1973 in New Zealand

Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	History of New Zealand; List of years in New Zealand; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 1973 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December 1973: 3,024,900.^[1]
Increase since 31 December 1972 – 65,200 (2.20%).^[1]
Males per 100 females – 99.7.^[1]
It took 21 years for the population to grow from 2 million to 3 million.^{[citation needed]}

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Denis Blundell^[2]

Elizabeth II
Denis Blundell

Government

The 37th New Zealand Parliament commences. Government is by a Labour majority of 55 seats to the National Party's 32 seats.

Speaker of the House – Stan Whitehead^[3]
Prime Minister – Norman Kirk
Deputy Prime Minister – Hugh Watt^[3]
Minister of Finance – Bill Rowling^[3]
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Norman Kirk^[3]
Attorney-General – Martyn Finlay^[3]

Stanley Whitehead
Norman Kirk
Hugh Watt
Bill Rowling
Martyn Finlay

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – Jack Marshall (National)^[4]

Jack Marshall

Judiciary

Chief Justice — Richard Wild

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
Mayor of Hamilton – Mike Minogue
Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
Mayor of Christchurch – Neville Pickering
Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes

Dove-Myer Robinson
Frank Kitts
Neville Pickering
Jim Barnes

Events

1 January – The 1973 New Year Honours are announced^[5]
11 January – Air New Zealand accepts delivery of its first McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jet.^[6]
4 February – The details of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement are announced^[7]
7 February – A heat wave affects large parts of New Zealand. Rangiora reaches 42.4 °C (108.3 °F), the highest temperature recorded in New Zealand as of December 2023^[update].^[8]
11 February – The Rolling Stones play a single New Zealand concert, at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, on their 1973 Pacific Tour.
27 February – Leaking drums of organophosphate cotton defoliant spread fumes across Parnell, Auckland, causing 640 people to be treated in hospital and 6,000 people to be evacuated.^[9]^[10]
1 March – The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement is implemented^[7]
10 April – Prime Minister Kirk cancels the 1973 South African rugby tour to New Zealand over fears of civil unrest.^[11]^[12]
16 April – After a retrial, Arthur Allan Thomas is again found guilty of the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe.^[13]
2 June – The 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced^[14]
19 October – The New Zealand Day Act 1973, making 6 February a national holiday, receives royal assent.
31 October – Colour television is introduced.^[15]
December – The national vehicle speed limit is reduced to 80 km/h to reduce fuel consumption.^[16]

Arts and literature

Graham Billing wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1973 in art, 1973 in literature

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

ALBUM OF THE YEAR John Donoghue – Spirit Of Pelorus Jack
RECORDING ARTIST / GROUP OF THE YEAR Shona Laing
BEST SINGLE / SINGLE OF THE YEAR John Hanlon – Damn The Dam
BEST NEW ARTIST Shona Laing
BEST NZ RECORDED COMPOSITION Anna Leah – Love Bug
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Keith Southern – Join Together
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR Peter Hitchcock – Only Time Could Let Us Know
ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Mike Harvey – Damn The Dam

See: 1973 in music

Performing arts

Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Ray Columbus.

Radio and television

Colour television broadcasts begin at 7:45 pm on 31 October.^[15] The licence fee for a colour television is NZ$35.
In December, Fred Dagg makes his first appearance.^[17]
Feltex Television Awards:
- Natural History Programme: Bird of a Single Flight
- Best News, Current Affairs: Election Night '72
- Best Light Entertainment: Loxene Golden Disc 1972
- Best Drama and the Arts: Gone Up North and An Awful Silence
- Best Documentary: Deciding
- Allied Crafts: Loxene Golden Disc set and work on Pop Co.
The first ZM radio stations were started in 1973 as 1ZM Auckland, 2ZM Wellington and 3ZM Christchurch.

See: 1973 in New Zealand television, 1973 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

Rangi's Catch

See: Category:1973 film awards, 1973 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1973 films

Sport

Athletics

Terry Manners wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:18:28.7 on 10 March in Inglewood. In the same year, on 1 December, the title is taken over by John Robinson who wins his first national title, clocking 2:15:03.6 in Christchurch.

Chess

The 80th National Chess Championship is held in Wellington, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland (his 12th title).^[18]

Horse racing

From January 1973, all races are run at metric distances rather than imperial.

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup – Arapaho^[19]
Auckland Trotting Cup – Arapaho^[20]

Soccer

New Zealand National Soccer League is won by Christchurch United
The Chatham Cup is won by Mount Wellington who beat North Shore United 3–0 in the final^[21]
New Zealand hosts and wins the inaugural Oceania Cup tournament, beating Tahiti 2–0 in the final

Births

25 January: Ruben Wiki, rugby league footballer
20 February: Leisen Jobe, field hockey player
1 April: Stephen Fleming, cricketer
8 April: Nicholas Tongue, freestyle swimmer
27 May:
- Tana Umaga, rugby player
- Ian Winchester, athlete
16 June: Shane Reed, athlete (died 2022)
2 July: Andrew Buckley, field hockey player
10 July: Andrew McCormick, rugby union footballer
23 July: Adrian Cashmore, rugby player
31 July: Tasha Williams, hammer thrower
4 August: Hymie Gill, field hockey player
5 August: Justin Marshall, rugby player
13 August: Martin Moana, rugby league footballer
19 August: Carl Bulfin, cricketer
23 August: Kerry Walmsley, cricketer
5 September: Lesley Nicol, netball player
1 September: Trent Bray, freestyle swimmer
14 November: Darren Smith, field hockey player
15 November: Shayne O'Connor, cricketer
16 November: Brendan Laney, rugby player
29 December: Garth da Silva, boxer
Kirsten Cameron, swimmer
Dom Harvey, podcaster and former radio host

Deaths

5 February – John Stewart, politician (born 1902)
11 April – Rongowhakaata Pere Halbert, Māori leader, interpreter, historian, genealogist (born 1894)
20 May – Charles Brasch, poet and literary editor (born 1909)
18 November – Peter McKeefry, Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal (born 1899)
19 November – Cyril Allcott, cricketer (born 1896)
15 December – Keith Buttle, mayor of Auckland (born 1900)

Full date unknown

Edith Louisa Niederer, farmer and community leader (born 1890)^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lambert & Palenski: The New Zealand Almanac, 1982. ISBN 0-908570-55-4
^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
^ "No. 45861". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 1 January 1973. pp. 33–36.
^ "Air New Zealand accepts DC10". The Press. 13 January 1973. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b "Trans Tasman Travel Arrangement News Releases" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2014.
^ Wright, Michael (26 December 2023). "NZ's hottest day ever: Melted roads, workers striked and it killed 26,000 chickens". Stuff. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
^ Swarbrick, Nancy (11 March 2010). "Fires and fire services - Towards a national fire service". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
^ "AUCKLAND CIVIL EMERGENCY - 4000 moved after fumes escape". The Press. 28 February 1973. p. 1.
^ "Labour government cancels Springbok rugby tour". Retrieved 8 February 2023.
^ "P.M. SAYS DOOR NOT SHUT - Expects union to accept". The Press. 11 April 1973. p. 1.
^ "UPROAR AS THOMAS IS FOUND GUILTY". The Press. 17 April 1973. p. 1.
^ "No. 45985". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 2 June 1973. pp. 6507–6510.
^ ^a ^b "COLOUR SHOULD GIVE LIFT TO LIFE". The Press. 1 November 1973. p. 1.
^ "Roading leaders challenge potential new 80km/h state highway speed limit". RNZ. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
^ "TVNZ timeline 1960–2005" (PDF). TVNZ. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ Morgan, Karen J. "Edith Louisa Niederer". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.