2009 in New Zealand - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Regal and Vice Regal

Head of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

- Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand
Monarchy in New Zealand
The monarchy of New Zealand also referred to as The Crown in Right of New Zealand, Her Majesty in Right of New Zealand, or The Queen in Right of New Zealand is the constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of the Realm of New Zealand,...
Governor-General
Governor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....

- The Hon. Anand Satyanand
Anand Satyanand
Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ was the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand. He previously worked as a lawyer, judge and ombudsman.-Early life and family:...

, PCNZM
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...

, QSO
Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...

Government

2009 will be the first full year of the election of the current (49th) Parliament

49th New Zealand Parliament

The 49th New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2008 election. It consists of 122 members, including an overhang of two seats caused by the Māori Party having won two more electorate seats than its share of the party vote would otherwise have given it. The Parliament will serve from 2008 until...

Speaker of the House
Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
In New Zealand the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the New Zealand House of Representatives...

- Lockwood Smith
Lockwood Smith
Alexander Lockwood Smith is a New Zealand politician, the 28th and current Speaker of the House of Representatives. Smith is a member of the New Zealand National Party, who has served as a Member of Parliament since 1984...
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

- John Key
John Key
John Phillip Key is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006....
Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand is second most senior officer in the Government of New Zealand, although this seniority does not necessarily translate into power....

- Bill English
Bill English
Simon William "Bill" English is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure of New Zealand.English entered parliament in 1990 as a National party MP representing the Wallace electorate...
Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (New Zealand)
The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....

- Bill English
Bill English
Simon William "Bill" English is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure of New Zealand.English entered parliament in 1990 as a National party MP representing the Wallace electorate...
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is a major ministerial portfolio in the government of New Zealand.The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Murray McCully, who was National Party Spokeperson of Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are also Associate Minister roles...

- Murray McCully
Murray McCully
Murray Stuart McCully is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for the Rugby World Cup.-Early life:...

Other Party Leaders

Labour
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

- Phil Goff
Phil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff is the current Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. During the Fifth Labour Government, he served in a number of ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Defence of New Zealand, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Foreign Affairs and...

(Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)
The Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand is the politician who, at least in theory, commands the support of the non-government bloc of members in the New Zealand Parliament. In the debating chamber the Leader of the Opposition sits directly opposite the Prime Minister...

since 11 November 2008)
Act - Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of...

, since 13 June 2004
Greens
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party that has seats in the New Zealand parliament. It focuses firstly on environmentalism, arguing that all other aspects of humanity will cease to be of concern if there is no environment to sustain it...

- Metiria Turei
Metiria Turei
Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei is a New Zealand member of Parliament and the female co-leader of the Green Party. she is the Green Party spokesperson on Social Equity, Electoral Reform, Māori and Treaty Issues, Housing and Children....

(since 30 May 2009) and Russel Norman
Russel Norman
Dr Russel William Norman is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. He is a Member of Parliament and co-leader of the Green Party alongside Metiria Turei.- Early life :...

(since 3 June 2006)
Māori Party
Maori Party
The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...

- Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia
Tariana Turia is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result...

and Pita Sharples
Pita Sharples
Pita Russell Sharples, CBE, , a Māori academic and politician, currently co-leads the Māori Party. He currently is the member for Tamaki Makaurau in New Zealand's Parliament.-Early life:...

, both since 7 July 2004

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland
Mayor of Auckland
The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland region in New Zealand...

- John Banks
John Banks (New Zealand)
John Archibald Banks, CNZM QSO is a New Zealand politician. He served as Mayor of Auckland City for two terms, from 2001 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2010...

, since October 2007
Mayor of Tauranga
Mayor of Tauranga
The Mayor of Tauranga is the head of the municipal government of Tauranga, New Zealand, and presides over the Tauranga City Council. The Mayor is directly elected, using the First Past the Post system in 2007....

- Stuart Crosby
Stuart Crosby
Stuart Crosby is the current Mayor of the city of Tauranga, New Zealand.He officially assumed office on 9 October 2004, and has been re-elected to mayor and has served two terms.-References:...

, since October 2004
Mayor of Hamilton
Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand
The Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand is the head of the municipal government of Hamilton, New Zealand, and presides over the Hamilton City Council.In the 2010 Local Government elections, Julie Hardaker was elected as mayor, defeating incumbent Bob Simcock....

- Bob Simcock
Bob Simcock
Robert Simcock is a New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament and then Mayor of Hamilton.-Early career:Simcock attended St John's College before graduating from the University of Waikato with a M Soc Sci ....

, since May 2007
Mayor of Wellington
Mayor of Wellington
The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, New Zealand, and presides over the Wellington City Council. The Mayor of Wellington administers only Wellington City itself — other municipalities in adjacent areas of the Wellington Region such as Lower Hutt, Upper...

- Kerry Prendergast
Kerry Prendergast
Kerry Leigh Prendergast, CNZM was the 33rd Mayor of Wellington . She was the second woman to serve as Mayor of Wellington, succeeding Mark Blumsky.-Before politics:...

, since October 2001
Mayor of Christchurch
Mayor of Christchurch
The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system...

- Bob Parker, since October 2007
Mayor of Dunedin
Mayor of Dunedin
The Mayor of Dunedin is the head of the municipal government of Dunedin, New Zealand, and presides over the Dunedin City Council. The Mayor is directly elected, using the Single Transferable Vote system in 2007....

- Peter Chin
Peter Chin (mayor)
Peter Wing Ho Chin CNZM is a lawyer and was the 56th Mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand. He served two terms as Mayor from 2004 to 2010....

, since October 2004

February

27 February: Prime Minister John Key
John Key
John Phillip Key is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006....

proposes a nine-day working fortnight, to counter the late-2000s recession.

March

6 March: Retrial of David Bain
David Bain
David Cullen Bain is a New Zealander who featured in one of the country's most notable murder cases. He was convicted in May 1995 of the murders of his parents and siblings in Dunedin on 20 June 1994...

begins in the Christchurch High Court
25 March: Former Prime Minister Helen Clark
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ is a New Zealand political figure who was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008...

is appointed Head of the United Nations Development Program; her resignation necessitates the 2009 Mount Albert by-election
26 March: the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance was established by the New Zealand Government to investigate the local government arrangements of Auckland....

recommends eight Auckland Region
Auckland Region
The Auckland Region was one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. With one third of the nation's residents, it was by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area.On 1...

local government bodies merge to form a "supercity".

April

25 April: First indication of potential for Flu infection with return of students from Mexico, see 2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand
2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand
In 2009 New Zealand had 3,175 cases and 19 deaths due to Swine influenza.-Outbreak history:On 25 April 2009 ten students from Rangitoto College, a secondary school in North Shore City, Auckland, exhibited influenza symptoms on returning from a three week language trip to Mexico...

May

7 May: Gunman Jan Molenaar shoots three police officers executing a routine cannabis search warrant, and a neighbour who tried to assist them. He killed Senior Constable Leonard Snee and seriously injured the others, and after a two day siege was found dead.
30 May: Metiria Turei
Metiria Turei
Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei is a New Zealand member of Parliament and the female co-leader of the Green Party. she is the Green Party spokesperson on Social Equity, Electoral Reform, Māori and Treaty Issues, Housing and Children....

elected as co-leader of the Green Party at the AGM in Dunedin.

June

3 June: A police investigation leads to MP Richard Worth
Richard Worth
Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:...

resigning ministerial portfolios including Minister of Internal Affairs
Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)
The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs is a state sector organisation whose roles include the issue of passports; administering citizenship grant applications, and lottery grant applications; enforcement of censorship and gambling law; registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil...

"for personal reasons", with Prime Minister John Key saying, "If he hadn't resigned I would have sacked him".
5 June: David Bain
David Bain
David Cullen Bain is a New Zealander who featured in one of the country's most notable murder cases. He was convicted in May 1995 of the murders of his parents and siblings in Dunedin on 20 June 1994...

is found not guilty of the murder of five family members.
12 June: Five members of the family of Janet Moses were found guilty of manslaughter after performing a fatal exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...

.

July

4 July: The Ministry of Health confirms the first three deaths in New Zealand from the 2009 flu pandemic
2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand
In 2009 New Zealand had 3,175 cases and 19 deaths due to Swine influenza.-Outbreak history:On 25 April 2009 ten students from Rangitoto College, a secondary school in North Shore City, Auckland, exhibited influenza symptoms on returning from a three week language trip to Mexico...

.
15 July: The magnitude 7.8 2009 Fiordland earthquake
2009 Fiordland earthquake
The 2009 Fiordland earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the South Island of New Zealand at 9:22 pm on 15 July 2009. The earthquake was centred in the remote region of Fiordland, with the epicentre located west-north-west of Invercargill near Dusky Sound in Fiordland National...

strikes at 9:22 pm, 90 km north-west of Tuatapere
Tuatapere
Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand . It is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Waewae Bay, where it has its outflow into Foveaux Strait...

.

August

4 August: Former MP Phillip Field found guilty on bribery, corruption and obstruction of justice charges.
8–9 August: New Zealand's first Telethon for 16 years raises $2 million for the KidsCan Stand Tall Trust.

November

30 November: Atea-1, the first New Zealand rocket into space, is launched from Great Mercury Island.

Holidays and observances

6 February - Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.-History:...

(Friday)
10 April/13 April Good Friday/Easter Monday
25 April - ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...

(Saturday)
1 June - Queen's Birthday Monday
24 June - Matariki
Matariki
In the Māori language Matariki is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and also of the season of its first rising in late May or early June - taken as the beginning of the new year...

(Wednesday)
26 October - Labour Day
Labour Day
Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for...

Monday

Music

May - New Zealand Music Month
- Vodafone Album of the year: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
- Vodafone Single of the year: Ladyhawke - My Delerium
- Best group: Midnight Youth
  Midnight Youth
  Midnight Youth are a New Zealand rock band formed in 2006. Their debut album, The Brave Don't Run, was released in 2009 in New Zealand and Australia. The band have subsequently toured and played festivals across Australasia, the United States and Asia...
- Best male solo artist: Savage
  Savage (rapper)
  - Studio albums :-Singles:-Featured singles:- External links :*****...
- Best female solo artist: Ladyhawke
- Breakthrough artist of the year: Ladyhawke
- Best Music Video: Chris Graham – Brother (Smashproof
  Smashproof
  Smashproof is a New Zealand Hip hop/Rap male group. Smashproof consists of Young Sid, Tyree and Deach. They are best known for the single "Brother" which spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ singles chart in 2009. The song "Brother" features singer Gin Wigmore.The...
  
  )
- Best Rock Album: Midnight Youth – "The Brave Don't Run"
- Best Urban/Hip Hop Album: Ladi 6 – "Time Is Not Much"
- Best Aotearoa Roots Album: Fat Freddy's Drop – "Dr Boondigga and the Big BW"
- Best dance/electronica album: Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
- Best gospel/Christian album: Mumsdollar
  Mumsdollar
  Mumsdollar was a New Zealand rock band formed in 1998 with Ben Claxton on lead vocals, Dave Barr on guitar and backing vocals, Tim Beale on drums, and brothers Pete Wood, on guitar, and Steve Wood on bass and backing vocals.-History:...
  
  - Ruins
- Best classical album: David Bremner – "Gung Ho"
- The Vodafone People's Choice Award, voted by New Zealand music fans: Smashproof
  Smashproof
  Smashproof is a New Zealand Hip hop/Rap male group. Smashproof consists of Young Sid, Tyree and Deach. They are best known for the single "Brother" which spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ singles chart in 2009. The song "Brother" features singer Gin Wigmore.The...
- Highest Selling NZ Single: Smashproof
  Smashproof
  Smashproof is a New Zealand Hip hop/Rap male group. Smashproof consists of Young Sid, Tyree and Deach. They are best known for the single "Brother" which spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ singles chart in 2009. The song "Brother" features singer Gin Wigmore.The...
  
  feat. Gin
  Gin
  Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
  
  - Brother
- Highest Selling NZ Album: The Feelers - The Best: 1998 - 2008"
- Radio Airplay Record of the Year: Tiki Taane- "Always on my mind"

Harness racing
Harness racing in New Zealand
Harness racing in New Zealand is more often called trotting in the "old school" rather than the more fashionable name of "harness racing". The sport is long standing with events being held as early as 1864...

Auckland Trotting Cup
Auckland Trotting Cup
The Auckland Trotting Cup or Auckland Cup is a race held at Alexandra Park in March in Auckland, New Zealand for Standardbred horses. It is one of two major harness races, along with the New Zealand Cup, held in New Zealand each year. It is notable as it is a Group 1 championship race over...

: Auckland Reactor

Thoroughbred racing

Katie Lee
Katie Lee (horse)
Katie Lee is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racemare who in November 2009 became the first horse in history to win both the New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the New Zealand 1000 Guineas....

becomes the first racehorse to win both the New Zealand 2000 Guineas
New Zealand 2000 Guineas
The 2000 Guineas is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run over a distance of 1600 m at Riccarton Park in Christchurch, New Zealand...

and the New Zealand 1000 Guineas
New Zealand 1000 Guineas
The 1000 Guineas is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of 1600 m at Riccarton Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. As of 2009, it is held on the final Saturday of Christchurch's famous New Zealand Cup Week in November, which centres around the New...

.

Soccer
Soccer in New Zealand
Association football, also known as football or soccer, is a popular recreation sport in New Zealand. The sport is administered in New Zealand by the governing body New Zealand Football ....

The 2009 Chatham Cup

2009 Chatham Cup

The 2009 Chatham Cup is New Zealand's 82nd knockout football competition.The 2009 competition had a preliminary round, a qualification round, and four rounds proper before quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final. In all, 130 teams took part in the 2009 competition.-The 2009 final:In the final,...

is won by Wellington Olympic, who beat Three Kings United

Three Kings United

Three Kings United is an semi-professional association football club based in Three Kings, Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier....

2-1 in the final.

Deaths

4 January: Sonny Fai
Sonny Fai
Sonny Fai was a professional rugby league player who played for the New Zealand Warriors.-Early years:...

, rugby league player, presumed drowned
4 February: Antonie Dixon, convicted murderer.
1 March: Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce (wrestler)
Robert Bruce , born John Charles Young, was a Scottish-born professional wrestler and talent agent in Auckland, New Zealand.-Biography:...

, professional wrestler and talent agent, illness
2 May: Percy Marunui Murphy
Percy Marunui Murphy
Percy Marunui Murphy was a New Zealand mayor notable for being the first Māori to hold the title of mayor in New Zealand.Alongside three of his brothers he served in the Second World War...

, New Zealand's first Maori mayor
12 May: Heather Begg
Heather Begg
Dame Heather Begg, DNZM,OBE was a New Zealand-born operatic mezzo-soprano who spent most of her career in the United Kingdom and Australia. She was renowned in roles such as the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Amneris in Verdi's Aida and in lighter operas such as The Gondoliers...

, opera singer, leukemia
13 July: Bill Young
Bill Young (New Zealand)
William "Bill" Lambert Young, CMG, was a New Zealand politician, born in Kawakawa. He attended Ngawha Native School where his parents were teachers, and then Wellington College....

, politician and diplomat
26 August: Sir Jack Harris, 2nd Baronet
Sir Jack Harris, 2nd Baronet
Sir Jack Wolfred Ashford Harris, 2nd Baronet was a New Zealand businessman, and the second baronet of the Harris Baronetcy of Bethnal Green, County of London which was created for his father Sir Percy Harris in 1932...

, businessman
20 September: Ken Hough, dual international cricketer and footballer
24 September: Sir Howard Morrison
Howard Morrison
Sir Howard Leslie Morrison, OBE, was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009 he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers.-Early life:...

, entertainer