Events
- 27 January: National Party leader Don Brash delivers a speech at Orewa highly critical of the government's policy towards Māori.
- 8 April: New Zealand First party announces it would give its support to the government's foreshore legislation.
- 30 April: Tariana Turia announces she will vote against the Government's foreshore and seabed legislation.
- 5 May: A hikoi against the foreshore and seabed legislation arrives in Wellington.
- 7 May: The government's foreshore and seabed Bill passes its first vote in Parliament.
- 11 May: The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act is passed. The Act allows people who have not reoffended for seven years to not declare minor criminal convictions in most circumstances.
- 30 June: Statistics New Zealand estimates for this date put the Cities of Lower Hutt and Tauranga at over 100,000 residents for the first time and Waimakariri District at over 40,000
- 1 July: First sitting of the new Supreme Court.
- 10 July: Te Tai Hauauru by-election won by Tariana Turia for the new Māori Party.
- 15 July: 2004 Israel-New Zealand spy scandal: New Zealand imposes diplomatic sanctions against Israel after two Israeli citizens are convicted of passport fraud.
- 2 August: Around 7,500 Destiny Church members march on Parliament in black shirts to protest liberal social policies.
- 15 August: Tornado in Waitara. Two fatalities when a farmhouse is destroyed.
- 19 August: Cereal maker Dick Hubbard announces he is running for the position of Mayor of Auckland.
- 6 October: Waikato Hospital doctors complete a 22 hour surgery to separate a pair of conjoined twins.
- 9 October: 2004 local body and health board elections completed, but not all of the counting; and some results need to wait for special votes. All three West Coast mayors unseated, along with several in more populous centres such as Auckland.
- 1 November: A reciprocal working holiday agreement between New Zealand and Belgium comes into effect.
- 18 November: Legislation passed vesting ownership of all land up to the high tide mark in New Zealand with the Crown.
- 29 November: The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act comes into force.
- 9 December: The Supreme Court of New Zealand granted Ahmed Zaoui bail. He will reside in the Dominican Friary in Auckland. He will have to report to the Police twice a week and must spent each night in the Friary.
- 9 December: The Civil Unions Act is passed. The Act establishes the new institution of civil union, available to same-sex and de facto couples.
- 10 December: Smoking is banned in workplaces or licensed premises.
Read more about this topic: 2004 In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the word events:
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
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“By many a legendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which have passed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look upon white men with abhorrence.... I can sympathize with the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to his valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the intruding European.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)