New Zealand / Health

2024 in photos: How the year unfolded

21:34 pm on 31 December 2024

From top left, a woman in the hīkoi marching on Parliament, junior doctors on strike in Auckland, the Port Hills fire in Christchurch and severe flooding in Dunedin. Photo: RNZ / Stuff

Weather woes, the health system and Māoridom hitting back at government policies that affected them dominated the headlines and also produced some memorable images of 2024.

But there were plenty of others that also lingered from the sudden deaths of Green MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins and Kiingi Tuheitia to the grounding of the Aratere and the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui.

Here's a reflection on some of what RNZ captured during the year.

January

Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman announces she is quitting due to shoplifting. She subsequently pleads guilty to four charges. Photo: Marika Khabazi

Qualifying heats for the world manu championships on the Wellington waterfront had to be moved after a person died jumping from a nearby historic crane days earlier. Photo: Paul Taylor

An investigation is launched after the tourist vessel, the Fiordland Navigator, runs aground in Doubtful Sound with 67 people on board. Photo: RealNZ / supplied

Three houses, vehicles and outbuildings were destroyed during a wildfire in Loburn in North Canterbury. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

February

The sun rises over the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi. Photo: RNZ

The hīkoi arrives at Te Whare Rūnanga (the carved meeting house) at the Treaty Grounds. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

One of those taking part in the waka parade. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

South Dunedin Countdown (now Woolworths) had to be closed due to a rat infestation. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

A memorial service is held for two volunteer firefighters who died during the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro

A massive fire broke out in Christchurch's Port Hills on 14 February. Photo: Stuff / Kai Schwoerer

Dozens of homes were evacuated. Photo: Supplied / John Pickering

Newshub staff console each other after owner Warner Bros Discovery says it wants to close it down from 30 June. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

March

It was a packed farewell for new Green MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins who died suddenly on 21 February aged 49. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro

Chloe Swarbrick becomes Greens co-leader in the wake of James Shaw's resignation. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A passenger displays some of his injuries after a Latam flight from Sydney to Auckland plunged suddenly. Fifty people were injured, with 12 taken to hospital. Photo: Supplied/Brian Jokat

Angolan-Portuguese Kuduro musician Pongo performing at WOMAD in New Plymouth on 17 March, 2024. Photo: RNZ / Elliott Childs

Haitian artist Moonlight Benjamin in full voice at WOMAD. Photo: Te Reo o Taranaki

Aotearoa's 10th meteorite is discovered on Crown land in the Mackenzie Country. Photo: Supplied / Fireballs Aotearoa

Captain Ethan Smith and an F-16 at the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

April

Thousands take part in students' climate strikes around the country. This one was in Auckland. Photo: RNZ

The rail bridge over the Rangitata River, in South Canterbury, sags after flood water washed away one of 34 piers. Photo: Supplied / Allied Press / Connor Haley

Warner Bros boss Glen Kyne and Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher announce a deal for Stuff for produce a daily news bulletin to replace Newshub's. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro

Several hundred protest at a council decision to demolish the Petone Wharf. Photo: Save Petone Wharf / Supplied

May

Junior doctors hold a nationwide strike over some of their colleagues being forced to take pay cuts. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Hill

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown abandons a proposal to sell the Port of Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Flooding in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton on 21 May. Auckland and parts of Bay of Plenty also experienced flooding at the same time. Photo: Supplied / Celeste Donovan

A 13-year-old boy is charged with murder after a fatal stabbing of another teen in Dunedin. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

Thousands gather at protests from Whangārei to Invercargill for a National Māori Action Day to coincide with the government's first Budget. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

One of the participants at the Auckland rally. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Finance Minister Nicola Willis prepares to deliver the Budget. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A Jetstar plane is towed after sliding off the runway on arrival at Christchurch Airport. Photo: Supplied / JJ Green

June

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and wife Amanda in Niue during which Luxon announced NZ would invest $20 million in a renewable engery project for Niue. Photo: RNZ/Giles Dexter

Thousans took part in a protest march in Auckland against the government's fast track legislation plans. Photo: RNZ / Farah Hancock

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, here accompanies by Governor General Dame Kiro is welcomed to New Zealand. Photo: Marty Melville

A power pylon topples over in Northland, cutting pwoer to thousands of consumers in the region. Photo: Supplied / Kawakawa Electrical Ltd

The inter-islander ferry Aratere runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

July

Stuff's replacement news bulletin launches with Samantha Hayes as sole newsreader. Photo: Stuff / Supplied

Banks, petrol companies, airports and retailers in New Zealand are among those affected when a global IT outage causes chaos around the world. Photo: SEBASTIEN LAPEYRERE / AFP

Fifteen people were taken to hospital after two buses carrying tourists were involved in separate crashes on the Tekapo-Twizel Highway on 18 July. Photo: Supplied / Grace Duggin

Ministers David Seymour and Karen Chhour inspect the footwear to be used by participants during an inspection of the government's first boot camp in Palmerston North. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Helyer-Donaldson

August

Taranaki, lower parts of the North Island and the West Coast were hit with bad weather in late August. Here, a woman walks through floodwaters near the Otaihanga Domain on the Kāpiti Coast. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker

First Union and New Zealand Ambulance Association ambulance officers rallying in Invercargill during nationwide action over pay and conditions. It was the first time they had gone on strike. Photo: Supplied / First Union

Shane Jones, left, and Winston Peters, centre, during a minute of silence for the Māori king, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, in Auckland. Kiingi Tuheitia died on 30 August aged 69. Photo: RNZ / MARIKA KHABAZI

The Manahau barge ran aground on Carters Beach near Westport on 31 August. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee

September

Kiingi Tuheitia's youngest child and only daughter, Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, is announced as the new monarch of the Kiingitanga, on 5 September. Photo: Supplied

Electrician Daniel Abernathy is among those out of work after the final day of operations at the Winstone Pulp International sawmill in Ohakune. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER

Heavy snowfall shut schools, closed roads and cut off power to thousands in parts of the South Island on 13 September. Photo: Supplied / Kerry Andrews

Snow at Lake Hayes near Queenstown. Photo: Supplied / Elle McCammon

The hoiho / yellow eyed penguin is named bird of the year. Photo: Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust

Dunedin's biggest protest in years saw thousands object to the government's plans to scale back the city's new hospital. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

October

A residents carries her dog past a flooded property in Dunedin after flooding led to evacuations and the closure of roads. Photo: Nathan Mckinnon/RNZ

Macandrew Road, South Dunedin. Nine homes were redstickered and a state of emergency was declared. Photo: Nathan Mckinnon/RNZ

The HMNZS Manawanui grounded and sank off the coast of Samoa on 5 October, with 75 crew rescued safely. It was as a result of human error involving the autopilot, an interim inquiry found. Photo: Supplied / Profile Boats

A large scrub fire in the Whangamarino Wetland destroys more than 1000 hectares of wetland. Photo: Supplied / FENZ

November

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon delivers the government's apology to abuse in care survivors. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith

A video of Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke went viral after she led a haka, at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, on 14 November, 2024. Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone

More than 40,000 arrived in Parliament's grounds at the end of a nine-day hīkoi to protest about the Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Reece Baker

Photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

Photo: RNZ/Layla Bailey-McDowell

December

Several whales died but a majority of a pod of 40 were successfully refloated in Golden Bay. Photo: Project Jonah / Facebook

There was a massive wildfire at Bridge Hill in Canterbury as part of a series that stretched firefighters early in the month. Photo: Supplied / FENZ

Racing Minister Winston Peters announced the government would ban greyhound racing in this country. Photo: Samuel Rillstone

Maia Johnston was found injured but alive after she spent two nights lost in the hills around Upper Hutt, sparking an intensive search. Photo: Supplied / Seed Waikato