The Nelson railway sit-in - protest and dissent

The Nelson women's railway protest

The decade after 1951 was generally a period of quiet prosperity and stability in New Zealand. However, in 1955 a group of Nelson women attracted international attention when they staged a remarkable sit-in protest against the government's decision to close and demolish the local railway line.

After a series of angry rallies in Nelson, on 23 September Ruth Page and four other women drove over 40 miles to the tiny station at Kiwi, where they sat in a goods shed and on the railway lines to block the demolition crew. A week later the women (there were now nine of them) were arrested for trespass, convicted and fined. The demolition went ahead and the railway was scrapped.

Although ultimately unsuccessful, the protest was a dignified attempt by a local community to resist the will of central government and contest the erosion of regional resources. One of the protesters, Sonja Davies, later became a prominent trade unionist and politician.