1974: The Ohu Scheme
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New Zealand is no stranger to communes. I discern, as with most things, a generational cycle of 20 years. In 1974 Labour 3.0 announced The Ohu Scheme, opening up isolated Crown land to communes. As with the 1990s (eg Centrepoint,) the 1970s people (eg. Mahana est.1978) faded away as they discovered replacing modern culture wasn’t […]
Read more..April 19, 2019
2006: 5 Cent Coin Abolished
By AHNZ
The New Zealand 5 cent coin was abolished on 1 November, 2006. It had existed since decimilisation on 10 July 1967. Ref. 1967: Decimalisation, AHNZ New Zealand’s currency has become so weak that 5 cents no longer had any purchasing power so getting rid of the coin was an admission and symbol of this economic […]
Read more..November 1, 2023
1990: Dignity Culture Played Out
By AHNZ
A Dignity Culture history era of 5 years or so terminated at year’s end 1990 and it was marked by the Kiwi cover of the song To Sir With Love. In October 1990 the track was released as a single that soon charted at number 1 and stayed there for 5 weeks. It was written […]
Read more..April 24, 2024
1941: The Greek King’s Bodyguard
By AHNZ
Today in history, 23 April, 1941, New Zealand troops formed the bodyguard to King George II of Greece. Our men safely evacuated George from Greece to Crete and on the Egypt. “KING OF GREECE ENTERTAINS NEW ZEALANDERS WHO FORMED HIS BODYGUARD IN RETREAT ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF CRETE” The thing about George (who was related […]
Read more..April 23, 2024
1885: The Club Hotel
By AHNZ
Bluff’s Club Hotel’s demolition started in April 2024 putting an end to an institution going back to the 1860s. It ceased trading in the mid-2000s. The latest owner, Bluff Oyster and Food Festival Charitable Trust purchased it in 2014 and have been let it deteriorate and be vandalised for 10 years culminating in the ability […]
Read more..April 22, 2024
1960: New Zealand PM Meets Khrushchev
By AHNZ
20 April 1960: New Zealand Prime Minister Walter Nash held talks with USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev for 6 hours in total. We were 7 months out from a General Election which would boot out Nash’s Labour 2.0 Ministry. New Zealand had had enough of Commies. Walter apparently upset Nikita a bit by mentioning how his […]
Read more..April 20, 2024
1959: Oxford Branch Closed
By AHNZ
In early 1959 the Labour 2.0 Ministry signaled that 6 under-performing government railway lines were under threat. This included Oxford Branch (est. 1875) which was duly culled on 19 April of that year. The Minister for Railways was Mick Moohan. The other lines that were to close were Ngapara, Donnelly’s Crossing, Foxton, and Waikaia. They […]
Read more..April 19, 2024
1976: Orana Park
By AHNZ
Orana Park 25 September, 1976, in Paparua County (1911-1989.) Now it’s just another part of MegaCity Christchurch. Orana always called itself a ‘Wildlife Park’ because there’s something apparently non-PC about the word ‘Zoo’. However, the founders called themselves the South Island Zoological Society. Go figure. The concept was an open range, drive-through, zoo. You could […]
Read more..April 18, 2024
2007: Holocaust Centre of New Zealand
By AHNZ
Today in history, 15 April, 2017, the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand was opened in Wellington. Various VIPs were there to listen and talk. The Governor General Anand Satyanand himself was there and in costume as politicians will be whenever appearing with an elect audience (image, left.) The HCNZ was established in 2007 and continues […]
Read more..April 15, 2024
1932: Tai Tapu Library
By AHNZ
Tai Tapu Library, South Canterbury. Without government who would build the libraries? This one was opened on 12 August 1932 and paid for with the proceeds of prize-winning daffodils grown on the property¹. And, the subscriptions of those desiring to be members. The public library itself is even older than this building. However, it was […]
Read more..April 11, 2024
1995: The Travesty of Waitangi
By AHNZ
Stuart Campbell Scott (1920-1997) was one of the last of New Zealand’s Expeditionary Generation: the adulthood generation during WW2. His contemporaries were the American “Greatest Generation,” Edmund Hillary, Robert Muldoon, Norman Kirk, Brian Gerald Barratt-Boyes, Ruth Ross, Bill Pearson, Keith Sinclair, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Their talent, intelligence, hard work, and attitudes built […]
Read more..April 4, 2024
