Pages tagged with: norman kirk

Keeping sport and politics separate was becoming increasingly difficult. In July 1969 HART (Halt All Racist Tours) was founded by University of Auckland students with the specific aim of opposing sporting contact with South Africa.

Waitangi Day, a public holiday from 1974, briefly became New Zealand Day in the 1970s. Increasingly, it became a focus for Maori protest activities.

From 1935 to 1975 our prime ministers lived in a serie of 'unofficial' houses

It is difficult to assess which side had the better of this debate during the Vietnam War

In this Nevile Lodge cartoon, which appeared in the Evening Post in 1973, the new prime minister, Norman Kirk, and his deputy, Hugh Watt, are discussing the problems the new Labour government faces.

Following police warnings of civil strife, Prime Minister Norman Kirk informed the New Zealand Rugby Football Union that the government saw ‘no alternative’ to a postponement of the planned tour by the South African Springboks.

Cartoon showing Labour Prime Minister Norman Kirk as a barman kicking out the defeated Jack Marshall and his deputy, Robert Muldoon after the 1972 election

In 1972 Norman Kirk broke National’s 12-year-long grip on the Treasury benches and became Labour’s first New Zealand-born PM.

This 1969 cinema/television advertisement for the Labour Party emphasised the leadership qualities of Norman Kirk.

Leader of the Labour Party since 1965 and Prime Minister from late 1972, 'Big Norm' died suddenly at the age of 51. He was the fifth New Zealand PM to die in office.

Photograph of Norman Kirk in 1971.