Temperance was one of the most divisive social issues in late-19th and early-20th
century New Zealand. Social reformers who argued that alcohol fuelled poverty,
ill health, crime and immorality nearly achieved national prohibition in a series of hotly contested referendums.
What would it take for West Coasters to boycott their beloved beer? Greymouth hotel-keepers found out in 1947, when an organised attempt to raise the price of beer sparked one of the most effective consumer boycotts ever seen in New Zealand.
Even though New Zealand's electoral franchise (right to vote) was more generous than Britain's, the colony's early elections were in many ways small-scale replicas of those in the UK.
In mid 1947
there were rumours that the price of beer was about to rise. It was a decision
that no publican wanted to take alone because customers might move to another
hotel where prices were lower.
After the
first week of the Greymouth beer boycott it became clear that the Licensed
Victuallers' Association (LVA), supported by the breweries, was not going to
yield.
After the colour and controversy of the 1850s, election days in New
Zealand have generally been orderly affairs. Even so, election nights
could still be lively occasions.
A number of Working Men's Clubs (WMCs) had been
established in major urban areas since the late 19th century, but there were
none on the West Coast. The beer boycott provided a catalyst for new debate.
The November 1908 licensing poll saw Masterton electorate introduce ‘no-license' and vote itself ‘dry’. Its 15 pubs closed on 1 July 1909, and remained closed until the town voted to restore liquor licenses in 1946.
