Celebrated on the fourth Monday in October, Labour Day commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day, a right that carpenter Samuel Parnell had famously fought for in 1840. Our first Labour Day was held on 28 October 1890, and it has been a statutory public holiday since 1900.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1951 waterfront dispute, the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history. Although it was not as violent as the Great Strike of 1913, it lasted longer – 151 days, from February to July – and involved more workers.
On 'Black Tuesday', 12 November 1912, in the midst of a bitter six-month strike by miners in the small New Zealand goldmining town of Waihi, striker Fred Evans was killed - one of only two fatalities in an industrial dispute in New Zealand's history.
Between 8 November 1939 and 4 May 1940 more than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington; this represents an average daily attendance of about 17,000 people. The government spent £250,000 – more than $19 million in today's money – on the exhibition.
Many socialist and labour leaders criticised the First World War as an imperialist war and strongly opposed conscription. New Zealand workers, they argued, had no quarrel with German workers.
The National government introduced full market rents in 1991 to reduce the state role in housing provision. From the start, public debate over state housing policy in New Zealand has centred on this very issue: how far should governments intervene in the housing market.
New Zealanders generally accepted the hardships and restrictions of the war years as necessary in the fight against fascism. After the war, though, many began to demand a greater share in the spoils of victory.
Keeping sport and politics separate was becoming increasingly difficult. In July 1969 HART (Halt All Racist Tours) was founded by University of Auckland students with the specific aim of opposing sporting contact with South Africa.
This Labour election poster from 1938 shows the eviction of a working-class family from a dilapidated, inner-city dwelling. It suggests that under National rule such events would become commonplace, whereas under Labour families would be rehoused in modern and suburban state houses.
The watersiders’ militancy had isolated them from most unionists and Walter Nash’s Labour Party Opposition sat uncomfortably on the fence, denouncing government repression but refusing to back either side.
David Lange was New Zealand's youngest prime minister during the 20th century. Renowned for his sharp wit and oratory, he is best remembered as leader of the fourth Labour government from 1984 to 1989.
Initially adding 10% to the cost of most goods and services, GST was a key part of the economic reforms of the fourth Labour government that were dubbed 'Rogernomics' after Minister of Finance Roger Douglas.
This country's oldest existing political party, the New Zealand Labour Party emerged from a joint conference of the United Federation of Labour and the Social Democratic Party in Wellington.
The cornerstone of the first Labour government's 'cradle to the grave' welfare policies, this Act introduced revised pensions and extended the scope of benefits for families, invalids and the unemployed.
