2008 in New Zealand

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Anand Satyanand

• 
  Elizabeth II
• 
  Anand Satyanand

2008 was the third and last year of the 48th Parliament, which was dissolved on 3 October. A general election was held on 8 November to elect the 49th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected.

• Speaker of the House – Margaret Wilson then Lockwood Smith
• Prime Minister – Helen Clark to 19 November, then John Key
• Deputy Prime Minister – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Finance – Michael Cullen to 19 November, then Bill English
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Winston Peters to 29 August, then Helen Clark (acting) to 19 November, then Murray McCully

• 
  Margaret Wilson
• 
  Lockwood Smith
• 
  Helen Clark
• 
  John Key
• 
  Michael Cullen
• 
  Bill English
• 
  Winston Peters
• 
  Murray McCully

• Labour – Helen Clark to 11 November, then Phil Goff
• National – John Key
• Progressive – Jim Anderton
• New Zealand First – Winston Peters
• United Future – Peter Dunne
• Act – Rodney Hide
• Greens – Jeanette Fitzsimons and Russel Norman
• Māori Party – Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples

• 
  Helen Clark
• 
  Phil Goff
• 
  John Key
• 
  Jim Anderton
• 
  Winston Peters
• 
  Peter Dunne
• 
  Rodney Hide
• 
  Jeanette Fitzsimons
• 
  Russel Norman
• 
  Pita Sharples
• 
  Tariana Turia

• Chief Justice — Sian Elias

• 
  Dame Sian Elias

• Mayor of Auckland – John Banks
• Mayor of Tauranga – Stuart Crosby
• Mayor of Hamilton – Bob Simcock
• Mayor of Wellington – Kerry Prendergast
• Mayor of Christchurch – Bob Parker
• Mayor of Dunedin – Peter Chin

• 
  John Banks
• 
  Stuart Crosby
• 
  Kerry Prendergast
• 
  Bob Parker
• 
  Peter Chin

• 22 January – State funeral for Sir Edmund Hillary

• 5 April – A huge propane explosion at a coolstore in Tamahere kills firefighter senior station officer Derek Lovell, and seriously injures seven others.[2]

• 8 May – The Tapuae Marine Reserve is established.[3]

• 5 June – A newly redesigned flag for the Governor General of New Zealand is flown for the first time at Government House, Auckland.[4]

• 1 July – Rail transport network is renationalised as KiwiRail
• 11 July – Police Sergeant Derek Wootton (52) is struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police, while laying road spikes at Titahi Bay.[5]

• 1 August – Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand merge to form the NZ Transport Agency
• 16 August – Dunedin Public Hospital is put in lockdown for a week after approximately 170 staff and patients fall ill to a norovirus outbreak, resulting in 2,300 appointments and procedures being delayed.[6]

• 5 September – Fonterra advise Prime Minister Helen Clark of the 2008 baby milk scandal.[7]
• 7 September – The Taputeranga Marine Reserve is opened.[8]
• 11 September – Undercover police Sergeant Don Wilkinson (47) is fatally shot in Mangere, after being discovered attempting to secretly fix a tracking device to a car.[9]
• 24 September - GO Wellington dispute - an industrial dispute between the GO Wellington bus company and drivers

John Key and his family (his wife, Bronagh, daughter Steffi (15), and son Max (13)) celebrate victory in the 2008 general election at the SkyCity in Auckland, in November 2008.

• 8 November – John Key and the New Zealand National Party win the 2008 general election. John Key is able to form a Government and in Helen Clark's speech that she resigns as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
• 9 November – Michael Cullen resigns as deputy leader of the Labour Party.[10]
• 19 November – John Key is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• 27 November – 2008 Air New Zealand A320 test flight crash. Air New Zealand A320 Airbus crashes into the Mediterranean during a test flight, killing five New Zealand and two German air crew.[11]

• 6 February – Waitangi Day
• 21 March – Good Friday
• 23 March – Easter Sunday
• 24 March – Easter Monday
• 25 April – Anzac Day
• 2 June – Queen's Birthday
• 5 June – Matariki
• 27 October – Labour Day

• Brower, Ann (August 2008). Who Owns the High Country? The controversial story of tenure review in New Zealand. New Zealand: Nelson: Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 978-1-877333-78-1.
• Catton, Eleanor (2008). The Rehearsal. New Zealand: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-84708-116-2.

• BPANZ Book Design Awards - In association with Spectrum Print and the New Zealand Listener id=13
• BEST BOOK Title: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• BEST COVER Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• NON-ILLUSTRATED Winner: Dear to Me
• ILLUSTRATED Winner: Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning
• EDUCATIONAL Winner: Astronomy Aotearoa NCEA Level 1 by Robert Shaw ISBN 978-0-7339-9261-2[12]
• CHILDREN’S Winner: The King's Bubbles by Ruth Paul

• May - New Zealand Music Month
• 3 September: Technical Awards for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards
• 8 October: Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

• Benny Award presented by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand to Suzanne Lynch MNZM.

• Freeview|HD Digital television is launched.
• The country's first Chinese television channel, CTV8 (Chinese Television 8) is launched in early October.

• New Zealand men's cricket team, the Black Caps plays three test matches against England and draws the series, each team having won a game

• New Zealand Trotting Cup: Changeover[13]
• Auckland Trotting Cup: Gotta Go Cullen[14]

• The ANZ Netball Championship begins in April 2008.

• New Zealand sends a team of 182 competitors across 17 sports.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
3	2	4	9

• New Zealand sends a team of 30 competitors across seven sports.

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
5	3	4	12

• The New Zealand national rugby league team won the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
• The New Zealand Warriors finished 8th in the National Rugby League and in the playoffs made it through to the semi-finals, beating minor premiers the Melbourne Storm in the progress.
• The inaugural season of the new Bartercard Premiership saw Auckland defeat Canterbury 38-10 in the grand final.

• Ballinger Belt – Brian Carter (Te Puke)[15]

• 30 October – 16 November – New Zealand hosts the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Matches are held in Albany, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington.
• The Chatham Cup is won by East Coast Bays AFC who beat Dunedin Technical 1—0 in the final.[16]