Starts 14 February, 7 - 8.30 pm, each Tuesday night, koha
This series will cover important, but not always well-known or well-understood, episodes in NZ history. These include the White New Zealand policy, the development of the workers movement in New Zealand, repression during World War 2, the attempt to introduce peacetime conscription, the 1951 waterfront dispute, the No Maoris No Tour campaign, the early days of second-wave feminism, the anti-Vietnam War movement and the movement against the 1981 tour (not necessarily in this order). Speakers will be writers on these subjects and, with the more recent episodes, participants in the events.
7.30pm, Tuesday, February 14: The Making of the White New Zealand policy 1880-1920
Speaker: Philip Ferguson
Philip will be looking at the development of anti-Chinese racism and its reflection in discriminatory immigration legislation in the late 1800s and early 1900s
7.30pm, Tuesday, February 21: Joe Hills ashes and syndicalism in early 1900s New Zealand
Speaker: Jared Davidson; Jared will also have autographed copies of his book Joe Hills Ashes for sale
7.30pm, Tuesday, February 28: Repression in New Zealand during WW2 and the campaign against post-war peacetime conscription
Speaker: Murray Horton
Murray will be looking at the treatment of pacifists and other antiwar activists in NZ during WW2 and also at the governments introduction of peacetime conscription in the late 1940s and the campaign against it
7.30pm, Tuesday, March 6: The 1951 Waterfront Dispute: then and now
Speaker: Philip Ferguson
Philip will be looking at the struggle of the watersiders and their allies in defence of workers rights in the great waterfront lockout of 1951 and how it relates to the current Ports of Auckland dispute