Regional Report New Zealand Country Report

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1981: THE TOUR30 years since the resistance to the 1981 Springbok Tour to New Zealand.This publication produced by the Maritime Union of New Zealand for the 2011Mining and Maritime Initiative Conference, Durban, South Africa.

A massive social conict

The Springbok Rugby Tour in 1981 wasone of the biggest social conicts NewZealand has ever seen.Massive demonstrations against theapartheid policy of the South Africanregime took place throughout NewZealand.These protests were met by violentresponse from the police force, actingunder the conservative National Partygovernment of Robert Muldoon.Violence also occurred when pro-toursupporters clashed with anti-tourprotestors.Many of those involved have stated it wasextremely lucky that no one was killed.Many were seriously injured.“More than 150,000 people took partin over 200 demonstrations in 28centres, and 1500 were charged withoffences stemming from these protests.”(NZHistory.net)

Rugby tour becomes ashpoint

It could be confusing to someone from

outside New Zealand to wonder why aseries of rugby games became the focus forsuch a major incident.New Zealand in 1981 was a societycreaking with pent up change, dominated by a conservative Government.The role of rugby played a huge part intraditional society, for both Pakeha (white)and Maori New Zealanders.The role of rugby in white South Africansociety was likewise an important one.Sporting contact between South Africaunder apartheid and New Zealand had been a contentious issue for many years.

Up until 1970, the New Zealand RugbyUnion did not select any Maori to tourSouth Africa.A major petition had circulated in 1960against sending a racially selectedteam. Despite a “No Maoris – No Tour”campaign, the tour went ahead.The United Nations called for a sporting boycott in 1968, affecting games such asrugby and cricket that were popular in both New Zealand and South Africa.In July 1969 HART (Halt All Racist Tours)was founded to oppose sporting contactwith South Africa.In 1970 Maori players joined a rugby tourof South Africa after the South AfricanGovernment made them “honorarywhites.”



Sport and politics

A Springbok tour to New Zealand wasproposed for 1973.But a newly elected Labour PrimeMinister, Norman Kirk, cancelled the tourdue to political concerns.The conservative National Party waselected in 1975, led by the aggressiveRobert Muldoon, who stated that aSpringbok team would be welcomedto New Zealand by a National PartyGovernment.In 1976, the All Blacks accepted aninvitation to tour South Africa. As a result,25 African nations boycotted the 1976

Summer Olympics in Montreal.The Gleneagles Agreement was the resultof a Commonwealth meeting in 1977,which sought to “discourage” sportingcontacts with South Africa.However the New Zealand Governmentrefused to “interfere” with sportingcontacts, arguing that sport and politicswere separate.In 1980, the New Zealand Rugby FootballUnion invited the South Africans to tourthe following year.Organizations such as HART, CARE(Citizens Association for Racial Equality)

and NAAC (National Anti-ApartheidCouncil) were active in a highly organizedopposition to the Tour.Many trade unions including waterfrontworkers and seafarers also opposed theTour.

Despite the majority of the anti-tourmovement being committed to non-violent

protest, two notorious police riot squadswere established – Red Squad and BlueSquad.These squads were later involved in themost violent confrontations of the 1981Tour.Wearing helmets and visors, and armedwith heavy batons, their use of violencecreated huge controversy.

56 days of resistance

The Springboks were welcomed to thecountry on 19 July at a Gisborne marae.

Civil unrest and protest rapidly increasedto an unprecedented degree.The rst game on 22 July saw theSpringboks win against Poverty Bay, but violent scenes occurred as anti-tourprotestors were confronted by pro-tourspectators.However on 25 July the next game inHamilton against Waikato was called off after hundreds of protestors ran onto thepitch and occupied it.The level of violence rose as missilesrained down on protestors from the rugbyspectators.

The protestors were escorted off the eld by police and many were confronted andsome attacked by angry spectators.On 29 July in Wellington’s MolesworthStreet, police used batons on anti-tour

protestors for the rst time.The All Blacks won the rst test match

against the Springboks in Christchurch on15 August.The second test in Wellington on 29August saw heavy protests as 7000anti-tour protesters gathered in centralWellington.The motorway was blocked and police andpro-tour rugby supporters clashed withanti-tour protestors.The third test in Auckland on 12September saw pitched battle betweenprotestors outside the grounds. A Cessnaplane ying overhead dropped our andsmoke bombs on the grounds.The tour had gone ahead but the cost had been huge.For 56 days, New Zealanders had beendivided against each other.Millions of dollars had been spent onpolicing the tour, and the New ZealandGovernment had been badly embarrassed by the international attention as well as thelevel of opposition within New Zealand.But although it may have seemed the battle may have been lost, the war againstapartheid was about to enter its nal phasein South Africa.

The scenes of the conict had spreadaround the world, and had becomemuch more than a debate about sportingcontacts.

Anti Springbok Tour demonstration, Willis Street, Wellington, 3 July 1981 (Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand)



“The Maritime Unionis proud of the roleit played alongsideother New Zealandersin supporting thestruggle againstapartheid in SouthAfrica.”Joe Fleetwood,

General Secretary,Maritime Union ofNew Zealand

The apartheid establishment in SouthAfrica were shocked at the sight of

multiracial protestors standing together.Likewise those struggling againstapartheid took heart from the struggle inNew Zealand.Nelson Mandela recalled that when he wasin his prison cell on Robben Island andheard that the game in Hamilton had beencancelled, it was as ‘if the sun had comeout’. (NZHistory.net)

Legacy of “The Tour”

The legacy of the 1981 Tour was extensivefor New Zealand.

In New Zealand, in the next generalelection in 1981, the National Party won anarrow majority.However in a snap election in 1984, theopposition Labour Party were elected in alandslide victory.The image of rugby took many yearsto recover, and has never regained thecompletely dominant role it once had inNew Zealand culture, although it is stillregarded as the “national game.”The Tour issue had also brought a focus onrace relations in New Zealand.Although the indigenous Maori people

had formal equality with the white(Pakeha) majority, racism had been aliveand well in New Zealand.

Race relations, historical injustices, and theeconomic and cultural interests of Maori,

were also debated more widely in theyears following the 1981 Springbok Tour.In South Africa, New Zealand resistanceto the 1981 Springbok Tour providedsymbolic support to the struggle fordemocracy.In 1990, Nelson Mandela was releasedfrom imprisonment along with other anti-apartheid leaders, and the ban on the ANCand other anti-apartheid organizationswas lifted.In 1994, in the rst non-racial generalelection held in South Africa, NelsonMandela was elected as President and theANC received a majority of votes.The Maritime Union is proud of the role itplayed alongside other New Zealanders insupporting the struggle against apartheidin South Africa.Today we maintain solidarity with SouthAfrican workers through the InternationalTransport Workers Federation, and theMining and Maritime Initiative.

Demonstrators against the Springbok rugby tour turn away from police in Cuba Street, Palmerston North, 8 August 1981 (Dominion Post collection, Alexander Turnbull Library,Wellington, New Zealand)



Produced byThe Maritime Union of New ZealandPO Box 27004Wellington, New ZealandTelephone 04 3850 792Fax 04 3848 766Email: [email protected]: www.munz.org.nz

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