Social change & rights

Samuel Marsden’s first Christian service

Marsden preached at Oihi Bay on Christmas Day 1814 under the protection of Ruatara, beginning the first permanent mission station in New Zealand.

Bishop Pompallier founds the Catholic mission

Jean Baptiste Pompallier landed at Hokianga, breaking the Protestant monopoly on missionary work and adding a French presence that unsettled the British.

Pai Mārire spreads

Te Ua Haumēne’s faith, an independent Māori Christianity born in war-torn Taranaki, spread across the North Island and was met with force by the Crown.

Education Act — free, secular and compulsory

A national primary system, free and compulsory for Pākehā children aged 7 to 13, and deliberately secular to avoid conflict between the churches.

Women win the vote

New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world where women could vote in national elections. Kate Sheppard’s 1893 petitions held nearly 32,000 signatures.

Old-age pensions introduced

One of the first state pensions anywhere — means-tested, character-tested, and closed to Chinese and other Asian residents.

Tohunga Suppression Act

An Act making it an offence to practise as a tohunga, aimed at healers who claimed supernatural powers and at prophets such as Rua Kēnana.

The Rātana movement rises

Te Hāhi Rātana

Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana built a church and then a political movement that campaigned for the Treaty of Waitangi to be honoured.

Social Security Act

Free hospital care, subsidised doctors’ visits and a comprehensive array of benefits, meant to protect New Zealanders ‘from the cradle to the grave’.

American troops arrive

With Singapore fallen and Japan advancing, more than 150,000 US servicemen were stationed in or visited New Zealand, bringing a considerable clash of cultures.

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.

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.

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.

Homosexual Law Reform Act

Sex between men aged 16 and over was decriminalised, after a bitter public debate and sixteen months in Parliament.