Postponement of the 1973 Springbok tour
Another key short-term, political cause to the 1981 Springbok tour protests was the postponement of the 1973 Springbok tour by Prime Minister Norman Kirk.
Norman Kirk had promised not to meddle in the affairs of the tour before the 1972 election, but following win in the election, he took action to stop it taking place through talks with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and eventually postponed the tour after talks with police. By doing this, Kirk had gone back on what he had previously promised, this action by Kirk had a long-term effect with the labour party, as this decision cause hot debate amongst rugby fans, and this inevitably led to labours downfall in the 1975 election, after his death in 1974.
Robert Muldoon would be the man to take up Prime Minister after Kirk, after obtaining a landslide victory with his promise of inviting the Springboks for a tour, which resulted in the 1981 tour. This was against the United Nations wishes; to boycott all South African goods and sports, and more importantly it conflicted with the 1977 Gleneagles agreement, of which each commonwealth nation had signed and had a task not to tour or play any sport with South Africa. Many people, who had opposed apartheid, saw this as an atrocity, and believed that this act made New Zealand look like they condoned the apartheid. This led to many people, excluding rugby fans, to protest against Muldoon's decision.
The postponement of the 1973 tour was a cause as it created a domino effect, that would see Muldoon come to power, and inevitably resulting in the 1981 Springbok tour because of the negative reactions by the rugby supporters of NZ at the cancellation of 1973 tour.
Norman Kirk had promised not to meddle in the affairs of the tour before the 1972 election, but following win in the election, he took action to stop it taking place through talks with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and eventually postponed the tour after talks with police. By doing this, Kirk had gone back on what he had previously promised, this action by Kirk had a long-term effect with the labour party, as this decision cause hot debate amongst rugby fans, and this inevitably led to labours downfall in the 1975 election, after his death in 1974.
Robert Muldoon would be the man to take up Prime Minister after Kirk, after obtaining a landslide victory with his promise of inviting the Springboks for a tour, which resulted in the 1981 tour. This was against the United Nations wishes; to boycott all South African goods and sports, and more importantly it conflicted with the 1977 Gleneagles agreement, of which each commonwealth nation had signed and had a task not to tour or play any sport with South Africa. Many people, who had opposed apartheid, saw this as an atrocity, and believed that this act made New Zealand look like they condoned the apartheid. This led to many people, excluding rugby fans, to protest against Muldoon's decision.
The postponement of the 1973 tour was a cause as it created a domino effect, that would see Muldoon come to power, and inevitably resulting in the 1981 Springbok tour because of the negative reactions by the rugby supporters of NZ at the cancellation of 1973 tour.
Key Historical Idea
- The postponement of the 1973 tour by Norman Kirk had a domino effect, which would inevitably lead to the Labour Party's loss in the 1975 election, and Muldoon using this postponement as a weapon in order to be elected the new Prime Minister.