AUCKLAND (Asia Pacific Report/Pacific Media Centre/Pacific Media Watch): New Zealand quietly celebrated 30 years of its official status as a “nuclear-free” country over the past week, marking the time when NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act came into force on 8 June 1987.
When Aotearoa/New Zealand banned nuclear warships from its ports in 1984, the country was seen as David standing up to Washington’s Goliath.
But behind Prime Minister David Lange was a whole army of peace campaigners forcing him to sling his shot. David Robie traces the history of their resistance in a 1986 article for the New Internationalist – and shows how ordinary people declaring their home as a nuclear-free zone helped send a message to the superpowers.
RNZ National on Rev George Armstrong and the Peace Squadron
David Robie's comments at the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Aotearoa "30 Years On" event at the Deport Artspace in Devonport at the weekend.
Greenpeace on New Zealand's nuclear-free landmark.
Kendall Hutt on Southern Cross
'We shouldn't rest on our laurels,' warn NZ nuclear free activists
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