Events In History
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8 June 1987New Zealand goes nuclear-free
The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act was passed into law, establishing this country as a nuclear and biological weapon-free zone. Read more...
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10 July 1985Rainbow Warrior sunk by French secret agents
A crew member died when French secret agents mined the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in Waitematā Harbour, Auckland. Read more...
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4 February 1985USS Buchanan refused entry to New Zealand
New Zealand's Labour government refused the USS Buchanan entry because the United States would neither confirm nor deny that the warship had nuclear capability. Read more...
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2 August 1983Protest as USS Texas visits Auckland
The visit of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Texas sparked anti-nuclear rallies on land and sea. Read more...
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28 June 1973HMNZS Otago sails for Mururoa test zone
Prime Minister Norman Kirk told the 242 crew of HMNZS Otago that their Mururoa mission was an ‘honourable’ one – they were to be a ‘silent accusing witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world’. Read more...
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23 June 1973World Court condemns French nuclear tests
The ruling by the International Court of Justice was part of New Zealand's long campaign to end French nuclear testing in the Pacific. The French ignored the court's injunction to cease testing. Read more...
Articles
Nuclear-free New Zealand
The sinking of the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland in July 1985 shocked the nation. The incident galvanised an anti-nuclear movement that had emerged in opposition to both French nuclear tests at Mururoa and American warship visits to New Zealand.
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Page 2 – Nuclear testing in the Pacific
After the Second World War the United States, along with its French and British allies, frequently tested nuclear weapons in the Pacific region.
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Page 3 – Ship visits
The visit of the nuclear-powered frigate USS Texas in 1983 sparked protest in New Zealand.
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Page 4 – Nuclear-free legislation
Labour leader David Lange tried to work with the Americans, but their 'neither confirm nor deny' policy made a middle ground virtually impossible to find.
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Page 5 – Sinking the Rainbow Warrior
In 1985 New Zealand was basking in its position as leader of the anti-nuclear movement. Then on 10 July, two explosions set by French Secret Service agents ripped through the
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Page 6 – Further information
This web feature was written by Steve Watters and produced by the NZHistory team.LinksSpeech on the 30th anniversary of the New Zealand government sending protest frigates to
The Cold War
Although the origins of the so-called Cold War can be traced back to the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, this intense ideological struggle between the Western powers and the Soviet Union really began after the Second World War.
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Page 6 – Protest and dissent
The end of the Vietnam War shifted the focus of the Cold War away from Asia and New Zealand's need for ‘forward defence’ diminished. These changes, together with the anti-
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Page 7 – Last decade
Soviet-American tensions revived in the late 1970s as ‘détente’ (co-operation) gave way to a renewed arms race.
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This case study examines New Zealand's involvement in the nuclear debate of the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in a breakdown of the ANZUS alliance in 1985. With
The Royal New Zealand Navy
Seventy years old in October 2011, the Royal New Zealand Navy is today an integral part of the New Zealand Defence Force. But its 1941 establishment was the result of a long process of naval development.
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Page 7 – New directions
The RNZN’s independence as a service came to an end when the Ministry of Defence (created in July 1963) was reconstituted to incorporate all three armed services on 1 January
Biographies
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Kirk, Norman Eric
In 1972 Norman Kirk broke National’s 12-year-long grip on the Treasury benches and became Labour’s first New Zealand-born PM.
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Lange, David Russell
Seven years and one stomach-stapling operation after entering Parliament in 1977, David Lange became PM at the age of 41.
Read more...
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Main image: Marilyn Waring
Marilyn Waring is an internationally-renowned feminist, economist and human rights activist.