<P> `` God Defend New Zealand '' was written as a poem in the 1870s by Irish - born , Victorian - raised immigrant Thomas Bracken of Dunedin . A competition to compose music for the poem was held in 1876 by The Saturday Advertiser and judged by three prominent Melbourne musicians , with a prize of ten guineas . The winner of the competition was the Tasmanian - born John Joseph Woods of Lawrence , New Zealand who composed the melody in a single sitting the evening after finding out about the competition . The song was first performed at the Queen 's Theatre , Princes Street , Dunedin , on Christmas Day , 1876 . In 1897 , Prime Minister Richard Seddon presented a copy of words and music to Queen Victoria . </P>
<P> `` God Defend New Zealand '' was written as a poem in the 1870s by Irish - born , Victorian - raised immigrant Thomas Bracken of Dunedin . A competition to compose music for the poem was held in 1876 by The Saturday Advertiser and judged by three prominent Melbourne musicians , with a prize of ten guineas . The winner of the competition was the Tasmanian - born John Joseph Woods of Lawrence , New Zealand who composed the melody in a single sitting the evening after finding out about the competition . The song was first performed at the Queen 's Theatre , Princes Street , Dunedin , on Christmas Day , 1876 . In 1897 , Prime Minister Richard Seddon presented a copy of words and music to Queen Victoria . </P>
who wrote the national anthem of new zealand
who wrote the national anthem of new zealand
Thomas Bracken
Thomas Bracken