

• The All Blacks played three Test matches against the touring Australian side, retaining the Bledisloe Cup: ^[10]
  • 23 August, Athletic Park (Wellington), Wellington: New Zealand 25 – 3 Australia
  • 6 September, Lancaster Park, Christchurch: New Zealand 3 – 6 Australia
  • 20 September, Epsom Showgrounds, Auckland: New Zealand 17 – 8 Australia

Soccer

• The national men's team played seven matches including five internationals: ^[11]
  • 16 August, Wellington: NZ 2 – 3 Australia
  • 23 August, Auckland: NZ 2 – 2 Australia
  • 26 August, Hamilton: NZ 3 – 0 Waikato XI
  • 31 August, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 7 September, Nouméa: NZ 5 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 14 September, Nouméa: NZ 2 – 1 New Caledonia
  • 18 September, Auckland: NZ 1 – 1 Auckland
• The Chatham Cup was won by Seatoun for the second consecutive year. They beat Christchurch city 7–1 in the final. ^[12]
• Provincial league champions: ^[13]
  • Auckland: Onehunga
  • Bay of Plenty: Rangers
  • Buller: Millerton Thistle
  • Canterbury: Western
  • Hawke's Bay: Napier Athletic
  • Manawatu: Kiwi United
  • Marlborough: Spartans
  • Nelson: Settlers
  • Northland: Marlin Rovers
  • Otago: Northern AFC
  • Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
  • South Canterbury: West End
  • Southland: Brigadiers
  • Taranaki: City
  • Waikato: Hamilton Technical OB
  • Wairarapa: Masterton Athletic
  • Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
  • Wellington: Seatoun AFC

Births

• 1 January: Lesley Murdoch , cricketer ^[14]
• 7 February: Simon Upton , politician
• 30 March: Peter Ellis , convicted for child abuse
• 15 April: John Bracewell , cricket player and coach
• 16 May (in the U.S.A.): Thomas "Tab" Baldwin , basketball coach
• 27 May: Neil Finn , singer, songwriter
• 13 September: Philippa Werry , writer ^[15]
• 14 September: Jeff Crowe , cricketer
• 27 September: Mitch Shirra , motorcycle speedway rider
• 17 November:
  • Frank van Hattum , soccer player
  • Glenn Dods , soccer player
• 23 November: Martin Snedden , cricketer and sports administrator
• 30 November: Barry Cooper , cricketer
• 2 December: Roger Sowry , politician
• A J Hackett , extreme sports entrepreneur
• (in Zambia): Vicky Jones , children's author
• Pio Terei , actor, singer and comedian
• Jools and Lynda Topp (the Topp Twins), entertainers
• Jane Wrightson , chief censor

Category:1958 births

Deaths

• 12 March – Bill Barnard, politician, 10th Speaker of the House of Representatives
• 1 June – Fred Baker, soldier
• 2 June – Robert William Smith, politician
• 17 July – William Taverner, MP and mayor of Dunedin
• 27 July – William Montgomery Jr., politician
• 9 October – Merton Hodge, playwright
• 25 October – James Chapman-Taylor, architect

Category:1958 deaths

References

1. "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
2. Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
3. Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN   0-908570-55-4
4. "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
5. O'Neil, Andrea (24 May 2015). "150 years of news - Miracle virgin statue dominates Paraparaumu". Stuff. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
6. List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
8. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
9. McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Bowls, men's outdoor—tournament winners". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
10. Pick and Go rugby results database
11. List of New Zealand national soccer matches
12. NZ Soccer Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.
14. "Lesley Murdoch". Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
15. "Interview with Philippa Werry". my.christchurchcitylibraries.com. Retrieved 24 January 2024.

See also

• List of years in New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• History of New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica