2005 in New Zealand

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2005 in New Zealand
Decades:
See also:

At the beginning of 2005, the news was dominated by the recent "Boxing Day Tsunami". New Zealanders gave time and $25 million (money and goods) for relief in the areas affected.

The Foreshore and seabed legislation came into effect and was criticised by a UN committee.

The general election was the first contested by the Māori Party and Destiny New Zealand. It resulted in the continuation of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Government

The 47th New Zealand Parliament continued. Government was a coalition between Labour and the Progressives, with United Future supporting supply votes. At the 17 September election, the government arrangements changed considerably. The Labour-Progressive government is now supported by New Zealand First and United Future, both with their leader as a minister outside Cabinet.

Non-Labour ministers Jim Anderton (Progressives) (within Cabinet)

Opposition leaders

Main centre leaders

Events

January

February

  • 22 February: Social Development minister Steve Maharey announces that seven benefits will be merged into one, with supplements available for accommodation, disability, and childcare. The benefits replaced include unemployment, sickness, disability, and the domestic purposes benefit. The new benefit will apply from 2007 but trial areas will pilot the scheme from May 2005.

March

April

  • 4 April: Government member of parliament John Tamihere is involved in a major scandal after speaking candidly and scathingly about his fellow Labour MPs to a reporter (an interview which Tamihere claims was off-the-record). Further details of comments made at the interview were released a week later.
  • 12 April: John Tamihere is censured by the Labour Party caucus for his earlier comments, but was not asked to resign from the party.
  • 12 April: Northland farmer Paul McIntyre is acquitted of charges of careless use of a firearm. He shot at the vehicle of three thieves who were fleeing after attempting to steal his farmbike in 2002, injuring one of them. An earlier jury found him not guilty of reckless behaviour but could not agree on this charge.
  • 21 April: Bus drivers in Auckland working for Stagecoach have voted to strike for six days from 5 May in support of their claim for an extra $2 an hour.[2]
  • 21 April: 700 coal miners strike for the day in the first national coal miners' strike in New Zealand for more than a decade. The miners want a 6% wage increase, but their employer, Solid Energy, is offering 2.8%.[3]
  • 26 April: The Civil Unions and Relationships Acts come into force. These Acts allow same-sex and de facto couples to form legal unions similar to marriage.

May

  • 3 May: An Airwork Fairchild Metro III explodes while flying from Auckland to Woodbourne, about 5 km east of Stratford. The plane had two pilots and was carrying courier parcels. Both men were killed. Residents in the area report hearing a loud noise, with some seeing a fireball and falling debris. Wreckage is spread over a 15 km area.[4]
  • 6 May: A bridge near Wairoa on the East Coast of the North Island collapsed sending two train wagons and a crane on the East Coast into the Nuhaka River below 9 metres below. The accident which happened at about 7:30 am NZST and there was nobody on board the wagons or crane.[5]
  • 6 May: Graeme Fraser, the chairman of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority resigns after State Services Commission report into the 2004 NCEA scholarship exams. There was a wide discrepancy between the number of scholarships awarded in Arts subjects compared to Science subjects. The report laid most of the blame on NZQA. It said they failed to "see that wide variability in scholarship results could undermine the credibility of the exams".[6]
  • 10 May: A letter sent to the New Zealand prime minister alleges that foot and mouth disease has been released on Waiheke Island. The letter writer threatens further releases unless tax reforms are made. While the letter is considered likely to be a hoax, a farm on Waiheke is quarantined. New Zealand has been free of the foot and mouth virus to date.[7]
  • 14 May: Telecom New Zealand is planning to increase security for its voicemail service after a hacker managed to access the voicemail famous New Zealanders such as Dick Hubbard, Auckland mayor. Telecom's public affairs manager was only aware that his own voicemail had been accessed after being told by a computer journalist. The voicemail of several policemen was accessed.[8]
  • 17 May: David Benson-Pope stands down as New Zealand's Associate Education Minister after three people alleged that he had administered cruel punishments to them while he was a high-school teacher in Dunedin. Benson-Pope has previously denied the allegations in Parliament.[9]
  • 18 May: Fierce storms lash the Bay of Plenty, forcing the declaration of a state of emergency and the evacuation of homes in Tauranga and Matata.[10][11]
  • 24 May The appeal of six Pitcairn men who were sentenced for sexual abuse of young girls fails. An Auckland court has continued their bail until their appeal to the Privy Council is heard, most likely in April 2006. (BBC)

June

  • 2 June: New Zealand electricity supplier Meridian Energy announces plans to build one of the world's largest wind farms at Makara, west of Wellington. The farm is planned to have 70 turbines, each over 100 metres high, and to generate 210 MW, which would be sufficient to power the whole of Wellington, Porirua, and Lower Hutt.[12]
  • 4 June: At the start of the Queen's Birthday long weekend in New Zealand, rain, snow and ice closed several major highways. State Highway 1 (known as the Desert Road) was closed in the morning between Waiouru and Rangipo in the central North Island, and State Highway 4 between Wanganui and Taumarunui was also closed for some time. A series of slips in the Manawatu Gorge has caused delays to traffic. The year's first major snowfall in Dunedin has caused problems for motorists there.[13]
  • 10 June: New Zealand MP Sue Bradford introduces a private member's bill to outlaw the smacking of children. The present law requires that physical discipline of a child use no more than "reasonable force". As a private member's bill, this will be a conscience vote.[14]
  • 14 June: The New Zealand High Commissioner to Canada, Graham Kelly, apologises to all New Zealanders for remarks he made to a Canadian Senate committee in April. Kelly insulted Māori, Pacific Islanders and Asian immigrants to New Zealand in an attempt at humour.[15]
  • 18 June: Brian Tamaki, leader of the Destiny Church, was ordained as a bishop on the church's seventh birthday.
  • 20: June Two fibre-optic cables failed in the southern North Island of New Zealand, cutting Telecom New Zealand's cellular and internet services, disrupting EFTPOS transactions, and closing the New Zealand Stock Exchange for five hours.[16]
  • 22 June: 500 residents of the town of Takaka in the northern South Island are evacuated after a major fire at the town's dairy factory. Evacuation was through fear of an explosion in vats containing caustic soda and sulphuric acid, which could have released toxic gases.[17]
  • 24 June: The New Zealand cricket team announced that it would tour Zimbabwe in August, despite calls for a boycott due to Operation Murambatsvina. The New Zealand government will not stop the tour going to Zimbabwe, but says a return tour by the Zimbabwe team will not be welcome.
  • 26 June: The Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, apologises to New Zealand for the actions of two Israeli citizens, believed to be Mossad agents, who attempted to gain New Zealand passports under false pretences in 2004. The apology allows diplomatic relations between the two countries to return to normal.[18]
  • 30 June: Prince William arrives in New Zealand for an 11-day tour. This was his second trip to New Zealand; he was nine months old on his first visit. During the visit he follows the Lion's tour and has several official engagements.[19][20]
  • June and July: The British and Irish Lions rugby tour of New Zealand. The tourists lost all three Test matches to the All Blacks, but won all their other games except the one against New Zealand Māori.

July

August

September

  • 3 September: The New Zealand team wins four gold medals in the five events they entered in the World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan.[46]
  • 3 September: The All Blacks defeat Australia's Wallabies 34-24 in the final match of the 2005 Tri Nations Series, and win the title for the sixth time. (SMH)
  • 4 September: The ACT party kicks off its election campaign with Rodney Hide claiming that the only way National can form a government is with its help.[47]
  • 8 September: Don Brash, leader of the New Zealand National Party, admits that he knew about anonymous pamphlets distributed by members of the Exclusive Brethren attacking the Labour and Green Parties.[48]
  • 10 September: New Zealand sold the Skyhawk ground attack and Aermacchi trainer aircraft to an unnamed American company. The planes were put into storage after the disbanding of the Air Force combat wing in 2001.[49]
  • 14 September: The Ombudsman forces Treasury to release details of alternative costings for the Labour Party's proposed interest-free student loan scheme. Treasury estimated the scheme would cost $390 million in its third year, but Labour's estimates put the cost at $300 million at that point.[50]
  • 14 September: Winston Peters reveals old sexual harassment allegations against his National Party rival in Tauranga, Bob Clarkson. Clarkson claims the allegations were the result of a misunderstanding, but talks about his crotch to a female reporter. (Stuff)
  • 15 September: The centre of Tauranga is shut down for 13 hours after a man threatens to blow himself up with a bomb in a hotel. The man, who was upset that he could not get a visa to stay in New Zealand, was arrested just after midnight. The bomb was fake. (Stuff)
  • 17 September: A light plane, stolen from Ardmore Airport in Auckland, crashes in the Waitemata Harbour near St Heliers, after the pilot threatens to crash into the Sky Tower.[51][52]
  • 17 September: General election: election night figures give Labour 50 seats, National 49, New Zealand First 7, Greens 6, Māori Party 4 (all electorate seats, an overhang of 2 because party vote earned them only 2), United Future 3, ACT 2, Progressives 1. National leader Don Brash refuses to concede defeat because there are over 200,000 special votes to be counted. (Elections New Zealand)
  • 20 September: Helen Clark orders an inquiry into Associate Justice Minister Taito Phillip Field's assistance to a Thai overstayer's work permit application. The Thai man retiled the roof of Field's house in Samoa.[53]
  • 24 September: A flotilla of 100 boats meets the Interisland ferry Challenger (Kaitaki) protesting the speed it travels through the Marlborough Sounds. Protesters claim the ferry's wake damages the shoreline. (Stuff)[54]
  • 25 September: Green MP Keith Locke walks down Broadway wearing only socks, shoes, a G-string, and body paint, to fulfill a promise he rashly made during the election campaign.[55]
  • 30 September: Donna Awatere Huata, a former ACT Member of Parliament, is sentenced to two years nine months in jail for stealing from a Māori trust for disadvantaged children. Her husband is sentenced to two years.[56]

October

November

December

  • 8 December: One year after the Smokefree Environments Amendment Act was passed, the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation releases a report showing that there has been no reduction in the number of bar patrons or bar takings. There has been an increase in the number of non-smokers at bars and cafes. Rural pubs may have suffered a loss of patronage.[65] (Stuff).
  • 9 December: To control the spread of the Didymo algae, the whole of the South Island is declared a controlled area. All items, such as boats, fishing gear, clothing, and vehicles, that have been in a stream, river or lake, must be cleaned before they enter another waterway.[66]
  • 14 December: King Kong, Peter Jackson's remake of the classic movie about a giant ape, premiers in Wellington. King Kong was filmed in New Zealand. (NZ Herald)
  • 15 December: The first successful prosecution under the Smokefree Environments Amendment Act at the Timaru District Court. The defendant, Geoff Mulvihill, received a NZ$9,000 fine (and $6000 in costs).
  • 15 December: Bob Clarkson keeps his electorate seat, after the High Court rejects Winston Peters' petition alleging he had spent more on campaigning for the seat of Tauranga than is allowed under the Electoral Act. The Act prescribes a campaign spending limit of $20,000 per local candidate. Peters' petition alleged that Clarkson had spent more than $100,000. The High Court found that he had spent only $18,159. (NZ Herald)
  • 19 December: Air New Zealand makes 110 staff redundant in Auckland as it prepares to outsource most of its heavy maintenance. A further 507 staff will find out the status of their jobs in February 2006.[67]
  • 21 December: The Government abandons the proposed carbon tax after the New Zealand First and United Future parties opposed it. The Government says the tax would not be effective at lowering emissions. The tax was supposed to help New Zealand meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.[68]
  • 21 December: The minimum wage will increase from NZ$9.50 to $10.25 per hour for adults, and from $7.60 to $8.20 for under-18-year olds. The increases take effect on 27 March 2006. (NZ Herald)
  • 27 December: The Treaty House at Waitangi is superficially damaged when a man drives a car into it. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in the grounds of this house, and it has been the focus of protests over recent decades. (Stuff)

Other

Arts and literature

Awards

  • Catherine Chidgey wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.
  • Montana New Zealand Book Awards
    • Montana Medal: Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, At Home: A Century of New Zealand Design
    • Deutz Medal: Patricia Grace, Tu
    • Reader's Choice: Julie Le Clerc and John Bougen, Made in Morocco
    • First Book Awards:
      • Fiction: Julian Novitz, My Real Life and Other Stories
      • Poetry: Sonja Yelich, Clung
      • Non-fiction: Douglas Wright, Ghost Dance

Performing arts

Television

Radio

Film

Internet

Sport

Athletics

Basketball

Cricket

  • March: New Zealand cricket team beaten in test and ODI series by Australia.
  • December: New Zealand cricket team beaten 2–1 in an ODI series for the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, but New Zealand sets a world record by successfully chasing a target of 332 runs in the final game.

Golf

Horse racing

Harness racing

Thoroughbred racing

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Rowing

Rugby league

Rugby union

  • 9 July – The All Blacks complete a 3–0 whitewash of the touring British and Irish Lions.
  • 3 September: The All Blacks defeat Australia's Wallabies 34-24 in the final match of the 2005 Tri Nations Series, and win the title for the sixth time.
  • 27 November – The All Blacks defeat Scotland at Edinburgh to become only the second All Black touring team to complete the "Grand Slam" of rugby – beating Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland on one tour (the first being in 1978).

Shooting

  • Ballinger Belt – John Whiteman (Upper Hutt)[72]

Soccer

Births

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Deaths

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January

February

March

April

May

  • 1 May – Rex Bergstrom, econometrics academic (born 1925)
  • 8 May – Ellis Child, cricketer (born 1925)
  • 11 May – Bob Stuart, rugby union player and administrator (born 1920)
  • 12 May – Ivan Walsh, association football player (born 1924)
  • 12 May – Owen Wilkes, peace campaigner (born 1940)
  • 20 May – Jack Dodd, physics academic (born 1922)
  • 23 May - Roderick Wright, Scottish Roman Catholic bishop (born 1940)
  • 29 May – Admiral Sir Gordon Tait, naval officer (born 1921)

June

  • 12 June – Sonja Davies, trade unionist, peace campaigner and politician (born 1923)
  • 17 June – Jonathan Elworthy, politician (born 1936)
  • 20 June – Arthur Hughes, rugby union player, businessman, horse racing administrator (born 1924)
  • 21 June – Larry Sutherland, politician (born 1951)

July

August

  • 1 August – Peter Turner, photographer and writer (born 1947)
  • 5 August – Roy Scott, cricketer (born 1917)
  • 8 August – Bob Binning, fencer (born 1935)
  • 13 August – David Lange, politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1984–89) (born 1942)
  • 15 August – Dame Evelyn Stokes, historical geography academic, Waitangi Tribunal member (born 1936)
  • 16 August – Kevin Smith, conservationist (born 1953)
  • 29 August – Jack Luxton, dairy farmer, politician (born 1923)

September

October

November

  • 6 November – Rod Donald, politician, co-leader of the Green Party (born 1957)
  • 9 November – Tama Poata, actor, filmmaker, human rights activist (born 1936)
  • 10 November – Kristian Fredrikson, stage and costume designer (born 1940)
  • 20 November – Bob Rudd, New Zealand's last resident World War I veteran (born 1901)[77]
  • 29 November

December

  • 1 December – Ray Hanna, pilot, leader of RAF Red Arrows display team (born 1928)
  • 4 December – Errol Brathwaite, writer (born 1924)
  • 12 December – Max Mariu, first Māori Roman Catholic bishop (born 1952)
  • 18 December – Doug Dye, microbiologist (born 1921)
  • 22 December – Marty McDonnell, Australian rules footballer (born 1920)
  • 28 December – Wal Chisholm, athletics coach (born 1915)

See also

References

  1. The Hon Dame Silvia Cartwright, PCNZM, DBE, QSO gg.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 April 2012
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  4. (SMH)
  5. (TVNZ)
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  10. (BOP Times)
  11. (NZ City) (Newstalk NB)
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  69. (AP/ESPN)
  70. List of NZ Trotting cup winners
  71. Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz
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  73. Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com
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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons