March 17, 2026

1979: Dunedin Airport Siege

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Today in New Zealand history, 19 December, 1979, the control tower at Dunedin Airport was under siege. Forty police had surrounded the area between 6am and 11am when the hostage situation was handled peacefully followed by a violent reprisal by police against the teens responsible. Murray Sharp, 18yo, was the young brains behind the siege. […]

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December 19, 2023

1901: The Great Cheviot Earthquake

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

The settlers of Cheviot were dealt a vicious blow on 16 November, 1901, with The Great Cheviot Earthquake. Commercial and residential buildings were bowled over that day. The small town was ‘in a state of collapse and business suspended.’ Refugees either took to tents or left the district to seek intact housing. Only one person […]

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December 11, 2023

1989: Moriori- A People Resurrected

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

On 29 December, 1986, Prime Minister David Lange unveiled a life-size statue of the last Moriori, Tommy Solomon, who had died in 1933. He told the crowd that Moriori were not a myth but that “We cannot make them live again, but we can tell the truth about what happened to them.” It was clear, […]

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December 7, 2023

1908: Runanga Miners Hall

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Runanga Miners’ Hall, West Coast, emblazoned with socialist slogans, was opened on 2 December, 1908. Arson claimed it in the 1930s but it was soon rebuilt. One of the places where the New Zealand Socialist Party got going though they later changed their name to the Labour Party. From the mid-2010s to 2020s the hall […]

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December 2, 2023

1893: Her Worship Elizabeth Yates

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Her Worship Elizabeth Yates took office as Mayor of Onehunga borough on 16 January 1894 having been elected 29 November 1893. New Zealand had annual mayoral elections back then and Yates did not win a second term. However, she did come back as councilor for two terms between 1899 and 1901. Yates had stepped up […]

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November 29, 2023

2008: Air New Zealand Crash

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Today in history, 28 November, 2008, an Air New Zealand A320 passenger plane dived into the French Mediterranean. Remarkably enough this was 29 years to the day that Air New Zealand put a passenger plane into Mt Erebus in Antarctica. So if you’re superstitious perhaps stay away from government airlines for today? The Labour 5.0 […]

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November 27, 2023

A New Ministry is Formed

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

New Zealand has been ruled by many Ministries now. The seat of power, the Capital, has shifted from Sydney to Russell to Auckland and, finally, to Wellington. This transition took just over 25 years as The State took over the free colonies by invading north-to-south. As any Anarchist will tell you, The State is not […]

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November 25, 2023

1863: Surrender of Rangiriri

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Today in New Zealand history, 21 November, 1863, the Surrender of Rangiriri. This was a strategic defensive fort the Maoris had built over the course of months but it fell in about two days. The Maori invasion of Auckland was going very poorly but the the counter-invasion of the Colony was doing very well. This […]

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November 21, 2023

2021: Rotorua Boys High Goes Woke

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Today in history, 20 November, 2021, Rotorua Boys’ High deleted their once proud House names after 93 years. As recently as 2013 the names of great British men had been celebrated anew with the addition of portraiture. As we know, in 2016 our culture took a turn for the Victimhood… “The “Black Lives Matter” movement […]

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November 20, 2023

1914: Frances Parker Arrested

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

Frances Parker (b.1875) was a well-to-do New Zealand woman who moved to England in 1896 to earn her degree at Cambridge. This was paid for by her famous uncle Lord Kitchener. Fanny grew up in Waitaki County but the family moved to Waimate District in her 20s which is where there is a monument to […]

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November 20, 2023

Canterbury A&P Show 2023

By NZB3

Something wasn’t going right with the Canterbury A&P Show this year. For one thing, they re-named themselves New Zealand Agricultural Show by dropping the ‘pastoral’ from the title but that’s been wrong since 2018. I visited on Thursday the 16th between rainstorms so it was sunny and pleasant and not too busy. Last year was […]

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November 18, 2023

1931: Policy of Adaptation

By Anarchist History of New Zealand

In 1931 the Policy of Adaptation was set down as Government policy whenever it came to Maori schooling and has remained so ever since. There were times before when a Policy of Integration was pursued became some legislators thought it best to provide young native minds with the same lessons as the Anglo New Zealanders […]

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November 16, 2023