← 1976 1975 1974 1977 in New Zealand → 1978 1979 1980
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during 1977 in New Zealand.

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 3,166,400.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1976: 3000 (0.09%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 99.4.^[1]

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Denis Blundell GCMG GCVO KBE QSO, followed by The Rt Hon. Sir Keith Holyoake KG GCMG CH QSO.^[2]

Government

1977 was the second full year of the 38th Parliament. The Third National Government was in power.

• Speaker of the House – Roy Jack.^[3]
• Prime Minister – Robert Muldoon
• Deputy Prime Minister – Brian Talboys.^[3]
• Minister of Finance – Robert Muldoon.^[3]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Brian Talboys.^[3]
• Attorney-General – Peter Wilkinson.^[3]
• Chief Justice — Sir Richard Wild

Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Bill Rowling (Labour).^[4]

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – Dove-Myer Robinson
• Mayor of Hamilton – Bruce Beetham then Ross Jansen
• Mayor of Wellington – Michael Fowler
• Mayor of Christchurch – Hamish Hay
• Mayor of Dunedin – Jim Barnes then Clifford George (Cliff) Skeggs

Events

• 5 January – Led by Joe Hawke, members of Ngati Whatua occupy Bastion Point reserve (Takaparawha) to protest crown sales of land taken from Māori.^[5]
• 6 February – Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of New Zealand
• 28 February – The new Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament, nicknamed the "Beehive" due to its shape, is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, despite not being fully complete yet.
• 26 March – 1977 Mangere by-election: David Lange (Labour) is elected to replace Colin Moyle.
• 21 November – God Defend New Zealand becomes the second official national anthem of New Zealand, in conjunction with God Save The Queen.
• 6 December – The meat pie-based fast food chain Georgie Pie opens its first restaurant in Kelston, Auckland.
• 23 December – the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 passed into law
• New Zealand proclaims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) – the seventh largest in the world at 4.3 million km²
• Mushrooms and typewriters are added to the CPI basket.^[6]

Arts and literature

• Keri Hulme and Roger Hall win the Robert Burns Fellowship.

See 1977 in art, 1977 in literature

Music

The New Zealand Music Awards were not held this year.

• Waikino music festival at Bicknel's farm, Waitawheta Valley, between Waihi and Waikino. Attendance 5500.

See: 1977 in music

Radio and television

• April: Fair Go airs for the first time.
• June: Wellington's Radio Active 89FM first hits the airwaves
• Feltex Television Awards:
  • Best Current Affairs: News at Ten
  • Best Documentary Series: Black Future
  • Best Light Entertainment: Blerta
  • Best Play: The God Boy
  • Best Drama: Moynihan
  • Best Speciality: Country Calendar
  • Best Actor: Ian Mune in Winners and Losers and Moynihan
  • Best Actress: Judy Douglas in The God Boy
  • Best Script: The God Boy
  • Best Personality: Roger Gascoigne

Performing arts

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Max Cryer.
• Roger Hall's Middle-Age Spread premiered at the Circa Theatre, Wellington

Television

See: 1977 in New Zealand television, 1977 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

• Landfall
• Off the Edge
• Sleeping Dogs
• Solo
• Wild Man

See: Category:1977 film awards, 1977 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:1977 films

Sport

Athletics

• Terry Manners wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:20:40 in Hawera.

Association football

• New Zealand National Soccer League won by North Shore United
• The Chatham Cup is won by Nelson United who beat Mount Wellington 1–0 in the final.^[7]

Chess

• The 84th New Zealand Chess Championship is held in North Shore, and is won by Ortvin Sarapu of Auckland.^[8]

Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Sole Command^[9]
• There was no 1977 running of the Auckland Trotting Cup as the race was being rescheduled from December (1976) to February (1978)^[10]

Thoroughbred racing

Births

• 22 January: Jono Gibbes, rugby player
• 25 February: Matthew Bell, cricketer
• 25 March: Brooke Walker, cricketer
• 16 May: Melanie Lynskey, actress
• 20 May: Raf de Gregorio, soccer player
• 25 May: Michael Bevin, field hockey goalkeeper
• 14 June: Duncan Oughton, footballer
• 9 July (in South Africa): Leana du Plooy, netball player'
• 5 July: Dale Rasmussen, rugby player^[11]
• 11 July: Matai Smith, television presenter
• 13 July: Xavier Rush, rugby player
• 5 September: Emily Gillam, field hockey player
• 8 September: Sheryl Scanlan, netball player
• 9 September: Caleb Ralph, rugby player
• 18 October: Ryan Nelsen, footballer
• 13 November: Chanel Cole, musician
• 28 November: Greg Somerville, rugby player
• 15 December: Dominic Bowden, television presenter
• 21 December: Leon MacDonald, rugby player

Category:1977 births

Deaths

• 22 January: Toby Hill, watersider and trade unionist
• 18 February: Ron Jarden, rugby player.
• 7 June (in England): Sir Rex Nan Kivell, art collector.
• 15 August: Margaret Escott, novelist and poet.^[12]
• 24 December: Sir Roy Jack, politician and 16th Speaker of the House of Representatives.