The following lists events that happened during 1958 in New Zealand.

Population

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

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

* Head of State – Elizabeth II *

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

– The Viscount Cobham GCMG TD.

Government

The

32nd New Zealand Parliament The 32nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1957 general election on 30 November of that year. 1957 general election The 1957 general election was held on Saturday, 30 November. A total of ...

commenced. In power was the newly elected

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government led by Walter Nash. *

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

– Robert Macfarlane.Lambert & Palenski: ''The New Zealand Almanac'', 1982. * Prime Minister – Walter Nash. * Deputy Prime Minister – Jerry Skinner. * Minister of Finance – Arnold Nordmeyer. * Minister of Foreign Affairs – Walter Nash. * Attorney-General – Rex Mason. * Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

– Keith Holyoake (

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland –

Keith Buttle Keith Nicholson Buttle (23 November 1900 – 15 December 1973) was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He served as mayor of Auckland City from 1957 to 1959. Biography Born 23 November 1900 in Auckland, Buttle attended Auckland Grammar S ...

* Mayor of Hamilton – Roderick Braithwaite * Mayor of Wellington –

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for between and 1960. Early life ...

* Mayor of Christchurch – Robert Macfarlane then George Manning * Mayor of Dunedin –

Leonard Morton Wright Sir Leonard Morton Wright (1906 – 22 October 1967) was a Dunedin businessman and was Mayor of Dunedin from 1950 to 1959. He was born in Australia and educated in Sydney. He married Cecily Bell in 1936. He was a tea importer and formed his o ...

Events

* 26 June – ' Black Budget', raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and petrol, passed by second Labour government. * June – New Zealand's first supermarket, Foodtown, opens at Ōtāhuhu. * 3 September – Brian Barratt-Boyes performs New Zealand's first open heart surgery at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital. * 29 September – The emergency number

111 111 may refer to: *111 (number) *111 BC *AD 111 *111 (emergency telephone number) *111 (Australian TV channel) * Swissair Flight 111 * ''111'' (Her Majesty & the Wolves album) * ''111'' (Željko Joksimović album) * NHS 111 *(111) a Miller index fo ...

for fire, police and ambulance is introduced; initially only in

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

and Carterton. * 19 October - A march of over six thousand people is held in Paraparaumu to mark the construction of the Our Lady of Lourdes statue. * United States base for Operation Deep Freeze is established at Christchurch Airport. * The

Wairakei Power Station The Wairakei Power Station is a geothermal power station near the Wairakei Geothermal Field in New Zealand. Wairakei lies in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. History The power station was built in 1958, the first of its type (wet steam) in the world, ...

is commissioned. It is New Zealand's first geothermal power station, and only the second large-scale geothermal power station in the world.

Arts and literature

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

1958 in art Events from the year 1958 in art. Awards * Archibald Prize: William Edwin Pidgeon – ''Mr Ray Walker'' * Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Arts Medal – Louis Archambault Events * October 15 – At the Goldschmidt sale at Sotheb ...

1958 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1958. Events *January 7 – Tennessee Williams' one-act plays ''Suddenly, Last Summer'' and '' Something Unspoken'' are premièred off-Broadway. *January 13 – In ...

, Robert Burns Fellowship, :1958 books

Music

See:

1958 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1958. Specific locations *1958 in British music *1958 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1958 in country music * 1958 in jazz Events * January – Maria Callas, due ...

Radio

See:

Public broadcasting in New Zealand Public broadcasting in New Zealand is funded through New Zealand Government body New Zealand On Air, and consists of a number of television channels, radio stations, and websites. In addition to funding solely public media outlets, New Zealand On ...

Film

See: :1958 film awards,

1958 in film The year 1958 in film in the US involved some significant events, including the hit musicals '' South Pacific'' and '' Gigi'', the latter of which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The ...

List of New Zealand feature films This is a list of feature films and pre 1910 short films produced or filmed in New Zealand, ordered by year of release. Key * * = Funded in part by the New Zealand Film Commission. * † = Year given is date of principal photography rather th ...

, Cinema of New Zealand, :1958 films

Sport

Athletics

Ray Puckett Raymond Leslie Puckett (born 17 December 1935) is a former New Zealand distance runner, who represented his country at the Olympic Games in 1960 and 1964, and at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Coached by Arthur Lydiard, Puckett ...

wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:37:28 in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Chess

* The 65th National Chess Championship was held in Christchurch, and was won by J.R. Phillips of Auckland.

Horse racing

Harness racing

* New Zealand Trotting Cup – False Step *

Auckland Trotting Cup The Auckland Pacing Cup which is sometimes referred to as the Auckland Trotting Cup or merely the Auckland Cup is a race held at Alexandra Park in Auckland, New Zealand for Standardbred horses. It is one of the two major harness races, along with ...

– Macklin

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch. * Men's singles champion –

Phil Skoglund Philip Charles Skoglund (20 June 1937 – 8 May 2015) was a New Zealand lawn bowls player, and part of New Zealand's greatest lawn bowls family dynasty. Early life Born in 1937 at Palmerston North, he was the son of politician and cabinet mini ...

(Northern Bowling Club) * Men's pair champions – C.J. Rogers,

James Pirret James "Ham" Pirret (22 February 1915 – 4 December 1976) was a New Zealand lawn bowls player. At the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland he won the men's singles gold medal. In 1954 at the next British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouv ...

(skip) (Tuakau Bowling Club) * Men's fours champions – W.H. Woods, L.G. Donaldson, A. Connew,

Pete Skoglund Thomas Theodorus "Pete" Skoglund (25 July 1905 – 2 October 1968) was a New Zealand lawn bowls player. At the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland he won the men's fours bronze medal alongside teammates Arthur Engebretsen, Noel Jolly and Fr ...

(skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)

Rugby union

* The All Blacks played three Test matches against the touring Australian side, retaining the Bledisloe Cup: ** 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: ** 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 Seatoun, an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour (Port Nicholson), some seven kilometres southeast of the CBD. The suburb sit ...

for the second consecutive year. They beat Christchurch city 7–1 in the final. * Provincial league champions: ** 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 Gisborne City AFC was an association football club in Gisborne, New Zealand. Founded in 1939 as Eastern Union, the club changed its name to Gisborne City after winning the Central Districts League at the first attempt in 1967. As 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 Lesley Jean Murdoch (; born 18 March 1956) is a New Zealand former cricketer and field hockey player. Between 1979 and 1990 she appeared in 6 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for New Zealand as a batter. Murdoch also captained New Ze ...

, cricketer * 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 Philippa Werry (born 13 September 1958) is a New Zealand writer. Her book ''Iris and Me'' won the Young Adult Fiction Award at the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Bibliography * ''Iris and Me'' (The Cuba Press, 20 ...

, writer * 14 September: Jeff Crowe, cricketer * 27 September: Mitch Shirra, motorcycle speedway rider * 17 November: ** Frank van Hattum, soccer player **

Glenn Dods Glenn Laurence Dods (born 17 November 1958) was a successful New Zealand association football player who represented the New Zealand national football team 22 times from 1976 to the 1982. He was part of the All Whites squad that took part in th ...

, 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 Pio Keith Terei (born 1958) is a Māori actor, singer and comedian on New Zealand television. Early career Early in his working life he sold light commercial trucks for 14 years. In 1995 Terei headlined his own TV3 show ''Pete and Pio'' with ...

, actor, singer and comedian * Jools and Lynda Topp (the Topp Twins), entertainers *

Jane Wrightson Jane Theresa Wrightson (born 2 January 1958) is New Zealand's Retirement Commissioner. She was previously New Zealand's eighth Chief Censor, and first woman Chief Censor, from 1991 to 1993, when Films, Videos, and Publications Act became law. ...

, chief censor :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 Merton Emerton Hodge (28 March 1903 – 9 October 1958) was a playwright, actor and medical practitioner. Born in Taruheru, Poverty Bay, New Zealand, he studied at Kings College in Auckland, Otago Medical School in 1925, graduated in 1928 (M.B., ...

, playwright * 25 October –

James Chapman-Taylor James Walter Chapman-Taylor (24 June 1878 – 25 October 1958) was a New Zealand architect. One of the country's most important domestic architects of his time, he is noted mainly for his Arts and Crafts-influenced houses. Chapman-Taylo ...

, architect :1958 deaths