Anti-Nuclear Protests in New zealand
New Zealanders rallied behind the anti-nuclear movement, protesting in large numbers. New Zealand was involved with anti- nuclear protests from the 1960’s – 1980’s. One of the focal points was the nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll and wider French Polynesia from the 60’s. Some forms of protest included marches and petitions. When the French began nuclear testing in French Polynesia in the early 60’s there was an outcry from New Zealand activists including groups such as the CND. Their early protests such as the petition ‘No Bombs South of the Line’ gained over 80,000 signatures paved the way for the anti-nuclear movement. This petition was sent to Parliament, proclaiming the country’s support for the government to attend an international conference in order for discussion to be made about a nuclear-free zone in the southern hemisphere. It was actions like this which led the way for protestor’s over the next couple of decades.
In the 1970’s there was widespread protest against the French nuclear testing in the Pacific and against the United States’ ship visits. In 1972 10,000 people signed a petition to ban nuclear testing in the South Pacific, this was the same year Australia and New Zealand challenged France in the International Court of Justice in order to stop the French testing in the Pacific. In 1976 the USS Truxtun and the USS Long Beach initiated protests when they visited New Zealand. These protests occur because in 1976, the government announced that nuclear powered ships and ships with nuclear arms would be welcomed to New Zealand ports, the USS Truxtun is stopped by a protest fleet of 80 boats and the public started street marches and petitions. At this point, anti-nuclear was becoming more and more popular in New Zealand and by the 1980’s groups such as the Campaign for Non-Nuclear Futures (CNNF) were holding events such as ‘International Woman’s Day for Nuclear Disarmament’ to rally support from the public in the anti-nuclear movement. The USS Truxtun returned to New Zealand in 1980, below is the transcript from an audio clip describing the protest. The Truxtun steamed into Wellington Harbour with no problems whatsoever. At about 7, a helicopter dropped a pilot on board, and she began moving soon after that through the narrow harbour entrance. At that moment about three protest boats shot out from Breaker Bay, but the Truxtun was too fast for them, and she left them wallowing in her wake. She’s now nearing her anchoring place off Kaiwharawhara; she seems to be just off the container wharf at the moment. The three or four protest boats are being flanked by police boats, which outnumber them by about three to one; they’re way behind the Truxtun now, and with the tide against them, and the weather, they’ve got no way of catching up. On the harbour, this is Bronwyn Williams. In 1984, Dr. Robert White said, “At that time there were enormous protests in NZ, about nuclear weapons. There were huge marches with tens of thousands of people, and the peace squadron flotilla, all with people protesting the possible presence of nuclear weapons in NZ on these ships.” This shows that these protests and many more like them were key to gaining the support of the wider community of New Zealand which led to a change in government and resulted in the signing of the anti-nuclear legislation in 1987. |
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