March 19, 2024 - The History of New Zealand through a Libertarian Anarchist lens. Please enjoy the ideas and let me know what you think.

2017: Man arrested after spraying shoppers with wine in Timaru on New Year’s Eve

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New Years Day is used as an excuse to steal! Consider two cases: Stealing money and giving it ‘back’ to the people for fireworks vs giving it ‘back’ as free wine in the face! To my Anarchist History mindset these two stories are essentially the same. “A 20-year-old man from Uruguay was arrested at 5pm […]

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December 31, 2018

1930s: The Magpies

By AHNZ

This Dennis Glover poem, ‘The Magpies‘ (c. late 1930s, I suppose) is often quoted for the clever onomatopoeia: Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, quoth the magpie. I do not find it charming but rather malevolent, as were Glover’s drunken moods. It reminds me of the Tom Petty song ‘Into the Great Wide Open’ music video […]

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September 28, 2018

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1842: The Raupo Houses Act

By AHNZ

Today in history, 3 March, 1842, self-declared Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, passed the Raupo Houses Act. This placed a huge £20 tax on anyone with a ‘Maori House’ within the boundaries of what The State defined as a town. The Maori fiber house technology had been adopted and improved by the new colonists […]

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March 3, 2024

1976: Final Lyttelton Wellington Ferry

By AHNZ

Once was a Lyttelton–Wellington ferry service. Run by the Union Steam Ship Company (1895-17 September, 1976) with the final dwindling 2 years bankrolled by The State. Somehow, the Labour 3.0 Ministry thought it was a good idea to pump $4,000,000 a year into a service that had become uneconomical. National 3.0 put an end to […]

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February 20, 2024

1873: When Auckland Took Fright

By AHNZ

Today in history, 17 February, 1873: The Kaskowiski Hoax was perpetrated on the people of Auckland by the new editor of the Daily Southern Cross newspaper, David Luckie. New Zealand is prone to periodic Russian Scares like this. Two others by 1885 led to significant investments in harbor defense forts like the one (image, left) […]

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February 17, 2024

1840: The Treaty of Poihakena

By AHNZ

On 18 January 1840, William Hobson, Consul, set of for New Zealand on HMS Herald from Sydney. With him were 6 officials, 3 servants, and 4 troopers of the New South Wales mounted police. Before setting out for New Zealand, Hobson spent much time during the prior twenty-five days closeted with his superior, Governor of […]

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February 15, 2024

2014: Death of Charlotte Dawson

By AHNZ

Charlotte Dawson was celebrity New Zealander who died aged 47 by committing suicide on 22 February, 2014. As with her very public life, the death resonated through the Kiwi psyche. It was a terrific flame out involving component parts of Social Media, celebrity, women aging, bullying, and national pride. I first met Dawson when she […]

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February 12, 2024

1770: Christmas in Batavia

By AHNZ

Over 250 years ago now, James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour completed the circumnavigation of North Island- demonstrating it is indeed an island. It’s good to know and we South Islanders are still very grateful for it! On 9 February, 1770, an important point had to be proven. That, Nieuw Zeeland, as the Dutch […]

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February 9, 2024

1819: Maori Invasion of Rotuma

By AHNZ

Rotuma is a small island north of Fiji with its own ethnic identity though part of Fiji. By the 1830s it had become a whaling port so English was widely spoken there. The natives were subject to Tongan invasion and civil wars, especially in the 1870s, which were only coloured by the competing Catholic and […]

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February 5, 2024

1993: Bailey’s 818

By AHNZ

Christchurch nightclubs Bailey’s 818 (Colombo Street) and Bailey’s Downtown emerged from the 1980s disco, pop, and ‘hair bands’ era in the year 1993. The founder, Anthony Bailey, had a background as a disco DJ and by all accounts (sources, Facebook and Old Friends Archive) knew his trade very well and was well-liked by staff and […]

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January 30, 2024

1848: Brunner’s Fleet

By AHNZ

Today in New Zealand history, 26 January, 1848, Thomas Brunner set out to explore the Grey River all the way from Mawhera (Greymouth) to Lake Brunner. This was only a sub-expedition for the 27yo man as part of a 550-day expedition. This was Brunner’s second such expedition to Mawhera having been the first white man, […]

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January 26, 2024