TODAY IN HISTORY

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1955, NZ cricketers skittled for 26

racism

Events In History

10 May 1960

All-white All Blacks leave for South Africa

The slogan ‘No Maoris − No Tour’ fell on deaf ears and this controversial rugby tour went ahead. The issue of sporting ties with South Africa was to split the country in devastating fashion in 1981. Read more...
15 December 1944

Poll tax on Chinese immigrants abolished

The Finance Act (No. 3) abolished the poll tax introduced in 1881, which was described by Minister of Finance Walter Nash as a 'blot on our legislation'. Read more...
7 September 1921

Springboks play NZ Maoris for first time

‘Bad enough having play team officially designated New Zealand Natives’, a South African journalist wrote of the match between the Springboks and a New Zealand Maoris XV at Napier. Read more...
24 September 1905

Race killing in Haining St, Wellington

Lionel Terry killed Joe Kum Yung to draw attention to his crusade to rid New Zealand of Chinese people. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds of insanity. Read more...
1 November 1898

Old-age Pensions Act becomes law

A world first, the Act gave a small means-tested pension to destitute older people who were 'of good moral character'; Chinese were specifically excluded. It was one of the major achievements of Richard Seddon's Liberal government. Read more...
7 May 1888

Anti-Chinese hysteria in Dunedin

In a climate of widespread hostility towards non-white immigrants, a meeting in Dunedin − presided over by the mayor − unanimously called for a ban on further Chinese migrants Read more...
5 July 1881

Poll tax imposed on Chinese

The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 introduced a ‘poll tax’ of £10. Ships arriving in New Zealand could land only one Chinese passenger for each 10 tons of cargo. Read more...

Articles

1981 Springbok tour

For 56 days in July, August and September 1981, New Zealanders were divided against each other in the largest civil disturbance seen since the 1951 waterfront dispute. The cause of this was the visit of the South African rugby team – the Springboks.
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Page 5 – Gleneagles Agreement
The All Blacks accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1976, when world attention was firmly fixed on the republic because of the Soweto riots.

Hospital ships

The Maheno and Marama were the poster ships of New Zealand's First World War effort. Until 1915 these steamers had carried passengers on the Tasman route. But as casualties mounted at Gallipoli, the government - helped by a massive public fundraising campaign - converted them into state-of-the-art floating hospitals.
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Page 5 - Life on boardWhat was life like aboard a hospital ship? That largely depended on your job, your rank and your