1868 — New Zealand officially set a national standard time — called New Zealand Mean Time — at 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

1927 — New Zealand first observed daylight saving time. The dates and time difference were changed several times over the following years.

1941 — New Zealand summer time was extended by emergency regulations to cover the whole year.

1946 — New Zealand summer time (12 hours in advance of GMT) was adopted as New Zealand standard time. Daylight saving time was effectively discontinued at this point.

1974–5 — Daylight saving was trialled again in 1974, and introduced in 1975. Daylight saving time is 1 hour ahead of New Zealand standard time.

1985 — Public attitudes were surveyed and over the next few years the period of daylight saving time was extended twice.

2006-07 — Following public debate and a petition presented to Parliament the period of daylight saving was extended to its current dates. New Zealand observes daylight saving from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April.

2008 — Daylight saving public attitude survey.