Protest & renaissance

The great Māori urban migration

Māori went from 26 percent urban in 1945 to nearly 80 percent by 1986 — a migration Te Ara says has been described as the most rapid movement of any population.

No Maoris, No Tour

A petition of around 160,000 signatures opposed sending an All Black team to South Africa with Māori players excluded. The tour went ahead anyway.

Television broadcasting begins

AKTV2 went to air in Auckland for three hours on its first night, opening with The Adventures of Robin Hood. At first regular programmes went out only on Wednesday nights.

Western Samoa becomes independent

The first Pacific nation to regain independence in the twentieth century did so from New Zealand, ending more than 47 years of often harsh administration.

The Aramoana begins the roll-on roll-off ferry service

The country’s first roll-on roll-off ferry let cars and rail wagons drive straight on and off, joining the two islands into one freight network.

Benmore dam and the Cook Strait cable

The largest earth dam in the country was built to feed a high-voltage link under Cook Strait, sending South Island hydro power north.

Decimal currency day

Pounds, shillings and pence became dollars and cents, promoted by a cartoon character called Mr Dollar.

The Wahine disaster

The inter-island ferry struck Barrett Reef in a storm with winds over 150 km/h and capsized in the harbour entrance. Fifty-three people died.

Ngā Tamatoa formed

A group of young urban Māori activists, many university-educated, began confronting the state over te reo, the Treaty and racism — loudly and publicly.

The Save Manapōuri petition

A petition of more than 260,000 signatures against raising Lake Manapōuri for a power scheme became the largest in the country’s history to that point.

The Māori language petition

Te petihana reo Māori

Ngā Tamatoa and Te Reo Māori Society delivered a 30,000-signature petition asking for te reo to be taught in schools. The date is now Māori Language Day.

Britain joins the EEC

Britain had been New Zealand’s great market for lamb, butter and cheese since the first frozen-meat shipment in 1882. Now that market began to close.

A frigate sails to Mururoa

Norman Kirk sent HMNZS Otago, with a cabinet minister aboard, to sit off the French nuclear test zone in protest.

The Māori land march

Te Rōpū Matakite o Aotearoa

Whina Cooper, aged 79, led a month-long hīkoi from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament under the slogan ‘not one more acre’.

Treaty of Waitangi Act — the Waitangi Tribunal

A permanent commission of inquiry was created to hear Treaty claims — but only for breaches after 1975. Claims were rare until 1985.

The Bastion Point occupation

Takaparawhau

Ngāti Whātua occupied their remaining ancestral land for 506 days against a government subdivision. Police and army removed them, and 222 people were arrested.

Eva Rickard and the Raglan golf course

Land taken from Tainui Āwhiro for a wartime airfield had become a golf course. Eva Rickard led an occupation of the fairway and was arrested on it.

The Erebus disaster

An Air New Zealand sightseeing flight to Antarctica flew into Mount Erebus in whiteout conditions. All 257 people aboard died.

The Springbok tour

Fifty-six days that split the country. Protesters occupied the pitch at Hamilton and stopped the game; by the final test, police in riot gear fought crowds outside Eden Park.