Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'…a sordid act of international state-backed terrorism…' - Prime Minister David Lange, -
describing the bombing of the
Rainbow Warrior
(1986)
At the same time antinuclear protests that had been rumbling for years gained mo-
mentum, with mass blockades of visiting US naval ships. In 1984 Prime Minister David
Lange barred nuclear-powered or armed ships from entering NZ waters. The mouse had
roared. As a result the US threw NZ out of ANZUS, the country's main strategic military
alliance, which also included Australia, declaring NZ 'a friend but not an ally'.
However, it was an event in the following year that completely changed the way NZ
related to the world, when French government agents launched an attack in Auckland
Harbour, sinking Greenpeace's antinuclear flagship
Rainbow Warrior
and killing one of
its crew. Being bombed by a country that NZ had fought two world wars with - and the
muted or nonexistent condemnation by other allies - left an indelible mark. It
strengthened NZ's resolve to follow its own conscience in foreign policy and in 1987 NZ
became a nuclear-free zone.
From the Boer to Vietnam Wars, NZ had blithely trotted off at the behest of the UK or
US. Not anymore, as was demonstrated by its lack of involvement in the invasion of Iraq.
That's not to say that the country shirks its international obligations: NZ troops continue
to be deployed in peacekeeping capacities throughout the world.
For many, Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mt Everest, was the consummate
New Zealander: humble, practical and concerned for social justice. A public outpouring
of grief followed his death in 2008.
If that wasn't enough upheaval for one decade, 1986 saw another bitter battle split the
community - this time over the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The debate was par-
ticularly rancorous, but the law that previously incarcerated consenting gay adults was
repealed, paving the way for the generally accepting society that NZ is today. In 1999
Georgina Beyer, an openly transsexual former prostitute, would win a once safe rural
seat off a conservative incumbent, and in 2013 NZ legalised same-sex marriage.
Yet while the 1980s saw the country jump to the left on social issues, simultaneous
economic reforms were an extreme step to the right (to paraphrase one-time Hamiltonian
Richard O'Brien's song 'The Time Warp'). The public sector was slashed, any state as-
sets that weren't bolted to the floor were sold off, regulation was removed from many
sectors, trade barriers dismantled and the power of the unions greatly diminished.
