1979: Michael Hill Jeweller
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Michael Hill (1938-2025) was a Silent Generation New Zealander famous for his chain of about 300 jewelry shops around New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. The first outlet was in Hill’s home town of Whangarei in 1979. Auckland, Hastings, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Lower Hutt followed. The South Island kicked off in 1987 at Christchurch. Ref. […]
Read more..July 29, 2025
1972: Papakura Museum
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Papakura Museum started life in 2 humble sites. In 1972 it started life in 2 rooms in a converted house. From 1982 to 1999 it had its own building, the old Papakura Fire Station. Its birth coincides, once again, with the energetic burst of heritage interest on the part of mid-life and elder New Zealanders […]
Read more..July 26, 2025
University of the South Pacific Climate Activists Triumph
By NZB3
A group of law students from the University of the South Pacific have been grievously misled. Their Australian environmental law professor has tutored them up to learn how to be climate change grifters. Not only to believe that man-made climate change is real but to follow that up by making a career out of having […]
Read more..July 24, 2025
1846: First Ever Dawn Raid
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in history, 23 July, 1846, probably the first ever Dawn Raid by the New Zealand government. Governor George Grey resolved to target Chief Te Rauparaha in order to disorganise and demoralise some of his swamp-dwelling kin. These were led by Rauparaha’s nephew, Rangihaeata. It worked. The raiders fell apart and Rauparaha’s power vacuum was […]
Read more..July 23, 2025
When Heritage Meets Handouts: Who’s Really Curating the Past?
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Consider the latest posts from 2 of our New Zealand museums, Thames (est. 1974) and Papakura (est. 1972.) One has created an interactive display with some laminated paper stuck to a brick and I like that. Number 8 wire. She’ll be right mate. The other one put in for taxpayer dollars from Auckland Council and […]
Read more..July 21, 2025
1999: Westland Industrial Heritage Park
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Westland Industrial Heritage Park, Hokitika, was established in 1999. When I visited I was humbled by the beautiful old machines and the welcoming and informed staff. However, I was also blown away by the embarrassingly large and modern warehouse space this little club was sitting on. A few old Boomer blokes who will likely keel […]
Read more..July 20, 2025
1993: Habeas Porpoise?
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Generations of Cantabrians once proudly showed the world one of the masterpieces of the Canterbury Museum collection: A huge blue whale skeleton. Born some time in the 1810s, the great leviathan washed up in 1908 at Okarito and after much trial and expense was fixed for display at the museum from 23 March, 1909. The […]
Read more..July 18, 2025
2017: Open Plan Classrooms
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
In the race for the 2017 General Election the Labour Party promised what they called ‘modern open-plan learning environments.’ Party Leader Andrew Little was just days away from being rolled by Jacinda Ardern and the party won, becoming Labour 6.0 in coalition with New Zealand First. Chris Hipkins, now as Education Minister, proceeded to replace […]
Read more..July 17, 2025
1868: The Greymouth Borrow Council
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Today in New Zealand history, 16 July, 1868, Greymouth was proclaimed a Borough. The title of the Crown land was shifted from Maori Reserve to the Canterbury Province which welcomed its newest 2 municipalities: Greymouth and Timaru. AHNZ, and Greymouth Punch, refer to this creation as The Greymouth Borrow Council. Ever since its creation it […]
Read more..July 16, 2025
1893: Maxim Gun in Greymouth
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Here’s a cool picture of a Maxim Gun on display in Greymouth. Most likely Greymouth Industrial Exhibition, December 1893. F. A. Moore brought the big guns to town on behalf of the Permanent Artillery Force that had been set up after the Russian Scare of a few years prior. “It possesses one barrel, which is […]
Read more..July 15, 2025
1926: The Information Service
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
From the late 1920s New Zealand had a human-based information retrieval system. A telephone internet before Teletext. It was staffed by up to 4 operators using 2 rotary directories and run as a sub-department of the telephone exchange which itself was part of the State’s postal system. The information section of the telephone exchange was […]
Read more..July 14, 2025
1952: Broken Barrier
By Anarchist History of New Zealand
Released 10 July, 1952: Broken Barrier. “The film was the first real attempt at a feature film to be produced in New Zealand since the end of World War II.” Ref. Wiki One of the two cameras used was acquired “from a dead German in the Western Desert”. This marks it as the art of […]
Read more..July 10, 2025
