THe Tour itself
OVerview of the tour
Despite protests by much of the New Zealand public and the international community, the 1981 Springbok tour went ahead as planned. The lack of opposition given by the Muldoon government effectively allowed the NZRFU to carry out the tour uninhibited-other than action from the public. The Springbok's were officially welcomed to New Zealand on the Poho-a-Rawiri Marae in Gisborne on 19 July 1981 in the same fashion they had been welcomed in 1965. Many Maori supported the actions of the anti-tour movement as they saw it as a reflection upon New Zealand's status on race relations. As the tour continued to gain publicity through the media, protest groups began to mobilise and act specifically to disrupt the Springboks and all the matches they played. Tensions had reached boiling point and began to boil over in a wave of emotion from anti-tour movement. They felt frustrated that they were letting the racism of South Africa manifest itself in the New Zealand community. The violence and disruptions that the tour protests brought to New Zealand showed the next generation an unprecedented amount of public action that had never been seen before in New Zealand. As the tour travelled throughout the country in the moths of July, August and September, a social revolution began to occur as people began to realise the impact of every individuals actions. All of this culminated at the final test match against the All Blacks at Eden Park on the 12th of September 1981, with the flour bombings dealing another blow to the NZRFU and the government.
THE BASICS:
OPPOSITION TO PROTEST - Throwing of bottles and cans at protestors (Hamilton) - Throwing full beer bottles and blocks of cement at protestors (Christchurch) - Use of short batons to make protestors obey police - Use of long batons to force protestors away from police |
PROTEST ACTIONS
- Broken glass on field (Gisbourne) - Pitch invasion (Hamilton) - Flour bombs and flares thrown onto field (Auckland) - Throwing rocks at police - Disobeying police - Protest marches |
Anti-Tour
Protest Action:
During this Springbok tour, Gisborne, Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland were the main centres in New Zealand bearing the brunt of the Anti-tour protests. The Auckland protests at the Eden Park game was the climax of the tour games. The first clash of the 1981 Springbok tour occurred in Gisborne, but few expected it to be the start of a number of clashes that would leave a shadow over the whole nation. On July 22 the first game for the Springboks was scheduled to be played against Poverty Bay, a local provincial rugby team to Gisborne. However the main spectacle was not to be the game itself but the first faceoff between anti-tour protesters and pro-tour supporters. A wide range of people made up the tour protesters, coming from a range of backgrounds. These included Maori, pacifists, poor, wealthy and the working class and were backed by several unionists and trade unions. The influence of trade unions brought experience to the movement, as many trade unions had been involved in previous disputes earlier in the century, such as the 1912 Waihi strike and 1913/1951 Waterfront strikes. On the day of the match, protesters met at the Gisborne Trade Union Headquarters numbering about 300. From here they travelled to a golf course that bordered the match venue, and proceeded to tear down the barriers and fences in place in order to gain access to the ground. The social divide that had developed in New Zealand was evident when tour supporters violently tried to fend off the protesters, with police stepping in with batons to push the protesters back. As Springbok Captain Wynand Classen recalls, |
"When we arrived in Gisborne and we saw the protesters and when they dropped glass and other things on the playing field, we realised it was going to be quite tough... We were totally unprepared and I don't think even the New Zealanders knew it would be that intense."
Click on this link below for a video on the Gisborne game. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/gisborne-game-springbok-tour 22 July, Gisborne – The first game against Poverty Bay on 22 July saw tour supporters and anti-tour protestors confront each other, face to face, for the first time. On the field, the visitors won 24–6. As was to be the case for the entire tour, however, the real action was taking place on the streets surrounding the venue |
Three days after the Gisborne clash, Rugby Park in Hamilton became the centre of attention for the Springboks Waikato match. The Waikato Rugby Union, which had recognised that the disrupting of matches was the cornerstone of the anti-tour movement, decided to take extra precautions for blockading the ground. A total of 535 police were present in the city in order to make things difficult for the protesters. However, emotion and determination became the overriding factor as protesters put together a simple plan that ended in success. The protest planners had purchased over 200 tickets for the game in order to make the protesters presence felt from within the ground itself. All sorts of people joined the gathering at Garden Place, with increased numbers turning up due to it being a weekend match. A march on Rugby Park ensued, with around 350 protesters managing to tear down fences and enter the ground just before the scheduled kick off time.
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Protesters linked arms as can be seen in the picture above, with police forming a cordon around them in order to slowly disperse the group. About 50 protesters were arrested in an hour by police, but enough damage had already been done causing the match to be cancelled. This was also in part due to rumours that Pat McQuarrie had stolen a light aircraft and was heading for the stadium. Spectators reacted to the game being called off violently, kicking, punching and throwing bottles at protesters. This act of invading the ground had a great social and political impact as the images were captured on live television and shown all around the world. A video on the protest in Hamilton can be viewed here.
It is interesting to note that in preparation for the 1981 tour the police set aside $2.7million for Operation Rugby to ensure the tour ran smoothly. The amount was grossly underestimated and eventually blew out to be in excess of $15million. Click the link below for a video on the Hamilton game: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/game-cancelled-in-hamilton 25 July, Hamilton – The game against Waikato was called off in front of a full house at Rugby Park. A pitch invasion by several hundred anti-tour protesters and rumours that a light aircraft had been stolen from Taupō and was headed for Rugby Park proved too much for the authorities. |
On the 29th of August protests occurred in Wellington as the second test match took place. This was one of the most organised and unified responses that the tour saw, leading to police resources being stretched right around the capital. About 7000 protesters gathered the city and started action from early on. Groups moved around to block exits of the motorway to the city and prevent people from travelling to Athletic Park. Many clashes occurred, with police attempting to form human wedges in an effort to allow rugby spectators through. Tour supporters made themselves known, lashing out on protesters with kicks and punches. Once again the police used batons on protesters further dirtying the image of the police to many members of the public.
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29 August, second test, Wellington- The tourists squared the series with a convincing 24–12 victory at Athletic Park. The streets surrounding the ground resembled a battlefield as major protests occurred.
Action began early that morning when 7000 protesters gathered in central Wellington. Groups blocked the motorway exits into the city as well as road and pedestrian access to Athletic Park. Police responded by forming human wedges to allow rugby spectators through. There were many scuffles as protesters were dragged away. Some rugby fans lashed out at them with fists and boots and once more police batons were used on suburban New Zealand streets. |
The tour culminated in Auckland on the 12th of September 1981, in the third and final test match between the All Blacks and the Springboks at Eden Park. The protesters began to realise that as the tour was drawing to a close, the government and the police would stop at nothing to ensure a successful ending. This fired up the protesters, no doubt encouraging violent actions in order to gain more attention for the cause, but also caused them to prepare batter for each protest. The climax of this and the entire anti-tour protest movement was seen in Auckland on September 12. Once again the main event was not inside the rugby ground but in the streets that surrounding it, as violence descended upon New Zealand's largest city. Fighting erupted in the streets as tour protesters tried to block roads and walkways leading to Eden Park, which backed up traffic resulting in a traffic jam on the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Police were attacked with flying objects such as stones and cans, with retaliation soon becoming inevitable. The protests were open to the public, so many people who wanted to have a go at the police appeared to join in and helped to incite violence. Anti-tour pilot Marx Jone and co-pilot Grant Cole flew a Cessna aeroplane low over Eden Park dropping flares and flour bombs on the pitch. This was debatably the most radical action undertaken by protesters
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The protests in Auckland marked the end of the 1981 Springbok tour, which had shown the New Zealand public the way in which the government was prepared to act when it came to civil disobedience. New Zealand had been polarised, with the aftermath of the tour having a lasting impression on the international community. The social and political issues brought to light by the anti-tour movement were not ones that would be easily forgotten or dismissed by the New Zealand public.
12 September, third test, Auckland-The All Blacks won the deciding third test 25–22. It was a game when ‘all hell broke loose’ as protesters fought with police outside the grounds and flour and smoke bombs were dropped from a Cessna aircraft inside Below is a link of the "FLour bomb" or Auckland test match. |
KEY IDEAS
The anti-tour movement in combination with key groups such as HART conducted protests that attracted much supported right throughout New Zealand. Gisborne, Hamilton, Wellington and particularly Auckland bore the brunt of the protests, with large scale violent clashes occurring in multiple main centres. With support from people from all kinds of backgrounds, the anti-tour movement had a diverse range of protesters that had joined together as one unified force in the name of a common cause. This unification of individuals and groups contributed to the successful rallying of large expanses of people. The violent reactions by police caused escalation, in the sense that both sides ramped up protection and offensive planning |
The violence that erupted throughout the country signifies the strong perspectives that were felt by anti-tour and pro-tour supporters, with a strong social divide recognisable between these two groups. The events that polarised New Zealand politics and society left a lasting impression both nationally and internationally, with a range of consequences directly linked to the 1981 Springbok tour protests.
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PRo-TOur
The most staunch rugby supporters no doubt came from the more rural areas of New Zealand, with that being the group that Muldoon was targeting when he signed off on the tour. This group of tour supporters was key for Muldoon to remain in government with an election that year.
The pro-tour movement was not organised like the anti-tour movement, but tended to act in reaction to the anti-tour protests. For example, when the protesters breached the fences to the rugby ground in Gisborne, spectators and pro-tour supporters retaliated by kicking, punching and throwing projectiles at the encroaching protesters. These supporters were in fact the source of much of the violence, contributing to the escalation undertaken by police and then the anti-tour movement. Some groups were formed in opposition to the tour protests, such as The Society for the Protection of Individual Rights (SPIR) and War Against Recreational Disruption (WARD). These groups supported the tour, but not necessarily apartheid. Despite supporting the tour, the tour supporters actually helped the anti-tour movement in publicising the protest. The opposition that the tour supporters provided is what made the protests such a violent and polarising event. The publicity gained had national and international consequences. Below is an itinerary of the games played during the Springbok Tour Date Game Score
22 July v Poverty Bay at Gisborne 24–6 25 July v Waikato at Hamilton Cancelled * 29 July v Taranaki at New Plymouth 34–9 1 August v Manawatu at Palmerston North 31–19 5 August v Wanganui at Whanganui 45–9 8 August v Southland at Invercargill 22–6 11 August v Otago at Dunedin 17–13 15 August v All Blacks at Christchurch 9–14 19 August v South Canterbury at Timaru Cancelled * 22 August v Nelson Bays at Nelson 83–0 25 August v New Zealand Maoris at Napier 12–12 29 August v All Blacks at Wellington 24–12 2 September v Bay of Plenty at Rotorua 29–24 5 September v Auckland at Auckland 39–12 8 September v North Auckland at Whangarei 19–10 12 September v All Blacks at Auckland 22–25 |
The pro-tour supporters did not necessarily support apartheid, but did not believe that any issue in another country had it's place in New Zealand and particularly rugby. While in hindsight it seems like a ruthless and selfish decision to support the tour, to the people at the time, international issues such as apartheid in South Africa had not been on their radar. The effect they could have on another country was unknown, for many they were just remaining faithful in what they had always known-and that was supporting the government and New Zealand's national sport of rugby.
Although at the time, much of the support was in favour of the tour, this soon changed which was reflected in the 1984 general election. The change in government reflected a closing of this social divide, as some previous tour supporters obviously changed their mind set which allowed the Labour Party to capitalise and win the election. |
Difference of Opinion
The protests were obviously opposed by the Government as the people of New Zealand rebelling against a decision they had made is never going to make any kind of leadership look good. However not much could be done by the Government in terms of prohibiting the peaceful protests without imposing a dictatorial ban on them. Only when protests became violent could the police oppose and intervene as decribed in the police profile on the "Who Was Involved?" page. SPIR (Society For The Protection Of Individual Rights) was one organisation that actively put forward an alternative view to that of the anti-tour movement. Men such as Ces Blazey, the NZRFU chairman, and Ron Don, the chairman of the Auckland Rugby Union and an NZRFU councillor, became well known people. Their exposure in the media made them spearheads of the pro-tour movement.
One of the most important groups that opposed the Anti-Tour protests was the rugby supporters themselves. Our nation was divided nearly in half, people who believed sport and politics didn't mix and those who thought it did. This opposition came to blows on larger scales at the scenes of protests such as Hamilton after the game, when protestors met rugby fans and violence broke out. Some protestors fled and hid in houses while frenzied rugby supporters attacked the houses for over half an hour, John Minto was bashed on the head with a bottle, the protestors' ambulance transporting a semi-conscious girl was attacked-rugby supporters yelling "kill the bitch!". Acts of absurd violence happened between protestors at such events showing a clear divide in opinion and opposition to the Anti-Tour Protests.
The protests were obviously opposed by the Government as the people of New Zealand rebelling against a decision they had made is never going to make any kind of leadership look good. However not much could be done by the Government in terms of prohibiting the peaceful protests without imposing a dictatorial ban on them. Only when protests became violent could the police oppose and intervene as decribed in the police profile on the "Who Was Involved?" page. SPIR (Society For The Protection Of Individual Rights) was one organisation that actively put forward an alternative view to that of the anti-tour movement. Men such as Ces Blazey, the NZRFU chairman, and Ron Don, the chairman of the Auckland Rugby Union and an NZRFU councillor, became well known people. Their exposure in the media made them spearheads of the pro-tour movement.
One of the most important groups that opposed the Anti-Tour protests was the rugby supporters themselves. Our nation was divided nearly in half, people who believed sport and politics didn't mix and those who thought it did. This opposition came to blows on larger scales at the scenes of protests such as Hamilton after the game, when protestors met rugby fans and violence broke out. Some protestors fled and hid in houses while frenzied rugby supporters attacked the houses for over half an hour, John Minto was bashed on the head with a bottle, the protestors' ambulance transporting a semi-conscious girl was attacked-rugby supporters yelling "kill the bitch!". Acts of absurd violence happened between protestors at such events showing a clear divide in opinion and opposition to the Anti-Tour Protests.
KEY IDEAS
The pro-tour movement by the public of New Zealand was not an organised movement but a reaction to the anti-tour movement. When anti-tour protesters acted in a way that disrupted the tour, tour supporters often retaliated violently. This partly contributed to the escalation seen in terms of police brutality and violent clashes. The willingness to attack other New Zealanders over a rugby match being disrupted, postponed or cancelled showed the growing social divide between rural and central city New Zealanders. Differing opinions by objectors/supporters had a great impact on both the tour itself and the way in which New Zealand was viewed by other nations.
The pro-tour movement by the public of New Zealand was not an organised movement but a reaction to the anti-tour movement. When anti-tour protesters acted in a way that disrupted the tour, tour supporters often retaliated violently. This partly contributed to the escalation seen in terms of police brutality and violent clashes. The willingness to attack other New Zealanders over a rugby match being disrupted, postponed or cancelled showed the growing social divide between rural and central city New Zealanders. Differing opinions by objectors/supporters had a great impact on both the tour itself and the way in which New Zealand was viewed by other nations.