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
