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On 24 November the coaster Holmglen foundered north of Oamaru. All 15 crew were lost.

This national body was set up as the pinnacle of a hierarchy of village and district councils, dating from 1900, though revived under the 1945 Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act. Largely because of the huge movement of Māori from country to town, the rural organisations declined in significance while the NZ Māori Council gained increasing authority.

To deal with the increasing number of citizens' complaints about government bureaucracy, the office of Ombudsman was established on 7 September 1962. Sir Guy Powles established an effective system that has been used often as a model for other democratic nations and states.

On 3 July a DC-3 airliner crashed in the Kaimai Range, Bay of Plenty. All 23 passengers and crew were killed in what remains the worst air crash within New Zealand.

Māori were becoming increasingly concerned at the continued alienation of their remaining land by paternalistic legislation and by a lack of understanding of how the confusion of laws since 1862 had mostly hindered rather than assisted the development of Māori land by its owners. The Amendment Act in 1967 introduced compulsory conversion of 'Māori freehold' land with four or fewer owners into 'general land', and increased the powers of the Māori Trustee to compulsorily acquire and sell 'uneconomic interests' in Māori land. The Amendment Act led to growing Māori concerns that the law would result in further alienation of what land remained and also led to strong protests by organisations such as the New Zealand Māori Council and the Māori Graduates Association, street demonstrations and angry meetings throughout the country. The law was modified in 1974, and work subsequently began on the drafting of a completely new act.

On 19 January an explosion at the Strongman coal mine, near Greymouth, killed 19 miners.

On 10 April the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine struck Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in atrocious conditions caused by tropical cyclone Giselle.

The Race Relations Act prohibited discrimination based on race, colour or ethnic origin in a wide range of public and private situations. The Act also created the office of Race Relations Conciliator.

Waitangi Day had been a holiday since 1963 for Auckland and Northland only (replacing the provincial anniversary holiday). The Māori protest movements took up the long-standing Ratana demand for ratification of the Treaty, that is, having it formally recognised in legislation. In 1974, three years after Nga Tamatoa staged the first big protest at Waitangi, 6 February became a national holiday and the Queen attended her first Waitangi Day ceremony. It was, for two years, briefly renamed New Zealand Day.

From 14 September, Whina Cooper's Māori land hikoi marched from the tail of the 'fish', Te Ika-a-Maui (North Island) at Cape Reinga, to the head (Wellington) to publicise concerns over unceasing disposal of Māori land in Crown hands. Gathering support at about 25 stops along the way, the hikoi reached the capital on 13 October. Five thousand people walked onto Parliament grounds and presented a petition bearing 60,000 signatures. By the time a tent embassy was dismantled two months later, the hikoi had raised public awareness of Māori concerns. Responding to the pressure of the hikoi and other lobbying, the government passed the first legislative recognition of the Treaty (although there had been recognition of aspects of it in the legislation of the 1860s).