1979: International Year of the Child
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
After many months of warning the Secretary General of the United Nations proclaimed on 1 January, 1979, that this was the International Year of the Child. New Zealand’s Government and voluntary organisations willingly played along in a great show of raising awareness and thinking a bit more deeply about ‘the child’. There were no stated […]
Read more..January 5, 2024
1913: Walking To Happiness
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in history, 3 January, 1914, 12 schoolboys arrived in central Auckland having walked 520km from their Far North home in Te Kao. They called it ‘The Great Trek’ and it had started on 13 December of the previous year. This was an educational trip thought up and planned by their primary school teacher, Joseph […]
Read more..January 3, 2024
1999: Rarangi Millennium Rock
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
National 4.0 spent $5,000 on the Rarangi Millennium Rock in 1999. It’s on the beach just down the road a bit from Blenheim at Blue Gum Corner. According to news stories at the time it nearly didn’t make it due to Maori pre-conditions that it have more holes in it. The rock has one hole […]
Read more..December 30, 2023
1947: Middlemore Hospital
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Middlemore Hospital in Auckland opened on 3 May, 1947. It was a government project that, as usual, ran way over time as it was supposed to be completed by September 1943. Construction had not even began until August that year on land requisitioned from the Auckland Golf Club. At that point it was publicised as […]
Read more..December 26, 2023
1991: Kiwiburger
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
The Kiwiburger was the idea of franchisee Bryan Old and deployed in his five Hamilton McDonald’s restaurants. It was added to the national McMenu in 1991. According to his 2022 obituary, Old had a reputation for badgering upper McManagement with new ideas to the point where the best way to handle him was to let […]
Read more..December 20, 2023
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. […]
Read more..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 […]
Read more..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, […]
Read more..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 […]
Read more..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 […]
Read more..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 […]
Read more..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 […]
Read more..November 25, 2023
