New Zealand History

NZHistory, New Zealand history online This week in history

• 30/11/1949 - Election of first National government
  The Labour government led by Peter Fraser was defeated by Sidney Holland’s National Party after 14 years in office. The result heralded a long period of National dominance, with the party holding power for 29 of the next 35 years.
• 22/12/1916 - Future prime minister charged with sedition
  Peter Fraser’s trial in the Wellington Magistrates’ Court was the sequel to a speech in which he attacked the government’s policy of military conscription.
• 18/12/1988 - Air New Zealand women cabin crew win anti-discrimination case
  Air New Zealand was found to be in breach of the Human Rights Act after more than a decade of female cabin crew campaigning for the same opportunities as male workers at the airline.
• 18/12/1642 - First known encounter between Māori and Europeans
  Abel Tasman’s Dutch East India Company expedition had the first known European contact with Māori. It did not go well.
• 19/12/1879 - Universal male suffrage introduced
  The Qualification of Electors Act extended the right to vote (the franchise) to all European men aged 21 or over, regardless of whether they owned or rented property.
• 19/12/1843 - First Auckland A and P Show
  Agricultural and pastoral shows celebrating excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry became annual events in communities around New Zealand.
• 19/12/1941 - HMS Neptune lost in Mediterranean minefield
  In New Zealand’s worst naval tragedy, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Neptune struck enemy mines and sank off Libya. Of the 764 men who lost their lives, 150 were New Zealanders.
• 20/12/1832 - New Zealand’s first cricket match
  Church Missionary Society (CMS) leader Henry Williams gave the male pupils (Māori and Pākehā) of his mission school at Paihia in the Bay of Islands a rare day off.
• 20/12/1893 - Women vote in Māori seats for first time
  Just over three weeks after New Zealand women became the first in the world to vote in a national parliamentary election, voting was held in the four Māori electorates.
• 20/12/1913 - Waterfront strike ends
  The Great Strike of 1913, which had begun in late October when Wellington waterside workers stopped work, finally ended when the United Federation of Labour conceded defeat.