# 1965 in New Zealand

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive
The following lists events that happened during 1965 in New Zealand.

## Population

* Estimated population as of 31 December: 2,663,800.
* Increase since 31 December 1964: 46,800 (1.79%).
* Males per 100 females: 100.7.

## Incumbents
### Regal and viceregal

* Head of State – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Brigadier Sir Bernard Fergusson GCMG GCVO DSO OBE.

### Government

The 34th Parliament of New Zealand continued, with the 2nd National government in power.
* Speaker of the House – Ronald Algie.
* Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake.
* Deputy Prime Minister – Jack Marshall.
* Minister of Finance – Harry Lake.
* Minister of Foreign Affairs – Keith Holyoake.
* Attorney-General – Ralph Hanan.
* Chief Justice — Sir Harold Barrowclough

### Parliamentary opposition

* Leader of the Opposition – Arnold Nordmeyer (Labour) until 16 December, then Norman Kirk (Labour).

### Main centre leaders

* Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson then Roy McElroy
* Mayor of Hamilton – Denis Rogers
* Mayor of Wellington – Frank Kitts
* Mayor of Christchurch – George Manning
* Mayor of Dunedin – Stuart Sidey then Russell Calvert

## Events

* 27 March – A Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) Lockheed L-188 Electra on a training flight crashes and catches fire on landing at Whenuapai Airport. All occupants escape with only one minor injury.
* 1 April – TEAL is renamed Air New Zealand.
* 11 April – Qantas launches the first trans-Tasman jet service, between Christchurch and Sydney using Boeing 707 aircraft.
* 13 April – An explosion and fire at the General Plastics factory in Masterton kills four people and injures four others.
* April – The HVDC Inter-Island link is completed, connecting the North Island's electricity network and the South Island's electricity network together.
* 15 May – Benmore Dam is officially opened by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake.
* 27 May – Vietnam War: Prime Minister Keith Holyoake announces New Zealand will send its first combat forces, an artillery battery, to South Vietnam.
* 20 July – A 33-hour prison riot breaks out at Mount Eden Prison, Auckland, with inmates setting fire to large parts of the prison.
* 10 August – New Zealand recognises Singapore as an independent sovereign state, one day after Singapore's expulsion from the Malaysian Federation.
* 31 August – New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement signed.
* 3 November – Riccarton Mall, the South Island's first indoor shopping mall, opens to shoppers.

## Arts and literature

* Janet Frame wins the Robert Burns Fellowship.
See 1965 in art, 1965 in literature

### Music
#### New Zealand Music Awards

Loxene Golden Disc Ray Columbus & The Invaders – Till We Kissed
See: 1965 in music

### Radio and television

* Television in the "four main centres" (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) is now broadcast seven nights a week. Broadcasting now totals 50 hours a week.
* There are 300,000 television licences. Archived 15 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
* 28 August – Christchurch's CHTV-3 switches to the new Sugarloaf transmitter in the Port Hills.
* The broadcast relay station at Mount Studholme is commissioned, extending television coverage to South Canterbury.
* New Zealand Television Workshop awards:
** Best Factual: Compass
** Best Light Entertainment: In the Groove
** Best Children's Series: Junior Magazine with Jasmine
See: 1965 in New Zealand television, 1965 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

### Film

See: Category:1965 film awards, 1965 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1965 films

## Sport
### Athletics

    Ray Puckett wins his fifth national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:24:26.8 on 13 March in Dunedin.

### Chess

* The 72nd National Chess Championships are held in Wellington. The winner is J.R. Phillips of Wellington

### Horse racing
#### Harness racing

* New Zealand Trotting Cup – Gary Dillon
* Auckland Trotting Cup – Robin Dundee

### Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Auckland.
* Men's singles champion – Ron Buchan (Tui Park Bowling Club)
* Men's pair champions – Norm Lash, C.D. McGarry (skip) (Carlton Bowling Club)
* Men's fours champions – J. Miller, G. MacRae, A. Cotton, P. Jones (skip) (Otahuhu Railway Bowling Club)

### Soccer

* The Chatham Cup is won by Eastern Suburbs of Auckland who beat Saint Kilda 4–1 in the final.
* Provincial league champions:
** Bay of Plenty: Rangers
** Buller: Granity Athletic
** Canterbury: Christchurch City
** Hawke's Bay: Napier Rovers
** Manawatu: Kiwi United
** Marlborough: Woodbourne
** Nelson: Rangers
** Otago: St Kilda
** Poverty Bay: Eastern Union
** South Canterbury: West End
** Southland: Invercargill Thistle
** Taranaki: Moturoa
** Wairarapa: Masterton Athletic
** Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
** Wellington: Diamond
** West Coast: Cobden-Kohinoor
* The Northern League is formed, incorporating top teams from Northland, Auckland, Franklin and Waikato. The first League champions are Eastern Suburbs of Auckland.

## Births

* 10 January: John Radovonich, field hockey player.
* 11 February: Eric Rush, rugby union and rugby sevens player.
* 14 February: Zinzan Brooke, rugby player.
* 15 February: Jamie Smith, field hockey player.
* 15 March: Robyn Malcolm actor
* 4 April: Gail Jonson, swimmer.
* 8 April: Michael Jones, rugby player.
* 22 April: Carmel Clark, swimmer.
* 28 May (in Britain): Alan Henderson, bobsleigh pilot
* 28 June: Duane Mann, rugby league player.
* 29 July: Paresh Patel, field hockey player.
* 31 August: Willie Watson, cricketer.
* 1 September: Tania Roxborogh, writer.
* 7 September: Tea Ropati, rugby league player.
* 21 September: Belinda Cordwell, tennis player.
* 26 October: Ken Rutherford, cricketer.
* 24 November: Nyla Carroll, long-distance runner.
* 18 December: Anna Doig, freestyle and butterfly swimmer.
* John Leigh, actor.
* Se'e Solomona, rugby league player.
* Hilary Timmins, television presenter.

## Deaths

* 21 June: Thomas Hislop, Jr., Mayor of Wellington 1931-45 (in Montreal, Canada).
* 10 September: John Weeks, painter.
* 10 September: Walter Broadfoot, politician.