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Decades:	1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s; ;
See also:	History of New Zealand; List of years in New Zealand; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in New Zealand.

Population

National

Estimated populations as at 30 June.^[1]

New Zealand total – 4,693,000
North Island – 3,596,200
South Island – 1,096,200

Main urban areas

Estimated populations as at 30 June.^[1]

Auckland – 1,495,000
Blenheim – 30,700
Christchurch – 389,700
Dunedin – 118,500
Gisborne – 36,100
Hamilton – 229,900
Invercargill – 50,700
Kapiti – 41,800
Napier-Hastings – 131,000
Nelson – 65,700
New Plymouth – 56,800
Palmerston North – 84,300
Rotorua – 57,800
Tauranga – 134,500
Wellington – 405,000
Whanganui – 39,600
Whangārei – 56,400

Incumbents

Regal and vice-regal

Head of State – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Jerry Mateparae^[2] until 31 August, then Patsy Reddy from 28 September.

Elizabeth II
Jerry Mateparae
Patsy Reddy

Government

2016 is the second full year of the 51st Parliament, which first sat on 21 October 2014.

The Fifth National Government, first elected in 2008, continues.

Speaker of the House – David Carter
Prime Minister – John Key (until 12 December), then Bill English
Deputy Prime Minister – Bill English (until 12 December), then Paula Bennett
Leader of the House – Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Finance – Bill English, then (from 20 December) Steven Joyce
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Murray McCully

David Carter
John Key
Bill English
Paula Bennett
Gerry Brownlee
Steven Joyce
Murray McCully

Other party leaders

Labour – Andrew Little
Green – James Shaw and Metiria Turei
New Zealand First – Winston Peters
Māori Party – Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox
ACT New Zealand – David Seymour
United Future – Peter Dunne

Andrew Little
James Shaw
Metiria Turei
Winston Peters
Te Ururoa Flavell
Marama Fox
David Seymour
Peter Dunne

Judiciary

Chief Justice — Sian Elias

Sian Elias

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – Len Brown, then from 1 November Phil Goff
Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby, then from 31 October Greg Brownless
Mayor of Hamilton – Julie Hardaker, then from 9 November Andrew King
Mayor of Wellington – Celia Wade-Brown, then from 26 October Justin Lester
Mayor of Christchurch – Lianne Dalziel
Mayor of Dunedin – Dave Cull

Len Brown
Phil Goff
Stuart Crosby
Greg Brownless
Julie Hardaker
Andrew King
Celia Wade-Brown
Justin Lester
Lianne Dalziell
Dave Cull

Events

January

February

8 February – Operation Neptune (New Zealand) begins.^[3]
14 February – A significant aftershock in Christchurch causes some cliffs to collapse.^[4]

March

3–24 March – Second referendum on changing the country's flag – existing flag retained.^[5]
11 March – Parliament passes legislation to outlaw zero-hour contracts.^[6]

April

18 April – The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is disestablished.^[7]

May

June

6 June – The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced.^[8]

July

November

14 November – A 7.8 M_W earthquake strikes Kaikōura at midnight, killing two people.
22 November – Operation Neptune ends.

December

5 December – John Key announces that he will step down as New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the National Party on 12 December.
12 December – Bill English is sworn in as New Zealand's 39th Prime Minister, following the resignation of John Key.
15 December – Amazon Prime Video launches in New Zealand.^[10]
31 December – The 2017 New Year Honours are announced.^[11]

Arts and literature

Performing arts

Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Suzanne Prentice OBE.

Sport

Awards

54th Halberg Awards (awarded 9 February 2017 for the 2016 calendar year)
- Supreme Award – Lisa Carrington (canoeing)
- Sportsman – Mahé Drysdale (rowing)
- Sportswoman – Lisa Carrington (canoeing)
- Team – Men's 49er class: Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (sailing)
- Disabled Sportsperson – Liam Malone (athletics)
- Coach – Gordon Walker (canoeing)
- Emerging Talent – Campbell Stewart (cycling)

Olympics

New Zealand sends a team of 199 competitors across 20 sports.
Sprint canoeist Lisa Carrington becomes the first New Zealand women to win two medals in the same Olympic Games.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
4	9	5	18

Paralympics

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
9	5	7	21

Swimmer Sophie Pascoe overtook Eve Rimmer to become New Zealand's most successful Paralympian in terms of medals won.

Athletics

Summer Olympics
- Valerie Adams won the silver medal in the women's shot put (20.42 m)
- Eliza McCartney won the bronze medal in the women's pole vault (4.80 m)
- Tom Walsh won the bronze medal in the men's shot put (21.36 m)
- Nick Willis won the bronze medal in the men's 1500 metres (3:50.24)
Summer Paralympics
- Liam Malone won gold medals in the men's 200 metres T44 and men's 400 metres T44, and the silver medal in the men's 100 metres T44
- Anna Grimaldi won the gold medal in the women's long jump T47
- Holly Robinson won the silver medal in the women's javelin throw F46
- William Stedman won bronze medals in the men's 400 metres T36 and the men's 800 metres T36.
- Jess Hamill won the bronze medal in the women's shot put F34
- Rory McSweeney won the bronze medal in the men's javelin throw F44

Rowing

Summer Olympics
- Hamish Bond and Eric Murray won the gold medal in the men's coxless pair
- Mahé Drysdale won the gold medal in the men's single sculls
- Genevieve Behrent and Rebecca Scown won the silver medal in the women's coxless pair
New Zealand Secondary School Championships (Maadi Cup)
- Maadi Cup (boys U18 eight) – Christ's College
- Levin 75th Jubilee Cup (girls U18 eight) – Diocesan School for Girls
- Star Trophy (overall points) – St Peter's School (Cambridge)

Shooting

Ballinger Belt – Malcolm Dodson (Kaituna/Blenheim)^[12]
Summer Olympics – Natalie Rooney won the silver medal in the women's trap shooting

Youth Olympics

New Zealand sends a team of 11 competitors in five sports.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
0	1	1	2

Births

6 November – Probabeel, Thoroughbred racehorse
15 November – Copy That, Standardbred racehorse^[13]

Deaths