2011 in New Zealand

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2011 in New Zealand
Decades:
See also:

Incumbents

Regal and vice-regal

Government

2011 was the third and last full year of the 49th Parliament, which was dissolved on 20 October. A general election was held on 26 November to elect the 50th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected for a second term.

Other Party leaders

Main centre leaders

Events

January

February

ChristChurch Cathedral and the Cathedral Square two days after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake

March

April

May

Structural damage caused by the Albany tornado

June

July

August

Snow blanketing the Dunedin Botanic Gardens in the August snowstorm.

September

  • 9 September – The Rugby World Cup begins, the first time the event has been held in New Zealand since 1987. New Zealand playing Tonga at Eden Park, Auckland in the opening game, which was marred with overcrowding problems on the Auckand Waterfront fan zone and transport failures resulting in some spectators missing the game.[10]
  • 28 September – A New Zealand Special Air Service soldier dies fighting in Afghanistan, the second in two months.[11]
  • 30 September – Credit agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's both downgrade New Zealand's long-term credit rating from AA+ to AA.[12]

October

File:Bread shortage sign due to maui gas leak.jpg
A sign at a Countdown supermarket noting the limited bread supply due to the Maui gas line leak
  • 5 October – The container ship MV Rena runs aground on the Astrolabe Reef 12 nmi (22 km) off the coast of Tauranga, causing a large oil spill into the Bay of Plenty.[13][14]
  • 11–13 October – The Tauranga oil spill becomes the nation's worst maritime environmental disaster, as tonnes of fuel oil from the MV Rena washes ashore near Tauranga and containers begin to fall off the damaged ship.[15]
  • 23 October – The Rugby World Cup concludes, with the New Zealand All Blacks winning the tournament and the Webb Ellis Cup after defeating France 8–7 in the final at Eden Park, Auckland.
  • 25–30 October – Natural gas supply to the Upper North Island is severely cut back after a major leak is found in the Maui high pressure gas line in northern Taranaki, affecting 255,000 consumers including many several major industrial users, thermal power stations, dairy factories, hospitals and businesses.[16][17][18]

November

December

  • 10 December – Official results for the 26 November general election and voting system referendum are released:
    • The National Party is confirmed to hold a plurality of the votes and seats. With confidence and supply agreements with ACT New Zealand and United Future confirmed, National announces it will form a minority government with a one-seat majority, returning the Fifth National Government to a second term in office.
    • Full results of the referendum on the voting system confirm that the Mixed Member Proportional voting system, with 57.8% of the vote, will be kept but will be reviewed. The First Past the Post voting system gains the most votes for the preferred alternative voting system.
  • 11 December – The National Party signs a confidence and supply agreement with the Maori Party, extending its majority to govern to seven seats (64 seats to 57).[19]
  • 13 December – A fault disconnects Huntly Power Station from the national grid at 12:38pm, resulting in 200,000 customers across the North Island losing power as Transpower employs load shedding to prevent a cascade failure of the North Island electricity network. Electricity is gradually restored to customers as reserve generation comes online to replace Huntly.[20][21]
  • 14 December – A state of emergency is declared in the Nelson region after nearly 200mm of rain falls on the region in 24 hours, causing widespread flooding.[22][23]
  • 20–21 December – The 50th New Zealand Parliament is opened, with members elected at the 26 November general election being sworn in and the Governor-General delivering the Speech from the Throne.[24]
  • 23 December – A magnitude 5.8 and a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strike Christchurch at 1:58pm and 3:18pm respectively, causing damage, liquefaction, minor injuries, and majorly disrupting shopping and travel in the lead-up to the Christmas holiday period.[25][26]

Holidays and observances

6 February - Waitangi Day
25 April - ANZAC Day
6 June - Queen's Birthday Monday
24 October - Labour Day

Arts and literature

Awards

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New books

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Films

Music

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Performing arts

Television

  • C4 to be renamed FOUR

Sport

Events

Horse racing

Harness racing

Thoroughbred racing

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Shooting

  • Ballinger Belt – Richard Rowlands (Malvern)

Deaths

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January

  • 21 January – Wally Hughes, association football player and coach (born 1934)

February

March

April

May

June

  • 6 June – Shrek, celebrity sheep (born c.1994)
  • 12 June – Geoffrey Fisken, World War II flying ace (born 1916)

July

  • 1 July – Harold Nelson, Olympic runner (born 1923)
  • 16 July – Dame Katerina Mataira, educator and Māori language proponent, co-founder of Kura Kaupapa Māori (born 1932)
  • 19 July – Roy Meehan, Olympic wrestler (born 1931)
  • 20 July – Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, politician, longest-serving female member of the House of Representatives (1967–96) (born 1932)

August

September

October

November

December

  • 4 December – Alamein Kopu, politician, former MP (1996–99) (born 1943)
  • 15 December
  • 16 December – Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha, Māori leader (born 1931)
  • 24 December – Tom Logan, water polo player, swimmer, dentist, naval officer (born 1927)
  • 28 December – Volksraad, thoroughbred sire (foaled 1988)

See also

References

  1. Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae. Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 8 June 2012
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External links

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