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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1947 | - Jul 1947—1975: Assisted Immigration
The Immigration Assistance Scheme, introduced in July 1947, was designed to bring skilled workers into New Zealand. Unlike earlier schemes, the focus was on attracting single people with practical skills. There was an initial preference for 20 to 35-year-olds, but the upper age limit was extended to 45 in 1950. While assistance went primarily to white British citizens, the country also sought other European groups who could easily assimilate into post-war New Zealand. The most favoured were the Dutch – over 6000 arrived in the 1950s as part of an assisted passage scheme from the Netherlands. Most assisted immigrants travelled by ship and docked at Wellington, but in later years many arrived by plane at Auckland's Whenuapai Airport.
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| 2 | 1964 | - 1 Jun 1964—30 Apr 1975: Vietnam War
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and other anti-communist allies.
New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War was from 1964 until 1975 was modest, involving approximately 3,800 military personnel, with 37 killed and approximately 187 injured.
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| 3 | 1971 | - 25 Oct 1971: End of Steam Railways
The last steam powered locomotive on New Zealand Railways (NZR) network was the Christchurch–Dunedin overnight express, headed by a JA-class locomotive, on 25 October 1971. This brought to an end 108 years of regular steam rail operations by NZR. New Zealand’s rail system was predominantly steam-powered from 1863, when the first public railway opened in Christchurch, until the 1950s, when the transition to diesel power gathered momentum. The dieselisation of North Island railways was complete by the late 1960s.
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| 4 | 1973 | - 31 Oct 1973: Colour TV
Colour TV. On Wednesday 31 October 1973, colour television using the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system was introduced in NZ, in readiness for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, which were to be held in Christchurch in January and February 1974. The final switchover for colour from black and white television was in December 1975.
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| 5 | 1975 | - 10 Oct 1975: Waitangi Tribunal
The government created the Waitangi Tribunal to hear Maori claims of breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. It has evolved ever since, adapting to the demands of claimants, government and public. The Tribunal reports on and suggests settlement for contemporary Maori claims to the government, and ensures that future legislation was consistent with the treaty. In 1985, the government extended its jurisdiction to claims about any alleged breach of the treaty since 1840. This resulted in a huge increase in the number of claims and an expansion of the Tribunal’s activities.
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| 6 | 1979 | - 28 Nov 1979: Mt Erebus air crash
On 28 November an Air New Zealand DC-10 airliner, on a sightseeing flight to Antarctica, crashed into Mt Erebus. All 257 passengers and crew were killed in New Zealand’s worst air disaster.
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| 7 | 1983 | - 28 Mar 1983: CER Agreement
The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, better known as CER, was New Zealand’s first comprehensive bilateral trade agreement. CER came into force on 1 January 1983, but the agreement was not formally signed until 28 March, by New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Canberra, Laurie Francis, and Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Lionel Bowen. By 1990, there was free trade in goods and nearly all services between the two countries. In recent years NZ and Australia have moved towards even closer cooperation in policies, laws and regulatory regimes.
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| 8 | 1986 | - 1 Oct 1986: Goods and Services Tax
New Zealand introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 1986, adding 10 per cent to the cost of most goods and services. GST was a key part of the economic reforms of the fourth Labour government – dubbed 'Rogernomics' after Minister of Finance Roger Douglas. This 'regressive' tax hit the poorest the hardest, because people on low incomes spend a higher proportion of their money on basic goods and services than the better-off. The rate of GST was increased to 12.5 per cent in 1989 and to 15 per cent in 2010.
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Chris Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project
1970 - 1987 (17 years)
