Friday, 8 May 2009
Contentious politics in New Zealand
The reading this week by Charles Tilley and Sidney Tarrow describes the term ‘Contentious Politics’. I was trying to think of a good example of contentious politics in New Zealand. Now, as we know from living in the political hub that is Wellington, there’s a protest nearly every five minutes, which is good because we are a democracy and should be able to voice our opinions in such a way ( but remember to keep it peaceful!). Recent examples of contentious politics could include the famous hikoi led by Dame Whina Cooper, where she led a march from the tip of the north island to Wellington to protest the loss of Maori land. There was also a protest that significantly changed the political landscape of New Zealand forever; the 1912 Waihi Miners Strike. It all began in the Waihi goldmines, where the miners protested against poor working conditions, such as working for little pay in dangerous, sometimes fatal conditions, while their bosses seemed to keep the spoils. So the miners, with the support from the New Zealand Federation of Labour, began to strike. It was a violent conflict, resulting in the death of stiker Fred Evans. Evans had shot a policeman in the knee, and after being then beaten by police, he was put in a police cell and police waited an hour and a half before they decided to take him to hospital, where he died from his injuries.The Waihi Miners strike threw the workers support behind new emerging left-wing political parties, and these parties joined together to form what we now know as the New Zealand Labour Party, which formed in 1916. Before then, support was too scattered umongst the parties which made it harder for them to make any real progress in the political realm, but when they all united under the Labour banner, their voices were more loudly heard. 19 years later, the socialist workers movement, channelled through the Labour Party had gained enough support to come to power under Michael J. Savage and after his death while in office, Peter Fraser. They held power till 1949.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Goldminers as foundations of the New Zealand Labour Party. Nice post. I think it is interesting to point out that violence almost acted as a catalyst in the political protest of the goldminers and in turn the formation of the national workers movement. This raises the question would the workers movement unified if the protest was of non violent nature? Violent repression it appears accelerated the socilaist workers movement into national attention, which essentially manifested itself into the New Zealand Labour Party. Once again violence is at the heart of the political realm.
ReplyDelete