1934 in New Zealand

Population

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,558,400
• Increase since previous 31 December 1933: 11,300
• Males per 100 females: 103.3

  Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State – George V
• Governor-General – The Lord Bledisloe GCMG KBE PC

  Government

• Speaker of the House – Charles Statham
• Prime Minister – George Forbes
• Minister of Finance – Gordon Coates
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – George Forbes
• Attorney-General – George Forbes
• Chief Justice — Sir Michael Myers

  Parliamentary opposition

• Leader of the Opposition – Michael Joseph Savage.

  Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland – George Hutchison
• Mayor of Hamilton – John Robert Fow
• Mayor of Wellington – Thomas Hislop
• Mayor of Christchurch – Dan Sullivan
• Mayor of Dunedin – Edwin Thomas Cox

  Events

• 6 February: Treaty house and grounds at Waitangi dedicated as a national reserve.
• 5 March: Pahiatua is hit by an earthquake recording a magnitude of 7.6 at 11.46pm; see 1934 Pahiatua earthquake
• 28 June: Third session of the 24th Parliament commences.
• 10 November: Third session of the 24th Parliament concludes.
• Banknotes issued by the new Reserve Bank replace those issued by the Trading Banks, see New Zealand pound.
• The first official airmail flight from New Zealand to Australia by Faith in Australia; see Charles Ulm.

  Arts and literature

Music

Radio

Film

Sport

British Empire Games

Chess

• The 43rd National Chess Championship was held in Dunedin, and was won by J.B. Dunlop, of Dunedin, his fourth title.

  Golf

• The 24th New Zealand Open championship was won by Andrew Shaw, his 6th title.
• The 38th National Amateur Championships were held in Wanganui
• * Men: B. M. Silk
• * Women: Miss B. Gaisford – her second title.

  Horse racing

Harness racing

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Indianapolis
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Roi L'Or

  Lawn bowls

• Men's singles champion – W. Carswell
• Men's pair champions – J. McPherson, J. Veitch
• Men's fours champions – G. Dickson, F. Redpath, H.F. Gibson, H. Wilson

  Rugby

• the Bledisloe Cup was won by Australia, with one win and one draw.
• The Ranfurly Shield changed hands twice: Canterbury lost their first defence to Hawkes Bay 0–9. Hawkes Bay defended the shield against Wanganui 39–16 and Taranaki 23–8 before losing it to Auckland 14–18.

  Rugby league

Soccer

• The Chatham Cup is won by Auckland Thistle who beat Christchurch Thistle 2–1 in the final.
• Provincial league champions:
• * Auckland: Thistle
• * Canterbury: Thistle
• * Hawke's Bay: Napier YMCA
• * Nelson: YMCA
• * Otago: King Edward Technical College Old Boys
• * Southland: Southern
• * Taranaki: Stratford
• * Waikato: Huntly Starr Utd
• * Wanganui: Thistle
• * Wellington: Marist

  Births

• 6 January: Harry M. Miller, publicist.
• 10 February: Fleur Adcock, poet.
• 20 March Ralph Maxwell, politician.
• 26 March Matiu Rata, politician.
• 3 April Pamela Allen, children's book illustrator.
• 9 April: Bill Birch, politician.
• 28 May: Bill Baillie, athlete
• 1 August: John Beck, cricketer.
• 28 September: Mike Bungay, lawyer
• 22 October: Donald McIntyre, opera singer.
• 12 November: Peter Wilkinson, politician.
• 13 November: Peter Arnett, TV journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner.
• 26 December: Don Hunn, diplomat and civil servant.

Deaths

• 5 April: Thomas Davey, politician.
• 9 April: John Charles Thomson, politician.
• 11 April: Sir Edwin Mitchelson, politician.
• 6 May: Sir Henry Wigram, businessman and politician.
• 13 July: Kate Sheppard, suffragette.
• 16 July: Carlo Bergamini, sculptor
• 10 August: Sally Low, social reformer and peace campaigner.
• 17 August: George Fowlds, politician.
• 13 September John Roberts, mayor of Lower Hutt.
• 19 November: Charles Kendall Wilson, politician.