1996 in New Zealand

The following lists events that happened during 1996 in New Zealand.

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 3,762,300.
Increase since 31 December 1995: 55,600 (1.50%).
Males per 100 Females: 97.3.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State - Elizabeth II
Governor-General - The Hon Dame Catherine Tizard, ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, DBE, QSO, DStJ followed by The Rt Hon. Sir Michael Hardie Boys GNZM, GCMG, QSO

Government

The 44th New Zealand Parliament continued. Government was The National Party, led by Jim Bolger. In the 1996 New Zealand general election National was returned to power, but had to form a coalition with the New Zealand First.

Speaker of the House - Peter Tapsell then Doug Kidd
Prime Minister - Jim Bolger
Deputy Prime Minister - Don McKinnon then Winston Peters
Minister of Finance - Bill Birch
Minister of Foreign Affairs - Don McKinnon
Chief Justice — Sir Thomas Eichelbaum

Opposition leaders

See: Category:Parliament of New Zealand, New Zealand elections

Act - Roger Douglas then Richard Prebble
New Zealand First - Winston Peters
United Future - Peter Dunne
Labour - Helen Clark (Leader of the Opposition)
Alliance - Jim Anderton

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland - Les Mills
Mayor of Hamilton - Margaret Evans
Mayor of Wellington - Mark Blumsky
Mayor of Christchurch - Vicki Buck
Mayor of Dunedin - Sukhi Turner

Events

April: The New Zealand Tablet winds up. The weekly Catholic newspaper started publication in 1873.
1 November: Cartoon Network debuts on New Zealand television.
November: Michael Jackson, the king of pop, performed in Auckland both nights (November 9 and November 11), as a part of his world tour, HIStory World Tour.
Leaded petrol is phased out.

Arts and literature

Bernadette Hall wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.
Montana New Zealand Book Awards:
- Book of the Year/Cultural Heritage: Judith Binney, Redemption Songs - A Life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki
- First Book Awards
  - Fiction: Emily Perkins, Not Her Real Name
  - Poetry: James Brown, Go Round Power Please
  - Non-Fiction: Alex Frame, Salmond: Southern Jurist
f*INK, Dunedin's weekly entertainment magazine is founded

See 1996 in art, 1996 in literature, Category:1996 books

Music

New Zealand Music Awards

Winners are shown first with nominees underneath.

Album of the Year: Shihad - Killjoy
- Finn Brothers - Finn
- Howard Morrison - Songs of New Zealand
- Max Lines - Beautiful Panflute I
- Starlight String Quartet - Romantic Strings
- Suzanne Prentice - 25th Anniversary
Single of the Year: OMC – How Bizarre
- D-Faction - Down in the Boondocks
- Herbs - French Letter '95
- Jan Hellriegel - Manic
- The Exponents - La La Lulu
- Strawpeople - Sweet Disorder
Best Male Vocalist: Jon Toogood – Shihad
- Greg Johnson
- Dave Dobbyn
Best Female Vocalist: Teremoana Rapley
- Sulata
- Jan Hellriegel
Best Group: Shihad
- The Exponents
- The Mutton Birds
- Finn Brothers
Rising Star Award: Kylie Harris
- Bic Runga
- Glen Moffatt
Most Promising Male Vocalist: Paul Fuemana (OMC)
- Jeremy Eade (Garageland)
- Otis Frizzell (Joint Force)
Most Promising Female Vocalist: Bic Runga
- Celia Mancini (King Loser)
- Jordan Reyne
Most Promising Group: OMC
- Garageland
- Joint Force
International Achievement: Shihad
- Finn Brothers
- Dave Dobbyn
- Supergroove
Best Video: Sigi Spath / Jo Fisher – You Gotta Know (Supergroove)
- Greg Page - Honeyblonde (Throw)
- M Noonan and J Frizzell - Static PTI (Joint Force)
Best Producer: Eddie Rayner - World Stand Still
- Alan Jansson, Nathan Haines and James Pinker - Shift Left (Nathan Haines)
- Malcolm Welsford - La La Lulu (The Exponents)
Best Engineer: Alan Jansson – How Bizarre (Omc)
- Chris Sinclair - Black Sand Shore (Grace)
- Malcolm Welsford - La La Lulu (The Exponents)
Best Jazz Album: Nathan Haines – Shift Left
- Hattie St John - Flying High at Iguacu
- Christchurch Polytechnic Sextet - Collaboration
Best Classical Album: Michael Houston - Beethoven Piano Sonatas from the Middle Period
- Alexander Ivashkin and Tamas Vesmas - Alfred Schnittke
- L Subramaniam - Pacific Rendezvous
Best Country Album: Kylie Harris – Let It Be Love
- Glen Moffatt - Somewhere in New Zealand Tonight
- Kevin Greaves - Over the Storm
Best Folk Album: Rua – Harbour Lights
- Chris Thompson - Song for Laura
- Peter Skandera and Dave Maybee - Acoustic Spirit
Best Gospel Album: Brent Chambers – Living Sacrifices
- Alastair Brown - Narrow
- Paul Stephens - Apocalypse
Best Mana Maori Album: Southside of Bombay with Mina Ripia – Kia Mau
- Maree Sheehan - Past to Present
- Moana and The Moahunters - Give it Up Now
- Ruia - Ka Tangi te Tiitii Ka Tangi to Kaakaa
Best Mana Reo Album: Southside of Bombay with Mina Ripia – Kia Mau
- Ruia - Ka Tangi te Tiitii Ka Tangi te Kaakaa
- Moana and the Moahunters - Akona Te Reo '95
Best Children's Album: Nga Pihi - 1 & 2
- Radha and the Kiwis - Sing the World Around
- Kids TV - You and Me Songbook (Suzy Cato)
Best Polynesian Album: Southside of Bombay - Umbadada
- D-Faction - Down in the Boondocks
- John Akaata - Ura Mai Koe
- Purest Form - If I Fell/U Can Do It
Best Songwriter: Mark Tierney / Paul Casserly / Anthony Ioasa - Sweet Disorder (Strawpeople)
- Glen Moffatt - Somewhere in New Zealand Tonight
- Greg Johnson - Don't Wait Another Day
Best Cover: Alec Bathgate – Abbasalutely
- Chris Knox - Songs of You and Me
- Neil Finn and Wayne Conway - Finn

See: 1996 in music

Performing arts

Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Keith Leggett.

Radio and television

See: 1996 in New Zealand television, 1996 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, TV3 (New Zealand), Public broadcasting in New Zealand

The New Zealand Government sells the Radio New Zealand commercial arm to Clear Channel creating The Radio Network

Film

Broken English
Chicken
Jack Brown Genius
Flight of the Albatross
Someone Else's Country
The Frighteners
The Whole of the Moon

See: Category:1996 film awards, 1996 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1996 films

Internet

See: NZ Internet History

Sport

Athletics

Phil Costley wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:20:32 on 27 October in Auckland, while Tracey Clissold claims her first in the women's championship (2:39:03).

Basketball

The NBL was won by Auckland.

Cricket

Various Tours, New Zealand cricket team, Chappell–Hadlee Trophy, Cricket World Cup

Golf

New Zealand Open
Check Category:New Zealand golfers in overseas tournaments.

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup: Il Vicolo - 2nd win
Auckland Trotting Cup: Sharp And Telford

Thoroughbred racing

Netball

Silver Ferns
National Bank Cup

Olympic Games

New Zealand sends a team of 97 competitors.

Paralympics

New Zealand sends a team of 30 competitors across seven sports.

Rugby league

The Lion Red Cup was won by the Counties Manukau Heroes who beat the Waitakere City Raiders 34–22 in the grand final. Waitakere were the minor premiers.
In their second season the Auckland Warriors placed 11th of 20 teams in the Australian National Rugby League competition. They had been in finals contention until losing their last six games.
5 October, New Zealand defeated Papua New Guinea 62-8
11 October, New Zealand defeated Papua New Guinea 64-0

The 1996 Great Britain Lions tour saw the three Tet matches played in New Zealand:

18 October, New Zealand defeated Great Britain 17-12
25 October, New Zealand defeated Great Britain 18-15
1 November, New Zealand defeated Great Britain 32-12

Rugby union

Category:Rugby union in New Zealand, Super 14, Rugby Union World Cup, National Provincial Championship, Category:All Blacks, Bledisloe Cup, Tri Nations Series, Ranfurly Shield

Shooting

Ballinger Belt – Graeme Ballinger (Levin)

Soccer

The National Summer Soccer League was inaugurated to replace the New Zealand National Soccer League, so there was no 1996 league champion.
The New Zealand national soccer team placed third in the OFC Nations Cup, which this year was played as a league rather than a tournament.
The Chatham Cup is won by Waitakere City F.C. who beat Mt Wellington 3–1 in the final.