Causes of the Tour:
There were many different causes that contributed to protests during the 1981 Springbok tour.
After the National Party (along with it's 'all-white' govuysxdfgernment) gained power in 1948, straight away they began to impose the existing policies of racial separation under a system of legislation called Apartheid. This meant that black South Africans, which is a majority of the population, would be made to live in completely separate areas (generally poorer areas), and also made to use separate public facilities. Apartheid meant that there was to be very limited contact or association between whites and non-whites in South Africa. Regardless of a consistent and tough opposition to apartheid in South Africa and Internationally, its Laws stayed in place for around 50 years. The government of Fredrick William de Klerk in 1991 began to revoke most of the legislation that provided the foundation for apartheid.
Around the time of the Springbok Tour, there were many events taking place in South Africa which had begun to take their place on the world stage. One of these events being the 1976 Soweto Riots, which began on June 16th of that year. They were believed to be the most brutal and violent riots that occurred going against apartheid. The riot initially began around the issue of schooling in South Africa, as all teachers and students were forbidden to learn in their own native languages, instead they were forced to learn in Afrikaans which was seen as a direct attempt to cut these people off from their cultures. On June 16th, over 20,000 students showed up to be a part of the march in Soweto township, and almost instantly police began firing guns and tear gas into the crowd, taking the lives of students and many minors. The death rate of black people in this single event was 360.
Information on the racist regime, mostly the riots in Soweto in South Africa were being spread worldwide through photos, TV and radio broadcasting, and causing international outrage. All over the world, including in New Zealand, there was rapidly increasing pressure on South Africa and numbers of people against apartheid. Not long after the riot in Soweto, The New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team went on Tour in South Africa with the approval of newly elected Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. 25 African nations protested against this by withdrawing from the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games. There were 5 Maori players in the New Zealand All Blacks squad, and they were all given token white status. But, as a result of New Zealand rugby travelling to South Africa, some believed that they were sending out a message that New Zealand supported apartheid in South Africa. Although, some New Zealanders disagreed with that message and many others called it a 'social injustice'.
During the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand, public action and opinion was at its peak. The anti-nuclear protests had already spread across New Zealand, with various protest groups composing for a number of reasons. One protest group called HART (Halt All Racist Tours), formed in 1969, specifically aimed to stop any kind of sporting contact with countries, like South Africa, who had racist legislations. HART had already been powerful in the postponement of the Springbok Tour in 1973, but really stood out and took action throughout the 1981 tour of New Zealand. Before the 1981 tour, HART had done campaigns to have the tour cancelled altogether by signing petitions and organising marches and protests. Although HART failed to stop the tour, the protest group did raise awareness within New Zealand, and Internationally of what was going on within our country. HART, alongside other protest groups managed to raise social awareness around the 1981 Springbok Tour, and more importantly, the ill-treated black people were facing back South Africa as apartheid slowly started to break down. HART, along with other groups that were formed around the Tour, was an important cause of the protests, as well as the act of summoning the public marches and other demonstrations that contributed towards protests.
The separation of opinion between rural and urban New Zealand was another leading cause of the 1981 Tour protests. A poll taken at the time of the tour showed that most of the people that were living in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch (4 main centres of NZ) were against the tour, whereas most rural New Zealanders believed the tour should go on which resulted in a divide between town and country. Differences in opinions between rural and urban New Zealanders led to violent encounters throughout the Tour between those who supported the tour, and those who were against the tour alongside the police. Muldoon's government apparently were supporters of the tour as a way to gain votes as oppose to morals, and were successful in the 1975 election as a result of this. Muldoon made a promise to Tour supporters that his National Party government would allow the Springboks to Tour New Zealand. The many encounters that occurred as a result of different views and opinions attracted international attention, bringing forward racial issues in New Zealand itself. Many Maori people in New Zealand believed that it was something they could all relate to, therefore opposed the tour also to show they were against racial discrimination.
The United Nations had called to stop all sporting contact with South Africa in 1968 because of the apartheid legislation. This is something that Norman Kirk had held true through the postponement of the 1973 Tour of New Zealand, which his reasons for doing so was because he believed that the tour would 'engender the greatest eruption of violence that this country has ever known', which very close to what eventually did occur in 1981. Kirk's belief led a large number of people to support the United Nations as oppose the New Zealand's own government. The United Nations had hoped that by preventing sports with South Africa that the increased pressure on the South African government would push them to move towards equality between black and white people.
Prime Minister Norman Kirk postponing the 1973 tour is one of the main political causes of the 1981 Springbok Tour protests. Before Kirk was elected as Prime Minister in 1972, he had promised that he would not interfere with the planned 1973 Tour. However, following the election he immediately went about making sure the tour wouldn't happen, first by engaging in talks with the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union), then eventually postponed the tour himself after consulting with the police. By postponing the tour, Kirk had gone back on his promise to not interfere with the tour, which really showed in the 1975 election as he lost the votes of many rugby and sports fans whom he had broken his promise to, which reflected quite badly on him. Muldoon however, stuck with his word when he promised that the Springboks would be invited to New Zealand for another Tour in 1981, winning the election in 1975 with the votes of the rugby fans that Kirk had lost. This went against the United Nations methods of preventing sporting contact with South Africa, however more reason to can all sporting contact arrived with the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977.
The intentions of the Gleneagles Agreement, which was signed by all Commonwealth nations, were directed towards creating a larger split between South Africa and countries in the Commonwealth who were part of the agreement. All who signed this were given the instruction that:
"...there were unlikely to be future sporting contacts of any significance between Commonwealth countries or their nationals and South Africa while that country continues to pursue the detestable policy of apartheid."
Although Muldoon signed the Gleneagles Agreement, he continued to state again strongly his own policy of "no politics in sports" causing much public disagreement. Muldoon claimed that he felt he had to stick to his promise that he would allow the next planned tour to commence, as he said in his campaign for the 1975 election. Muldoon was aware that rural voters, who were generally supporters of the tour, were far too valuable to lose, as it seemed he was thinking ahead and keeping the future election in mind. Regardless of much public agitation after the NZRFU announced the Tour in early September 1980, Muldoon didn't show any resistance to the tour. Almost immediately, protest groups were formed, and in retrospect, letting the tour progress was not the best idea. Muldoon was clearly set on being re-elected as Prime Minister, and made this a priority as oppose to the morals of the country, and the way that other supposedly 'racism-free' countries viewed New Zealand.
After the National Party (along with it's 'all-white' govuysxdfgernment) gained power in 1948, straight away they began to impose the existing policies of racial separation under a system of legislation called Apartheid. This meant that black South Africans, which is a majority of the population, would be made to live in completely separate areas (generally poorer areas), and also made to use separate public facilities. Apartheid meant that there was to be very limited contact or association between whites and non-whites in South Africa. Regardless of a consistent and tough opposition to apartheid in South Africa and Internationally, its Laws stayed in place for around 50 years. The government of Fredrick William de Klerk in 1991 began to revoke most of the legislation that provided the foundation for apartheid.
Around the time of the Springbok Tour, there were many events taking place in South Africa which had begun to take their place on the world stage. One of these events being the 1976 Soweto Riots, which began on June 16th of that year. They were believed to be the most brutal and violent riots that occurred going against apartheid. The riot initially began around the issue of schooling in South Africa, as all teachers and students were forbidden to learn in their own native languages, instead they were forced to learn in Afrikaans which was seen as a direct attempt to cut these people off from their cultures. On June 16th, over 20,000 students showed up to be a part of the march in Soweto township, and almost instantly police began firing guns and tear gas into the crowd, taking the lives of students and many minors. The death rate of black people in this single event was 360.
Information on the racist regime, mostly the riots in Soweto in South Africa were being spread worldwide through photos, TV and radio broadcasting, and causing international outrage. All over the world, including in New Zealand, there was rapidly increasing pressure on South Africa and numbers of people against apartheid. Not long after the riot in Soweto, The New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team went on Tour in South Africa with the approval of newly elected Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. 25 African nations protested against this by withdrawing from the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games. There were 5 Maori players in the New Zealand All Blacks squad, and they were all given token white status. But, as a result of New Zealand rugby travelling to South Africa, some believed that they were sending out a message that New Zealand supported apartheid in South Africa. Although, some New Zealanders disagreed with that message and many others called it a 'social injustice'.
During the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand, public action and opinion was at its peak. The anti-nuclear protests had already spread across New Zealand, with various protest groups composing for a number of reasons. One protest group called HART (Halt All Racist Tours), formed in 1969, specifically aimed to stop any kind of sporting contact with countries, like South Africa, who had racist legislations. HART had already been powerful in the postponement of the Springbok Tour in 1973, but really stood out and took action throughout the 1981 tour of New Zealand. Before the 1981 tour, HART had done campaigns to have the tour cancelled altogether by signing petitions and organising marches and protests. Although HART failed to stop the tour, the protest group did raise awareness within New Zealand, and Internationally of what was going on within our country. HART, alongside other protest groups managed to raise social awareness around the 1981 Springbok Tour, and more importantly, the ill-treated black people were facing back South Africa as apartheid slowly started to break down. HART, along with other groups that were formed around the Tour, was an important cause of the protests, as well as the act of summoning the public marches and other demonstrations that contributed towards protests.
The separation of opinion between rural and urban New Zealand was another leading cause of the 1981 Tour protests. A poll taken at the time of the tour showed that most of the people that were living in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch (4 main centres of NZ) were against the tour, whereas most rural New Zealanders believed the tour should go on which resulted in a divide between town and country. Differences in opinions between rural and urban New Zealanders led to violent encounters throughout the Tour between those who supported the tour, and those who were against the tour alongside the police. Muldoon's government apparently were supporters of the tour as a way to gain votes as oppose to morals, and were successful in the 1975 election as a result of this. Muldoon made a promise to Tour supporters that his National Party government would allow the Springboks to Tour New Zealand. The many encounters that occurred as a result of different views and opinions attracted international attention, bringing forward racial issues in New Zealand itself. Many Maori people in New Zealand believed that it was something they could all relate to, therefore opposed the tour also to show they were against racial discrimination.
The United Nations had called to stop all sporting contact with South Africa in 1968 because of the apartheid legislation. This is something that Norman Kirk had held true through the postponement of the 1973 Tour of New Zealand, which his reasons for doing so was because he believed that the tour would 'engender the greatest eruption of violence that this country has ever known', which very close to what eventually did occur in 1981. Kirk's belief led a large number of people to support the United Nations as oppose the New Zealand's own government. The United Nations had hoped that by preventing sports with South Africa that the increased pressure on the South African government would push them to move towards equality between black and white people.
Prime Minister Norman Kirk postponing the 1973 tour is one of the main political causes of the 1981 Springbok Tour protests. Before Kirk was elected as Prime Minister in 1972, he had promised that he would not interfere with the planned 1973 Tour. However, following the election he immediately went about making sure the tour wouldn't happen, first by engaging in talks with the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union), then eventually postponed the tour himself after consulting with the police. By postponing the tour, Kirk had gone back on his promise to not interfere with the tour, which really showed in the 1975 election as he lost the votes of many rugby and sports fans whom he had broken his promise to, which reflected quite badly on him. Muldoon however, stuck with his word when he promised that the Springboks would be invited to New Zealand for another Tour in 1981, winning the election in 1975 with the votes of the rugby fans that Kirk had lost. This went against the United Nations methods of preventing sporting contact with South Africa, however more reason to can all sporting contact arrived with the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977.
The intentions of the Gleneagles Agreement, which was signed by all Commonwealth nations, were directed towards creating a larger split between South Africa and countries in the Commonwealth who were part of the agreement. All who signed this were given the instruction that:
"...there were unlikely to be future sporting contacts of any significance between Commonwealth countries or their nationals and South Africa while that country continues to pursue the detestable policy of apartheid."
Although Muldoon signed the Gleneagles Agreement, he continued to state again strongly his own policy of "no politics in sports" causing much public disagreement. Muldoon claimed that he felt he had to stick to his promise that he would allow the next planned tour to commence, as he said in his campaign for the 1975 election. Muldoon was aware that rural voters, who were generally supporters of the tour, were far too valuable to lose, as it seemed he was thinking ahead and keeping the future election in mind. Regardless of much public agitation after the NZRFU announced the Tour in early September 1980, Muldoon didn't show any resistance to the tour. Almost immediately, protest groups were formed, and in retrospect, letting the tour progress was not the best idea. Muldoon was clearly set on being re-elected as Prime Minister, and made this a priority as oppose to the morals of the country, and the way that other supposedly 'racism-free' countries viewed New Zealand.
Consequences/Aftermath of the Tour:
A wide range of social, political and economic consequences have come about as a result of the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand. For the first time in history, a public movement was being acknowledged in the media not only in New Zealand, but on an international scale, with the protests from the 1981 Tour having an enormous effect on apartheid in South Africa. 1994 was the year of the first general democratic election in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela rising to power becoming South Africa's first ever black president, and for many people this was the end of apartheid. After this had happened, an increase in social and political awareness occurred with many people in New Zealand now more confident in sharing their opinions and views, and contradicting what the government believed and enforced. Activism continued to increase into the late 1980's and 90's as a result of this, with many movements including the homosexuality and Maori rights and anti-nuclear protests taking place after this. Racial relations in New Zealand with Maori people then began being questioned, as many Maori believed that New Zealanders were overlooking the real issues back home, and instead focusing on issues overseas. Muldoon's National Party government managed to regain power until 1994 when David Lange's Labour Party government took over, initiating Labour dominance in New Zealand in the late 20th century.