The last quarter‐century has witnessed major advances in New Zealand oceanography, that have been driven by technological and intellectual change. In geological oceanography, realisation that plate tectonics was more than a working hypothesis changed older concepts about the ocean floor. This was particularly important to New Zealand marine science, as much of the plate boundary is offshore. In physical oceanography, recognition that ocean variability could be much stronger than the mean flows was very relevant to the south‐west Pacific. This is because the New Zealand Plateau strongly perturbs the generally west‐to‐east flow in the two major surface water masses surrounding the Plateau and, in turn, controls biological production. In biological oceanography, there has been a rapid transition from a descriptive to a process‐oriented approach in research before the descriptive phase was completed. As yet there is very little information on interannual variability; all types of spatial variability which occur in the New Zealand region may not yet have been defined. In chemical oceanography, modern techniques have allowed New Zealanders to place knowledge of this region in a global context and contribute to an improved understanding of chemical processes.