← 1939 1938 1937 1940 in New Zealand → 1941 1942 1943
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
See also:	History of New Zealand List of years in New Zealand Timeline of New Zealand history

The following lists events that happened during1940 in New Zealand.

• Estimated population as of 31 December: 1,633,600.^[1]
• Increase since 31 December 1939: -8000 (−0.49%).^[1]
• Males per 100 females: 99.1.^[1]

• Head of State –George VI
• Governor-General –The Viscount GalwayGCMGDSOOBEPC^[2]

The26th New Zealand Parliament continued with theLabour Party in government.

• Speaker of the House –Bill Barnard (Labour Party)
• Prime Minister –Michael Joseph Savage thenPeter Fraser
• Minister of Finance –Walter Nash
• Minister of Foreign Affairs –Michael Joseph Savage thenFrank Langstone
• Attorney-General –Rex Mason
• Chief Justice – SirMichael Myers

• Leader of the Opposition –Adam Hamilton (National Party) until 26 November, thenSidney Holland (National).^[3]

• Mayor of Auckland –Ernest Davis
• Mayor of Hamilton –Harold David Caro
• Mayor of Wellington –Thomas Hislop
• Mayor of Christchurch –Robert M. Macfarlane
• Mayor of Dunedin –Andrew Henson Allen

• 25 March:John A. Lee is expelled from the governingLabour caucus following his outspoken criticism of dying leaderMichael Joseph Savage
• 27 March: New Zealand's firstLabour Prime Minister,Michael Joseph Savage dies from cancer inWellington.
• 19 June: The linerRMS Niagara is sunk by a mine laid by theGerman auxiliary cruiser Orion off Whangarei. She was carrying British gold destined for America.
• 12 July:Pan American Airways flying boat service from Hawaii to Auckland viaCanton Island (notKingman Reef) commences.
• 14 December: TheCanterbury Pioneer Women's Memorial was formally opened.
• German surface raiders operated in New Zealand waters in 1940 and 1941, sinking four ships.

See1940 in art,1940 in literature

See:1940 in music

See:Public broadcasting in New Zealand

• Rewi's Last Stand (1940)
• One Hundred Crowded Years

See:Category:1940 film awards,1940 in film,List of New Zealand feature films,Cinema of New Zealand,Category:1940 films

• The 49th National Chess Championship was held in Wellington, and was won byJohn Dunlop of Dunedin (his 6th and last title).^[4]

• New Zealand Trotting Cup – Marlene^[5]
• Auckland Trotting Cup – Ned Worthy^[6]

The national outdoor lawn bowls championships are held in Wellington.^[7]

• Men's singles champion – G.A. Deare (Carlton Bowling Club)
• Men's pair champions – L.G. Donaldson,Bill Bremner (skip) (West End Bowling Club, Auckland)
• Men's fours champions –Bill Whittaker, J.W.T. Macklow,Alec Robertson,Frank Livingstone (skip) (Onehunga Bowling Club)

• TheChatham Cup is won byWaterside who beatMosgiel 6–2 in the final.^[8]
• Provincial league champions:^[9]
  • Auckland:Comrade
  • Canterbury:Western
  • Hawke's Bay:Napier HSOB
  • Nelson:No competition
  • Otago:Mosgiel
  • South Canterbury:No competition
  • Southland:No competition
  • Taranaki:RNZAF
  • Waikato:No competition
  • Wanganui:Technical College Old Boys
  • Wellington:Waterside

• 12 January:Dick Motz, cricketer (d.2007)
• 13 February:Stan Rodger, politician (d.2022)
• 17 February:James Laurenson, actor (d.2024)
• 23 March:Brian Hastings, cricketer (d.2024)
• 14 April:Robin Tait, discus thrower (d.1984)
• 7 June:Felicity Riddy, author and academic
• 10 June (in the USA):Augie Auer, meteorologist (d.2007)
• 23 June:Mike Shrimpton, cricketer (d.2015)
• 1 July (in Australia):Judith Binney, historian (d.2011)
• 8 July:Waka Nathan, rugby union player (d.2021)
• 15 July:Ian Athfield, architect (d.2015)
• 11 August:Glenys Page, cricketer (d.2012)
• 31 August:Maurice (John) Belgrave, public servant and chief ombudsman (d.2007)
• 3 September:Brian Lochore, rugby player (d.2019)
• 18 September
  • Bruce Murray cricketer
  • Jon Trimmer, ballet dancer.
• 24 September:Don Brash, Governor of theReserve Bank of New Zealand, politician
• 6 October:Merv Wellington, politician (d.2003)
• 24 October:Martin Campbell, film and TV director
• date unknown
  • David Baragwanath, High Court judge.
  • Robyn Donald, writer.
  • Tessa Duder, writer.
  • Joe Hawke, politician.
• Michael Jackson, poet, anthropologist
  • Maurice McTigue, politician and diplomat.

• 12 January:Taurekareka Henare, politician.
• 27 March:Michael Joseph Savage, Prime Minister.
• 28 May:Florence Young, missionary.
• 6 June: F.O.Edgar "Cobber" Kain, first RAF ace of WWII.
• 17 November:Frank Moore, political activist.
• Hannah Retter, New Zealandcentenarian (born 1839)^[10]

• History of New Zealand
• List of years in New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment

For world events and topics in 1940 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 1940

Media related to1940 in New Zealand at Wikimedia Commons

• 1940 in New Zealand
• Years of the 20th century in New Zealand

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from December 2019
• Commons category link from Wikidata