reform party

Events In History

Articles

A history of New Zealand 1769-1914

  • A history of New Zealand 1769-1914

    In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, Aotearoa New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā dominated numerically, politically, socially and economically.

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  • Page 1 - History of New Zealand, 1769-1914 In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, Aotearoa New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā

The New Zealand Legion

  • The New Zealand Legion

    The year 1933 witnessed an unprecedented eruption of protest amongst urban businessmen and professionals in New Zealand. The most prominent manifestation of this protest was a radical conservative movement named the New Zealand Legion.

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  • Page 2 - OriginsThe Wall Street Crash of October 1929 is generally recognised as the event that triggered the Great Depression. In New Zealand, the effects of the crash were not immediately

Election Days

  • Election Days

    When New Zealanders go to the polls on 26 November 2011, they will continue a 158-year-old tradition of parliamentary democracy in this country. Politics may have changed beyond recognition since 1853, but the cut and thrust of the campaign trail, the power of advertising, and the drama of polling day remain as relevant as ever.

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  • Page 5 - Peddling politiciansGiven the printing technology of the time, early election posters and hoardings were inevitably simple.

Biographies

  • Coates, Joseph Gordon

    Gordon Coates seemed unbeatable. Tall and handsome, this affable war hero embodied modernity – he was the ‘jazz premier’. In 1925’s presidential-style election voters elected to take their ‘Coats off with Coates’.

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  • Herries, William Herbert

    In 1912 William Herries became Minister of Native Affairs in the Massey government, an office he held until 1921.

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  • Massey, William Ferguson

    William Massey is our second-longest serving leader. Although he was reviled by the left for crushing workers in 1913 with his ‘Massey’s Cossacks’ (strike-breakers), his legacy is being re-evaluated.

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  • Bell, Francis Henry Dillon

    Sir Francis Bell was PM for only 16 days, but he held several distinctions – the second oldest (74), the first New Zealand-born, and the last from the Legislative Council.

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  • Allen, James

    As Minister of Defence from 1912 until 1920, James Allen was responsible for the organisation of New Zealand’s military forces during the First World War.

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  • Main image: Robert Heaton Rhodes

    Robert Heaton Rhodes was postmaster-general and minister of telegraphs in William Massey's Reform Cabinet between 1912 and 1915