The following lists events that happened during 1912 in New Zealand.
The 1911 General Election, the first contested by the Reform Party, left parliament in an indeterminate state, with Reform holding 38 seats, Liberal 36, Labour 1 and with 5 independents.
Liberal, who had been in government for the past 21 years, claimed that Reform did not have a mandate, since many of their seats were the smaller rural electorates, and the Liberals proceeded to form a government under Joseph Ward as per the previous two parliaments.
Such were the loyalties of the independent members that votes were often deadlocked and dependent upon the casting vote of the Speaker. As a result, Joseph Ward resigned on 28 March, to be succeeded by agriculture minister Thomas Mackenzie. However, the government was defeated on the next occasion that parliament met, and the first Reform Government was formed under William Massey in July.
10 July – William Massey sworn in as Prime Minister after the Liberal Party loses a vote of no confidence.
September–October: French director Gaston Méliès and a company of film-makers make eight films in New Zealand including the first New Zealand feature films; see The River Wanganui.
October – Waihi Goldmining Company reopens the mine with scab labour.
Malcolm Champion was a member of the Australasian team which won the gold medal in the Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
^McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Men's Golf - National Champions". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
