The year in news: Stories that dominated the headlines in 2022

This time last year we were having an uneasy summer - the Auckland boundary was gone so more of us could head to the beach, visit family or go to New Year's Eve celebrations, but Omicron was knocking at the door and people returning to the country still had to stay in MIQ.

Then in January, that Covid wave we were waiting for turned up - and a whole lot more besides.

Here are some of the stories that dominated RNZ headlines in another extraordinary year.

Tonga

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted on 15 January with a pressure surge that rippled out as far as New Zealand.

It blanketed islands in the Tonga archipelago in ash and created waves up to 15m high which destroyed homes and villages, and caused the death of three people.

The Tongan community in Auckland mounted a huge fundraiser filling shipping containers with goods to send.

Parliament protests

In February, anti-vaccine mandate protesters set up camp in Parliament grounds in a three-week occupation that disrupted the centre of the capital and ended in a fiery riot.

Hundreds of vehicles clogged central city streets and protester numbers swelled, including with extremists and conspiracist groups, violent incidents increased and conditions deteriorated.

On day 23, police descended on Parliament to clear the grounds in an ordeal of violence and destruction, with fires set alight, officers injured as protesters lobbed bricks and other missiles, and police in turn using fire hoses and pepper spray.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there was a place for peaceful protest in New Zealand but this was "an attack on our front-line police, it was an attack on our parliament, it was an attack on our values, and it was wrong."

Covid-19

In the meantime, the country was grappling with a new phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Community spread of Omicron was confirmed and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on 23 January New Zealand would move to the red traffic light setting that evening.

A slew of cancellations followed, including Waitangi Day events, as numbers at venues were limited.

Mask-wearing rules were tightened (though there was a swift clarification for weddings) and vaccinations were rolled out for children aged 5-11.

Daily cases were peaking at more than 20,000 in March - a huge number for New Zealand. But this was a "very different foe" to the previous Covid wave, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said as 1pm media briefings resumed. The high vaccination rate meant a milder illness for most people, he said.

Fast forward to April and scanning and vaccine mandates were already on the way out.

Mandates for police and defence staff had been quashed in a February High Court ruling.

The government progressively rolled back mandates from July until the final one - covering health and disability workers - was dropped in September.

That month the traffic light system was also scrapped.

Ashley Bloomfield, who had become one of the most recognised faces of the Covid-19 response announced he would be leaving the role in July.

New Zealand had another, smaller, wave of cases in July and at the end of 2022 numbers were climbing again.

MIQ

By the end of July the border was fully reopened for New Zealanders, Australians and all visitors, earlier than originally planned, self-isolation had been scrapped.

But not before bitter recriminations and a court case over the managed isolation and quarantine system and difficulties of getting a place via the much-criticised lottery system.

New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis went public with her struggle to secure an MIQ spot to get home from Afghanistan while pregnant, prompting an eventual apology from then Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins for comments made.

In April, the High Court handed the group Grounded Kiwis a legal victory, ruling that the MIQ lottery system operated unjustly.

Extreme weather

Days of torrential rain hit the West Coast in early February forcing evacuations in Westport. The Buller district suffered more extreme rainfall in the following two weeks prompting renewed [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/463207/funding-questions-hang-over-westport-flood-protection-plans questions over flood protection and the future of the town.

In March, heavy rain flooded hundreds of homes, businesses and schools in Auckland and Northland.

Shock new data was released in May showing the sea level was rising twice as fast as previously thought in some parts of Aotearoa. In August, the government released New Zealand's first climate adaptation plan setting out approaches to climate defence and managed retreat.

That month, a massive 'atmospheric river' dumped rain across most of New Zealand, hitting Nelson with devastating flooding and landslides, damaging roads and houses in Marlborough, and bringing down scores of slips in Wellington.

Later in the year the COP27 summit struck a historic deal on funding poorer countries for damage caused by climate change but made little progress on phasing out fossil fuels.

Ukraine

In August, New Zealander Dominic Abelen a soldier on leave from the Army, was killed fighting Russian forces in Ukraine months after Russia's 24 February invasion had sent shock waves around the world.

Against early expectations Ukraine had held its own against Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces, which were beaten back from the capital Kyiv early on, and by year's end had suffered major battlefield setbacks in the east and south, amid accusations of war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Russia turned its attack to missile strikes on Ukraine's power grid as the war continued into a freezing winter.

Russia says attacks on basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed New Zealand's parliament in December making a direct appeal for a "unique contribution" from New Zealand in countering Russia's "ecocide" in Ukraine.

The Queen

In September, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Elizabeth II had died, aged 96, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The Queen's death after a 70-year reign celebrated in her Platinum Jubilee, inspired an outpouring of tributes from around the world.

King Charles III was formally proclaimed monarch at a historic ceremony at St James's Palace.

The Queen's lying in state in Edinburgh and London and state funeral at Westminster Abbey drew hundreds of thousands in the UK to pay their respects.

In New Zealand, an official memorial service was held on a special public holiday declared to mark the death of the Queen.

Farewells

New Zealand lost some of the country's towering figures during the year.

Māori leader Tā Wira Gardiner was remembered as a "tireless advocate for his people".

Renowned constitutional expert and Māori advocate Dr Moana Jackson, Bastion Point leader and former MP Joe Hawke and respected leader and activist Dame June Jackson were mourned as their lives and contributions were celebrated.

Athletics legend Sir Murray Halberg, domestic violence campaigner Lesley Elliot, advocate for women Dame Miriam Dell, and singers John Hore Grenell and Margaret Urlich were among New Zealanders who died in 2022.

Matariki

The first Matariki public holiday took place on 24 June with nationwide celebrations hailed as Aotearoa's coming of age.

It is the most significant celebration in the traditional Māori calendar, occurring when the Matariki star cluster rises in mid-winter.

Matariki in photos: Nation shines with first Matariki holiday celebrations

An Auckland school community that had long celebrated Matariki welcomed its recognition as a public holiday.

Crime

Hundreds of dairy owners across the country closed shops and mounted protests in November over the fatal stabbing of dairy worker Janak Patel in Sandringham, Auckland.

It followed a year of headlines on robberies and ram raids affecting businesses in many centres, which led to planned changes in policing and fleeing driver policies.

A spate of gang shootings broke out, many of which were related to tensions between the Killer Beez and the Tribesmen in Auckland.

In brief

In other notable events of the year, the Supreme Court declared the voting age of 18 was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act - in a case brought by the Make It 16 campaign - but lowering the voting age would take a three-quarter majority in parliament to pass.

Alan Hall, who spent 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, had his conviction quashed by the Supreme Court in June, declaring it a miscarriage of justice. Following an independent report on the actions of prosecution lawyers, the Solicitor-General referred aspects of the matter to police.

The Supreme Court also quashed the convictions of late Peter Ellis, the Christchurch creche worker who was convicted of child sex offences in 1993.

Local elections brought in Auckland's new mayor Wayne Brown whose tenure began with controversies over council agencies he attacked during the election campaign, and remarks that caused a trading halt on Auckland Airport shares.

The High Court gave doctors temporary guardianship of Baby W, whose parents had refused to allow a transfusion of blood from anyone who may have had the Covid-19 vaccine. Doctors were able to carry out urgent heart surgery on the infant in December.

The cost of living and housing affordability was an increasing concern as the Reserve Bank moved to quell inflation. In its final review of the year, the Bank raised the official cash rate to its highest since 2008 in a move to engineer a recession.

Food prices were rising at their fastest rate in 14 years, rents were on the increase, floating mortgage interest rates rose above 7 percent, while the house price slide continued.