1950 in New Zealand

Decades:
See also:	Other events of 1950; Timeline of New Zealand history;

The following lists events that happened during 1950 in New Zealand.

New Zealand entered into the Korean War – a total of 4,700 New Zealanders served in Korea. New Zealand also was involved in the Malayan Emergency.

The New Zealand Legislative Council was abolished, see Suicide squad.

The 1950 British Empire Games was held in Auckland.

Wool prices boomed, tripling during the year, due to U.S. stockpiling as a reaction to the Korean war. This was offset somewhat by increases in the prices of other (imported) commodities, but began the biggest economic boom of the 20th century in New Zealand.^[1]

Population

Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,927,700^[2]
Increase since 31 December 1949: 35,600 (1.88%)
Males per 100 females: 100.7

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Head of State – George VI
Governor-General – Lieutenant-General The Lord Freyberg VC GCMG KCB KBE DSO^[3]

Government

The 29th New Zealand Parliament continued. In power was the newly elected National government under Sidney Holland of the National Party.

Speaker of the House – Robert McKeen then Mathew Oram
Prime Minister – Sidney Holland
Deputy Prime Minister – Keith Holyoake
Minister of Finance – Sidney Holland
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Frederick Doidge
Attorney-General – Clifton Webb
Chief Justice – Sir Humphrey O'Leary

Parliamentary opposition

Leader of the Opposition – Peter Fraser (Labour) until his death on 5 August, then vacant until January 1951.^[4]

Main centre leaders

Mayor of Auckland – John Allum
Mayor of Hamilton – Harold Caro
Mayor of Wellington – Will Appleton then Robert Macalister
Mayor of Christchurch – Ernest Andrews then Robert M. Macfarlane
Mayor of Dunedin – Donald Cameron then Leonard Morton Wright

Events

4 January – Start of the 4th British Empire Games in Auckland.
June – Butter rationing, introduced in October 1943, is abolished.^[5]

Arts and literature

Music

See: 1950 in music

Radio

See: Public broadcasting in New Zealand

Film

Sport

Athletics

George Bromley wins his third national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:55:07 in Napier.

British Empire Games

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
10	22	21	53

Chess

The 57th National Chess Championship was held in Auckland, and was won by P. Allerhand of Wellington (his second win).^[6]

Cricket

Horse racing

Harness racing

New Zealand Trotting Cup – Chamfer^[7]
Auckland Trotting Cup – Victory Globe^[8]

Lawn bowls

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Christchurch.^[9]

Men's singles champion – L.J. Edwards (Balclutha Bowling Club)
Men's pair champions – H. Hurst, E. Elwood (skip) (Christchurch RSA Bowling Club)
Men's fours champions – E.H. Crowley, J.H. Meikle, V.F. Hurlstone, G.A. Crowley (skip) (Tolaga Bay Bowling Club)

Rugby union

The British and Irish Lions, captained by Karl Mullen, toured the country, losing three tests to the All Blacks and drawing one.

Ranfurly Shield

Rugby league

New Zealand national rugby league team

Soccer

The Chatham Cup is won by Eden who beat Technical Old Boys 3–2 after extra time in the final.^[10]
Provincial league champions:^[11]
- Auckland: Eastern Suburbs AFC
- Canterbury: Technical OB
- Hawke's Bay: Watersiders
- Nelson: Woodbourne
- Otago: Northern AFC
- South Canterbury: Northern Hearts
- Southland: Brigadiers
- Taranaki: City
- Waikato: Claudelands Rovers
- Wanganui: Wanganui Athletic
- Wellington: Seatoun AFC

Births

3 January: Robert Oliver, road and track cyclist
5 January: Matt Robson, politician
8 February: Peter Wells, New Zealand writer, filmmaker (d. 2019)
26 February: Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1999–2008
6 April: Muriel Newman, politician
29 April: Paul Holmes, radio and television broadcaster
24 May: Allison Durbin, singer
13 June: Pete Hodgson, politician
17 June: Lee Tamahori, film director
24 June: David Aspin, wrestler
1 August: John Britten, engineer and inventor
12 August: Ken Shirley, politician
26 September: Andy Haden, rugby player
9 November: Parekura Horomia, politician
10 December: Simon Owen, golfer
13 December: Ruth Richardson, politician
(in Hungary): George Baloghy, painter
David Benson-Pope, politician
Godwin Bradbeer, painter
Alan Duff, writer
Stephen Franks, politician and political commentator
Greg McGee, screenwriter and playwright
John McKinnon, diplomat and public servant
Judith Mayhew, lawyer and academic
Stephen Parke, physicist
Kura Te Waru Rewiri, painter

Deaths

23 March: Paddy Webb, politician
14 July: Āpirana Ngata, Māori politician and lawyer.
23 August: Abraham Wachner, 35th Mayor of Invercargill.
19 November: Tom Brindle, politician and activist
11 December: Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer.
12 December: Peter Fraser, 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
William Twigg-Smith, painter (in Hawaii).

References

^ Impact of the War – NZ in the Korean War | NZHistory
^ "Historical population estimates tables". Statistics New Zealand.
^ Statistics New Zealand: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1990. ISSN 0078-0170 page 52
^ "Elections NZ – Leaders of the Opposition". Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
^ "Rationing of New Zealand-Grown Foods – NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.
^ List of New Zealand Chess Champions Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "List of NZ Trotting cup winners". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
^ Auckland Trotting cup at hrnz.co.nz Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Bowls, men's outdoor – tournament winners". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
^ Chatham Cup records, nzsoccer.com Archived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "New Zealand: List of champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1999.