Labour Day - a history
The 1951 waterfront dispute
The 1940 Centennial - NCEA Level 2 history activities
The growth of New Zealand identity 1890–1980
Case study: the 1940 Centennial
Related link on NZHistory.net.nz
Topics include:
- the role of the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington as a symbol of progress and the ingenuity of the national spirit
- the centennial and the nation at play
- local commemorations
- the centennial and the Treaty of Waitangi.
Between 8 November 1939 and 4 May 1940 more than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington; this represents an average daily attendance of about 17,000 people. The government spent £250,000 – more than $19 million in today's money – on the exhibition.
'Black Tuesday' - the 1912 Waihi strike
The killing of Fred Evans
On 'Black Tuesday', 12 November 1912, in the midst of a bitter six-month strike by miners in the small New Zealand goldmining town of Waihi, striker Fred Evans was killed - one of only two fatalities* in an industrial dispute in New Zealand's history.
The first state house - state housing in New Zealand
A State House story
Socialist objection - conscientious objection in the First World War
The state steps in and out - housing in New Zealand
The State steps in (and out)
'I never feel sorry for myself. When you are on the breadline, you just get on and do it.'
Val Wilson, 58-year old state tenant, Dixon Street Flats, Wellington, 1992
Val Wilson's words, to an Evening Post reporter, reveal both resignation and dogged resilience following news that the government's introduction of full market rents would see her pay nearly 300 percent more for her tiny, one-bedroom state flat. Even after a new accommodation supplement, Val was left with precious little to live on. But if strength of character was able to help people like Val come to terms with their new situation, it was not enough, as the rent rises came into effect, to prevent hundreds of others falling below the breadline into poverty.
Countdown to confrontation - 1951 waterfront dispute
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.
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