1995: Cave Creek Collapse
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in history, 28 April 1995, 14 young people fell to their deaths when a Government viewing platform collapsed under their feet on the West Coast. The National 4.0 Government launched an inquiry at once but as this Tremain cartoon (below) of the day shows the brief excluded an examination of their own fiscal policy. […]
Read more..April 28, 2023
They’re All Grifters Aren’t They?
By NZB3
The post from Peter Cresswell’s blog Don’t feed the grifters (March 2023) accurately identifies a species of Tourist Grifter that New Zealand receives from time to time. Posie Parker put in a little effort visiting Auckland and walked away with publicity and extra donations that money can’t buy after the stationary riot in Albert Park. […]
Read more..April 26, 2023
1910: Grafton Bridge
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in Auckland history, 25 April, 1910, Grafton Bridge opened. Made of concrete and steel, it was the largest reinforced concrete arch in the world at the time¹. This was what construction was like in New Zealand before bureaucratic inefficiency really set in. The project took only 2 years and was done before the technology […]
Read more..April 25, 2023
1940: Bernard Freyberg and Carol Hirschfeld
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
New Zealanders of German descent, such as Carol Hirschfeld and Bernard Freyberg, made up the largest migrant group to this country apart from Britain. These families have made strong contributions to the new nation including Missionarys and the earliest colonies at Akaroa and Nelson in the 1840s. Of course, we persecuted our German family members […]
Read more..April 21, 2023
1876: Death of Lord George Lyttleton
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in history, 19 April, 1876, Lord George Lyttelton (59) killed himself by throwing himself down a flight of stairs in his home, Hagley Hall. A feat only an upper class Englishman could hope to execute. With the stairs in my house I’d have to repeat the exercise many times over to achieve that result. […]
Read more..April 19, 2023
2023: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories (ANZH) curriculum
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
The new history curriculum is now (2023) officially in place in all New Zealand schools for Year 1–10 students. They call it ANZH: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum. As Dr Aroha Harris, University of Auckland, puts it: “The ANZH curriculum positions Māori history as “foundational and continuous”, so on that basis alone the future of […]
Read more..April 18, 2023
1851: The Ngatipaoa Invasion of Auckland
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
New Zealand’s capital city, Auckland, was attacked by an invading confederation of some 300 Maori tribesmen of the Hauraki Gulf today in history, 17 April, 1851. A fleet of war canoes established a beachhead at Mechanics Bay where the Port of Auckland now stands. Aucklanders quite rightly feared for their lives even as the Maori […]
Read more..April 17, 2023
1841: Auckland’s First Gaol
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Tonight in New Zealand history, 16 April 1842, Sheriff James Coates and his Head Gaoler George McElwain made a special journey to work by lantern light specifically to contemplate the “Feculent Hovel” they presided over: Auckland’s first jailhouse. As with everything the Government touches things had already gone to hell and they were only just […]
Read more..April 16, 2023
1992: 91ZM Morning Crew
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Phil Gifford, Susi Allison, and Simon Barnett hosted a government breakfast radio show in the early 90s out of Christchurch. ‘The Morning Crew’ pulled all sorts of stunts, created songs, and invented stereotypical characters to perform skits on air. After Allison departed the men kept up the work, eventually defecting to a rival station for […]
Read more..April 15, 2023
The Affordable Prime Minister?
By NZB3
Reporter: “Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, can I first ask you…” PM: “I’ll just stop you there and ask you to stop dead-naming me. My new name for this General Election will be Our Most Respected and Beloved and Affordable Leader.” Reporter: “I didn’t know you could..” PM: “And Three Waters is now to be referred […]
Read more..April 15, 2023
1913: The Battlecruiser New Zealand a Gift to Empire?
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in history, 12 April, 1913, the Battlecruiser HMS New Zealand arrived in Wellington and proceeded on a tour of our Dominion. It was visited by an estimated half-million New Zealanders—almost half the population. For example, Christchurch Mayor Harry Holland helped see to that by organising the visit of 1240 children from Dunedin to come […]
Read more..April 12, 2023
Social Desirability Bias
By NZB3
How to explain ‘Woke Capital’ or ‘The Wokeforce’ as I also like to call it? Why are famous brands sidling up to Woke ‘Current Thing’ values to sell more doodads? For example, Jack Daniels and Bud beer in the States are re-branding to be more Drag Queen friendly. It seems so self-destructive that my mate […]
Read more..April 12, 2023
