The 1960s
In 1959 a Sydney beauty queen was asked upon her return from a trip across the Tasman, ‘what did you think of New Zealand?’ ‘I don't know’, she replied. ‘It was closed’. Such jokes were common. New Zealand businesses generally shut at 5 p.m. on weeknights and many main streets resembled a ghost-town come the weekend.
Many Kiwis took little notice of such impressions. A strong economy based on high wool prices and secure markets meant that most New Zealanders enjoyed a standard of living that was the envy of many nations. People joked that the Minister of Labour knew the unemployed on a first name basis. The country was shaken from this complacency in December 1967 when the export price for wool fell dramatically. Unemployment and inflation rose sharply.
The arrival of television and jet travel shrank our world. We were exposed to other places, ideas and influences. New Zealanders also began to express themselves on a range of international issues, including opposition to the Vietnam War.
In this feature we provide an overview of the decade and a year-by-year breakdown of some of the key events.
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