NZHistory, New Zealand history online - economy

Economic nationalism cartoon, 1933

This 1933 cartoon reflected the New Zealand Legion's belief in economic nationalism and self-sufficiency. It hoped to achieve this aim via a bigger domestic market for New Zealand produce.

Credit:

National Opinion, 1, 2, 24 August 1933, p.4.

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

depression

cartoon

economy

new zealand legion

200,000th vehicle leaves Todd Motors

Agriculture was the backbone of the New Zealand economy but manufacturing was an important source of employment. Tariffs on imported goods were intended to protect local industry.

As early as 1907 the government had imposed taxes on cars that arrived in New Zealand already assembled in a bid to protect local coachbuilders and car assemblers. These tariffs remained in place at varying levels for much of the twentieth century.

A number of car assembly plants were built, including the Todd Motors plant in Petone in 1936. In this photo lifelong employee Norman Thompson drives the 200,000th vehicle off the Petone assembly line in October 1973. By the late 1980s tariffs on imported vehicles had been reduced to a level which enabled them to compete with domestically assembled cars. A growing flood of second-hand Japanese imports led to the demise of local assembly by the end of the 1990s.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: EP/1973/4352/6A-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

economy

1970s

cars

Overview - NZ in the 1970s

Population

New Zealand’s population reached three million in late 1973. Then the rate of natural increase slowed as the contraceptive pill became more widely used and an economic downturn meant that young couples were less eager to start families. There were also more emigrants and fewer immigrants. The population had only reached 3.2 million by the end of the decade.

Non-Māori still lived longer than Māori, although the gap was narrowing. Life expectancy for non-Māori men was 69 years and for women 76, as opposed to 63 and 68 respectively for Māori. Māori infant mortality had fallen by almost half since the 1950s, but at 22 per 1000 was still significantly higher than the non-Māori rate of just over 15. Nevertheless the total Māori population had increased fourfold in 50 years. In 1976 nearly 45% of the Māori population was aged 15 and under, compared with just under 30% of the non-Maori population.

Economy

Todd Motors assembly plant, 1973

Developed economies worldwide reeled as a result of the twin oil shocks of 1973 and 1978–9. Soaring oil prices had severe consequences for our economy, which relied heavily on imported oil. Our balance of payments worsened while unemployment and inflation both increased. By 1976 New Zealand was in recession. In a bid to reduce oil consumption the government employed a variety of methods ranging from carless days to the more ambitious – and expensive – ‘Think Big’ energy projects.

Britain’s position as our major export market had already begun to decline by the time the United Kingdom entered the European Economic Community in 1973. Britain’s share of our exports was still around 50% in 1965, but by the end of the 1970s it was less than 15%.

In 1975 the average weekly wage was $95 per week (equivalent to around $850 per week in 2012). This rose to $157 per week by 1979, but because of inflation the average Kiwi was no better off. The minimum wage for all workers was set at $1.95 an hour (around $11.30 per hour in 2012) compared to the average hourly rate of $4.52 per hour ($20.26 in 2012).

Popular Culture

In 1970 the single state-run television channel (a second began broadcasting in 1975) broadcast 65 hours of programmes per week. The opening of the Warkworth satellite station in 1971 enabled us to receive news from overseas more quickly and to watch events ‘live’ without physically being there. Colour television arrived in 1973, but it was expensive. In 1975 a 26-inch colour set could set you back around $840 ($7,500 in 2012) and its annual licence fee of $35 ($330 in 2012) was almost double that for a black and white set. With advertising restricted to five days a week for much of the ‘70s, the licence fee was an important source of revenue for television broadcasting.

The rise and fall of Play School

Although American and British shows dominated the television listings, important steps were made in the development of local content. Good examples included the ‘soaps’ Pukemanu (1971) and Close to home (1975). While they caused some ‘cultural cringe’, viewers did get used to hearing an authentic Kiwi twang on the telly. We explored our past through The governor and laughed at our rural roots with Fred Dagg and his host of ‘Trevs’ as well as Murray Ball’s Footrot Flats. Shows such as A week of it allowed us to laugh at our politicians; the catchphrase ‘Jeez, Wayne’, became part of the national lexicon. For our kids, Play school (1972), which featured Big Ted, Little Ted, Humpty, Jemima and Manu, and the award-winning Spot on (1974) became compulsory viewing.

Music shows continued to be popular. Ready to roll, The Grunt machine, and its successor Radio with pictures all attracted strong viewer numbers. Music videos were coming into vogue but talent shows remained popular. Studio one/New faces, described by music historian John Dix as ‘a talent quest in search of safe innocuous performers’, actually covered the full gamut of musical styles and acts. Nevertheless, Osmond and Partridge family wannabes appeared frequently.

On the big screen, Sleeping dogs (1977) was the first full-length feature film made entirely by a New Zealand production crew. It attracted large audiences here and was also released in the United States.

Protest and issues

The 1976 Montreal Olympics boycott

Anti-Vietnam War protests intensified before New Zealand’s complete withdrawal from the conflict was announced shortly after Labour’s victory in the 1972 general election. Opposition to French nuclear testing continued and led to questioning of whether we should allow nuclear ship visits from our American allies. Sporting contact with South Africa continued to dog New Zealand and New Zealanders. In 1970 Māori players toured South Africa for the first time, but only as ‘honorary whites’. Fearing violence should it proceed, the Kirk government cancelled the proposed 1973 Springbok tour to New Zealand. The All Blacks’ tour of South Africa in 1976 resulted in a boycott of the Montreal Olympics by 26 African nations.

The 1970s brought major changes for Waitangi Day as (briefly re-branded as New Zealand Day in 1974) it became a focus for renewed Māori activism. The 1975 land march and high profile protests at Bastion Point and Raglan highlighted the issue of Māori land loss. The establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 was an important constitutional development that enabled Māori to seek redress from the Crown for breaches of the Treaty.

The women’s movement grew in strength through the decade, influencing significant legislative and social changes. United Women’s Conventions attracted thousands in the main centres. The message of women’s rights was brought to the streets in marches and protests. Key issues for women included the right to safe legal abortion, pay equity, matrimonial property rights, and legislative change to outlaw discrimination against women.

Race relations suffered a setback with the controversial dawn raids by police on the homes of ‘overstayers’ who were alleged to have remained in the country after their visas expired. Samoans and Tongans in particular were singled out for attention.

Politics

National finally lost power after four terms in office when a revitalised Norman Kirk led Labour to a landslide victory in 1972. Kirk’s interest in foreign affairs brought new links with Africa and Asia and a new sense of national identity. Following his sudden death in August 1974 there was a genuine outpouring of grief and thousands attended his state funeral. The new National Party leader, Robert Muldoon, portrayed Kirk’s successor Bill Rowling as weak and dismissed Labour’s economic policies as ‘borrow and hope’. National’s pledge of a tax-funded superannuation scheme wooed many voters and helped National reverse the 1972 election result in 1975. Muldoon’s abrasive style created a divisive brand of politics that was captured perfectly by one particularly memorable interview with Simon Walker on the current events show Tonight in 1976.

In 1972 the term of Sir Arthur Porritt, the first New Zealand-born Governor-General, came to an end. Unlike Porritt his successor, Sir Denis Blundell, had spent most of his life in New Zealand. From now on this would be a requirement for appointees to the position. The 1977 appointment of Keith Holyoake – a serving cabinet minister – was controversial. Many doubted his ability to be impartial and the precedent of appointing a retiring politician has not been repeated.

Sport

Rugby remained a powerful sporting and cultural force. Prior to the establishment of a two-tier National Provincial Championship in 1976, the Ranfurly Shield was the symbol of provincial supremacy. Smaller unions such as North Auckland (Northland), South Canterbury, Manawatu and more famously Marlborough all enjoyed tenures of note. This was not a vintage era for the All Blacks, who tasted defeat in 14 of their 48 tests – much worse than their usual record – including controversial series losses in South Africa (1970, 1976) and at home against the British Lions (1971). During an internal tour in 1973 they were even defeated by the Junior All Blacks. A first ever ‘grand slam’ against the home unions in 1978 was the highlight of an otherwise mediocre decade for the men in black.

The New Zealand cricket team had a little more to shout about, with first-ever test wins against both Australia and England.

1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch

The victory by the New Zealand rowing eight at the 1972 Munich Olympics was hailed as one of our greatest Olympic moments. Four years later our participation at Montreal was overshadowed by the boycott of the games by 26 African nations in protest over that year’s All Black tour of South Africa. On the track John Walker won gold in the 1500m and the New Zealand men’s hockey team upset the more-fancied Australians to win the gold medal. But it is the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games that stood out for many Kiwis. Dick Tayler’s celebrations after winning the men’s 10,000 metres on the opening day would become one of the iconic sporting images of the decade.

Fans of the round-ball code of football received a boost with Sunday lunchtime screenings of England’s Match of the day and (from 1973) live screenings of the English FA Cup final. Locally a national league was established in 1970. Mount Wellington and Christchurch United each won three titles during the decade.

Outdoor basketball was renamed netball in 1970. Auckland staged the fourth world championships in 1975, and in 1979 New Zealand shared the world title with Australia and hosts Trinidad and Tobago.

'Meat and drink'

We remained a ‘meat and three veg’ people. Our appetite for beef increased from 45 kg per person in 1969 to 57 kg in 1977. Counting mutton and lamb as well, the average Kiwi scoffed nearly 90 kg of red meat each year. Potatoes (57 kg), carrots (8 kg), cabbages (5 kg) and cauliflower (4 kg) were the main vegetables eaten.

Delivering milk in Wellington, 1975

Milk – almost always full-cream – was delivered by the local ‘milkman’ in a glass bottle. In 1979 we each drank 188 litres of the stuff. The amount of cheese consumed almost doubled during the decade to 8 kg per person per year, in part because of the fad for fondues. We also spread 15 kg of full-fat butter on our sandwiches.

Kiwis still enjoyed a ‘flutter’ at the track or the TAB. The amount ’invested’ annually on horses and dogs increased more than threefold to just over $500 million, and the betting age was lowered from 20 to 18 years. A bet went hand in hand with a beer. By the late 1970s we were consuming 119 litres of beer a year per person – quite some effort given the numbers who didn’t touch alcohol. We were also drinking more wine – 4.5 litres in 1969 but 11 litres in 1979.

Vogel's legacy

Julius Vogel cartoon

After the initial enthusiasm of the 1870s, Julius Vogel’s reputation suffered in the 1880s when New Zealand’s economy slumped into a long depression that was triggered by an international banking crisis. Political rivals condemned him as an ‘impudent adventurer’ whose reckless borrowing had fuelled an unsustainable boom, leading to an inevitable bust. But as prosperity returned in the 1890s and 1900s, and the Liberal government championed its own public works schemes, Vogel was again praised as a progressive visionary.

Nation building

During the 1870s railways and other technological innovations (like the electric telegraph and steam ship) quickened the pace of life in New Zealand. Improved communications knitted communities closer together and encouraged centralisation and uniformity. The rail-building project launched by Vogel in 1870 was one of the New Zealand state’s most significant achievements – and one of its greatest financial commitments. Between 1870 and 1929 the government devoted half of all its public works spending to railways: equivalent to state spending on roads, telegraphs, public buildings, immigration, defence, lighthouses and harbour works put together.

Making history

Historians have generally been kind to Vogel. The Liberal politician and historian William Pember Reeves described him as ‘one of the short list of statesmen whose work has left a permanent mark on the Dominion’. To biographer Raewyn Dalziel, he was a ‘powerful and magnetic’ leader who ‘towered over his colleagues’ and established the political agenda of the late 19th century.

Immigration graph

The 1870s was also a decade of dramatic demographic change. The government assisted 100,000 migrants to come to New Zealand, the great majority of them British and Irish. The colony’s European population soared from 256,000 in 1871 to 490,000 ten years later, dwarfing a Māori population of fewer than 50,000. (See Te Ara for more on the history of immigration.)

These migrants were among the chief beneficiaries of Vogel’s public works revolution. They settled in cities that were now profitably linked to their hinterlands, in the new towns that sprouted along the rail routes, and in newly accessible rural regions that were becoming part of the productive economy.

In other ways, though, Vogel’s legacy was less positive. Public works spending concentrated power in central government’s hands, and rail- and road-building decisions were often made for political gain rather than sound economic reasons. Railways and roads radically transformed much of the natural environment, facilitating forest clearance, flaxmilling, the drainage of swamps and a transition to pastoral farming.

Maori land loss, 1860–2000

The impact on Māori was massive. The railway lines that edged inland from the coast nibbled away at the edges of the Māori landed estate before slicing it up into more digestible chunks for the state and settlers to consume. It may have taken four decades, but the rail-building programme launched in 1870 eventually prised open the Māori heartland of the central North Island. Ultimately it was Vogel’s public works and immigration programme, rather than the wars of the 1860s, that cemented the colonial government’s authority over all of New Zealand.

Building Vogel's railways

Julius Vogel wasn’t the first colonial politician to promise public works and immigration on the back of borrowed money. But the early 1870s offered better prospects for success. War in the North Island was all but over. The main British railway network was largely complete, so English contracting firms like John Brogden and Sons were looking for new opportunities overseas. An outbreak of rural unrest in Britain also encouraged some farm labourers to undertake the long and difficult sea voyage to New Zealand.

Along the lines

Road and telegraph networks were extended at the same time as railways were built. The former often accessed rail construction sites or linked railheads, and the latter frequently followed rail lines. Significantly, by 1876 New Zealand had an undersea telegraph link to Australia, which reduced communication with Europe to a matter of hours.

Early railway construction workers

The colonial government contracted Brogdens to build railways and recruit migrant workers. In 1872–3 they brought 2200 English immigrants here, including 1300 working-age men (mostly agricultural labourers) contracted to two years’ work on railway construction. Brodgens’ ‘navvies’ (this common name for public works labourers derived from the ‘navigators’ who had dug Britain’s 18th-century canals) set to work on six contracts at or near Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Picton, Oamaru and Invercargill. They worked by hand using simple tools – picks and shovels, horses and carts, and dynamite – and endured primitive living conditions in isolated camps.

Problems with the plan

Rail construction forged ahead, despite occasional delays, labour shortages and industrial disputes over wages and conditions (not least the local custom of an eight-hour working day). By the mid-1870s the government was offering assisted passages from Britain without any work obligations. Many disgruntled navvies broke their contracts and drifted into farming, urban jobs or gold-prospecting. British recruitment was soon abandoned; from now on navvies would be recruited locally.

Turning the ‘first sod’ of the Temuka–Timaru line

By 1873, when Vogel became Premier, other tensions were emerging. Members of Parliament and local Railway Leagues were lobbying for rail lines through their electorates and towns. More borrowing was needed, an estimated £1.5 million for railways alone in 1873. To guarantee further loans and help pay for the scheme, Vogel proposed to reserve 6 million acres (2.4 million ha) of ‘wasteland’ along rail routes as a Crown endowment. But South Island provincialist MPs feared a central government land grab and defeated the proposal in Parliament. Vogel and his allies plotted their revenge.

Although provincial feelings remained strong, politicians increasingly realised that only central government could pay for and carry out such an ambitious nation-building programme. The abolition of the provinces was carried in Parliament in October 1875 and came into effect a year later. By that time the Vogel ministry had lost power, but subsequent governments continued to pour money into public works. Along with rail development itself, the abolition of the provinces was a key element in the emergence of a strong central government in New Zealand.

A network emerges

Celebrating the Dunedin–Christchurch rail link

Vogel’s rail plan initially made its greatest strides in the South Island. A Christchurch–Dunedin railway was completed in 1878, cutting travel time between the South Island’s largest cities to around 11 hours. The following year New Zealand’s first ‘main trunk’ line linked Christchurch with Invercargill, while a series of branch lines snaked inland from the coast.

Auckland’s first railway, between the city and Onehunga, was built by Brogdens and opened in 1873. More significantly, within 18 months the South Auckland line – following in the footsteps of General Cameron’s Imperial troops a decade before – had reached the Waikato basin, opening up a million acres (405,000 ha) of recently confiscated Māori land to Pākehā settlement and exploitation. By 1880 rails reached Te Awamutu, on the border of Te Rohe Pōtae (the King Country), the Māori heartland into which the Kīngitanga tribes had withdrawn after the Waikato War.

Wellington’s first railway, opened in 1874, ran between Thorndon and Lower Hutt. By 1878, following the completion of the ambitious Rimutaka incline railway, the capital was linked to the Wairarapa plains. Elsewhere in the North Island, railways were built in the Bay of Islands, north-west Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay and Manawatū.

Expansion of the North Island rail network

By 1880 the government-owned New Zealand Railways was operating almost 2000 km of working railway, three-quarters of it in the South Island. In the centre of the North Island rugged landscapes and resolute Māori landowners had slowed rail’s progress. Following lengthy negotiations with Ngāti Maniapoto, work on the central section of a North Island main trunk railway began in 1885 (by which time Vogel was Treasurer again). The eventual completion of the main trunk in 1908, nine years after Vogel’s death, represented the realisation of his 1870 vision.

Vogel's vision

In 1869, when Julius Vogel became Colonial Treasurer in the government led by Premier William Fox, he observed that:

New Zealand is a peculiar country. You cannot get over its geographical configuration. You cannot bring together the two ends nearer than they are. There will always be a certain amount of isolation in different parts until the iron horse [railway] runs through the two islands.

Immigrants landing at Lyttelton

In June 1870 Vogel unveiled the most ambitious public works and assisted-immigration programme in New Zealand’s history. It was to be funded by massive borrowing in the London money markets, rising to £10 million by 1876 and £21 million by 1881 (equivalent to $1.4 billion and $3.3 billion respectively in 2011). This would be spent on assisted (government-subsidised) immigration and on building or improving infrastructure, including the telegraph network, roads, public buildings and port facilities. Its centerpiece was a promise to build more than 1000 miles (1600 km) of railway in nine years.

A peaceful conquest

Vogel hoped to stimulate a stagnant, war-weary colonial economy. He also promised to reignite what many saw as New Zealand’s faltering colonisation project – to ‘re-illume that sacred flame’. To Pākehā eyes, much of the North Island remained a wilderness of bush, native ‘wasteland’ and potential rebellion. As recently as the late 1860s, clashes with the warrior prophets Tītokowaru and Te Kooti had forced many Pākehā settlers to flee isolated homesteads for the safety of coastal towns. Instead of war, Vogel hoped that immigrants, roads and railways would spearhead a peaceful Pākehā conquest of the Māori heartland.

The policy’s success hinged on the rapid and cheap acquisition of Māori land. The resulting influx of settlers into new districts would not only stimulate economic growth but quickly swamp the local Māori population. Employment on public works schemes, Vogel believed, would hasten the integration of Māori into the European economy. Two decades later, while living in Britain in 1893, Vogel put it even more bluntly: ‘The Public Works Policy seemed to the Government the sole alternative to a war of extermination with the natives.’

Railway workers at Chain Hills tunnel

Building railways (as well as roads) in a mountainous, geologically unstable and swampy country was a difficult challenge. New Zealand lacked capital and labour, but compared to Britain and Europe land was relatively cheap. Rather than build the most direct routes with expensive earthworks, tunnels and stone bridges, it made sense to build longer, winding routes around obstacles, to erect wooden trestle bridges, and to tolerate tight curves and steep gradients. These factors, together with the wish to build quickly and cheaply, led to the adoption of a narrow 3 ft 6 in (1067-mm) gauge as the national standard.

A single gauge

Canterbury’s first railways were built using the broad 5 ft 3 in (1600-mm) ‘Irish’ gauge, while Southland adopted the 4 ft 8½ in (1435-mm) ‘standard’ gauge (used in Britain, the US and many other countries). The government’s decision to impose the 3 ft 6 in ‘Cape’ gauge (the earlier lines were converted by 1877) meant that New Zealand avoided the problems that have plagued Australia, where colonial (state) railways were built using three different gauges.

New Zealand in 1870 - the Vogel era

Three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s two main islands were like two different countries. The 1860s had been a turbulent decade. Much of the North Island had been ravaged by war. Gold and pastoral farming had made the South Island rich and attracted tens of thousands of settlers. But by 1870 the gold boom was waning, and the wool- and wheat-based pastoralism of the South Island was not yet a major export earner (refrigerated meat exports were still more than a decade away). The New Zealand Wars may have ended but debt and uncertainty remained. Māori still dominated most of the interior of the North Island.

Slow travel

In 1854 Canterbury politician Henry Sewell travelled to Auckland to attend New Zealand’s first Parliament. The steamer Nelson, the first on the New Zealand coast, at least promised a quicker, safer passage than the tiny schooners and ketches that dominated coastal routes. The politicians’ trip took 12 long days, but that was relatively quick: the Otago MPs who sailed on the government brig, a sailing ship, took two months to reach Auckland.

Steamers at Hokitika, 1866

This was a maritime frontier, especially in the north – a string of coastal enclaves connected by sailing ships, small steamers and waka (canoes); or by rough tracks and roads hacked through dense bush, travellers on which had to cross dangerous fast-flowing rivers. Most people travelling any distance did so by ship. Drowning was a major killer.

Provincial government

In 1870 New Zealand had a central government based in Wellington, but also a parallel system of provincial governments. The provinces borrowed money to build their own infrastructure, with mixed results. New Zealand’s first railways were built in Canterbury in 1863 and Southland in 1864. Both were small-scale ventures but while Canterbury’s was successful, the effort bankrupted Southland province. In 1870 New Zealand had just 46 miles (74 km) of track, confined to the flat eastern and southern plains of the South Island. The North Island had no railways.

Julius Vogel

Julius Vogel entered politics in Otago. London-born, he had followed gold to Victoria and then New Zealand, arriving in 1861. After helping to establish the Otago Daily Times newspaper, he became a member of the Otago Provincial Council, then won a seat in the House of Representatives. Appalled at the cost of the North Island wars, he was initially a staunch provincialist, even urging the South Island to become a separate colony. By the late 1860s, though, he had changed his mind, believing that New Zealand needed a strong central government to ensure peace and prosperity.

The rail revolution

New Zealand’s first railway, Christchurch, 1863

In the 21st century it’s hard to understand the excitement that surrounded rail travel a century and a half ago. The steam locomotive was the driving force of the industrial revolution, conquering distance, changing the landscape and broadening people’s horizons. The railway was the first of the complex technological systems that have shaped the modern world – the British historian Christian Wolmar has argued that it was the most important invention of the last 1000 years.

Fast track

The steam locomotive was such a great leap forward that in 1830s Britain some people thought humans couldn’t survive travelling at speeds of over 50 km an hour: it was feared they wouldn’t be able to breathe.

By 1870 Britain, France, Germany and many other European states had extensive nationwide networks; the United States, which completed its epic transcontinental railroad in 1869, already had 50,000 km of track. Public demand for railways in colonial New Zealand was strong.

Most Pākehā settlers had come from Britain and many had experienced rail travel before emigrating – the long voyage to New Zealand often began with a train journey to the port of departure.

The Vogel era

Julius Vogel

In 1870, Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. He proposed to borrow huge sums from Britain to revitalise and accelerate European colonisation. The money would be used to assist British migrants to settle here, to speed up the purchase of Māori land, and to build the ‘public works’ or infrastructure essential for economic development: railways, roads, bridges, port facilities and telegraph lines.

The steam railway was the cutting-edge technology of the time, and the centrepiece of Vogel’s plan was a bold promise to build 1000 miles (1600 km) of rail lines in nine years. Despite problems and delays, this aim was achieved – New Zealand’s rail network grew from a mere 74 km in 1870 to 2000 km by 1880. British migrants flooded in, almost doubling the colony’s population in ten years. New regions were ‘opened up’ to Pākehā settlement, and central government became increasingly powerful, eclipsing its provincial rivals.

Vogel-era locomotive

Today Vogel is generally seen as a nation-building visionary, but he was a controversial figure in his time. When the colony slipped into a long depression in the 1880s, many blamed his overambitious borrowing in the previous decade. His policies contributed to the dispossession of Māori and the exploitation of the natural environment. The ‘Vogel era’ was a decisive moment in New Zealand’s 19th-century transformation from a Māori world to a Pākehā one.

Manufacturing NZ Bren Gun carriers

Film showing a factory (probably the General Motors plant at Lower Hutt) where Universal (Bren) gun carriers were made during the Second World War.

This 1942 newsreel talks about how many are being made for New Zealand defences and how it is making New Zealand ready for any potential enemy invasion.

Film courtesy of Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Reference number: VHS Video- R.V. 563
See more about this film on Archives New Zealand's Audio Visual wiki
Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

Media Group:

video

NZ history:

Second World War - overview

The Second World War at home

Video thumbnail:

Video URL:

/files/videos/we-can-do-it_0.flv

tags:

ww2

economy

bren guns

Stowing frozen carcasses on the Port Caroline

The bad old days: stowing frozen carcasses in one of the Port Caroline’s refrigerated holds. Even in such a gleaming new ship, it was cold, hard work and could be dangerous as well.

The Port Caroline was constructed in 1968; this image is from 1971.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-222320-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

economy

container shipping