Trams in New Zealand characterised by inflexible routes and expensive infrastructure maintenance. In Wellington there was significant opposition to the closure of the last tramway system in New Zealand, and the final decision to disestablish the remaining lines followed on a public referendum in 1959. All trolleybus systems in New Zealand have now been closed: Christchurch (1956), New Plymouth (1967), Auckland (1980), Dunedin (1982) and Wellington (2017). Auckland City had a private company operating horse-drawn trams from 1884. The Auckland Electric Tram Company's system was officially opened on 17 November 1902, but public service was delayed because three of the motormen, from Sydney, Australia,
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki second public art gallery in New Zealand opened three years after the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 1884. Wellington’s New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts opened in 1892 and a Wellington Public Library in 1893. In 2009, it was announced that the museum received a donation from American businessman Julian Robertson, valued at over $100 million, the largest ever of its kind in the region. The works will be received from the owner's estate. Throughout the 1870s many people in Auckland felt the city needed a municipal art collection but the newly established Auckland City Council was unwilling to commit