Paddy, a ginger and brown Airedale terrier, became a national celebrity because of his exploits on the Wellington waterfront (and beyond) during the 1930s. He was remembered as providing a 'little light in the dark days of the Depression'.
United Party Prime Minister George Forbes had convened an inter-party conference with the goal of forming a coalition government that would 'share the responsibility' of dealing with the Depression. Labour withdrew from these discussions but the leader of the conservative Reform Party was unable to resist pressure to heed this call.
During the 'angry autumn' of 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, unemployed workers in Dunedin reacted angrily to the refusal of the Hospital Board to offer them assistance.
Hundreds of unemployed people rioted in Auckland's Queen Street for more than two hours. Trouble began after several hundred public servants marched to the Town Hall to protest against proposed wage cuts.
During the 1930s Depression the unemployed gathered at Parliament to express their feelings. Here Prime Minister George Forbes addresses the crowd, about 1932.
