NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online - demonstrations

The 1951 waterfront dispute

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Union march in Wellington

The 1981 Springbok rugby tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

A country divided

Anti-tour protestors at Palmerston North

'Black Tuesday' - the 1912 Waihi strike

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

The killing of Fred Evans

Supporters of the strikers

Countdown to confrontation - 1951 waterfront dispute

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

The Second World War saw an unprecedented expansion of government control over the lives of New Zealanders. Under the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Labour government introduced military conscription, industrial manpowering and a comprehensive economic stabilisation system. It also established a Waterfront Control Commission (later the Waterfront Industry Commission) to run the wharves, which were vital to the war effort.

Stopping the 1973 tour - 1981 Springbok tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Stopping the 1973 tour

War on the wharves - 1951 waterfront dispute

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Idle ships during the dispute

The immediate cause of the 1951 waterfront dispute was the post-war economic situation. After years of restrictions and shortages, the economy was booming. As the cost of living soared, workers demanded higher wage increases.

In January 1951 the Arbitration Court awarded a 15% wage increase to all workers covered by the industrial arbitration system. This did not apply to waterside workers, whose employment was controlled by the Waterfront Industry Commission. The mostly British-owned shipping companies that employed the wharfies instead offered 9%, claiming that earlier waterfront wage increases should be taken into account.

Battle lines are drawn - 1981 Springbok tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

1981: a divided New Zealand

Opinion on the Springbok tour

Tour diary - 1981 Springbok tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

'A war played out twice a week'

The Springboks were officially welcomed to New Zealand on the Poho-o-Rawiri marae in Gisborne (just as they had been in 1965) on 19 July 1981. Despite all the pre-tour rhetoric and debate, few could have anticipated that the country was about to descend into near civil war, 'a war played out twice a week' as the Springboks moved from game to game.

Impact - 1981 Springbok tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Impact of the 1981 Springbok tour

A taste of things to come?

In Hamilton the protestors occupying the pitch had chanted 'The whole world is watching'. The same applied to New Zealand as a nation. Some believed the tour was an opportunity to address the issue of racism in New Zealand while showing solidarity with the oppressed black majority in South Africa.

Division and defeat - 1951 waterfront dispute

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Despite the scale of the 1951 dispute, the wider labour movement was not united behind the watersiders' cause. In fact, only 8% of the country's union members took part in the dispute – the other 200,000 continued working. The watersiders’ militancy had isolated them from most unionists, who were affiliated to the more moderate Federation of Labour (FOL). Fintan Patrick Walsh and other FOL leaders called on wharfies to ‘abandon their Communist-dominated misleaders’. Meanwhile, Walter Nash’s Labour Party Opposition sat uncomfortably on the fence, denouncing government repression but refusing to back either side.