Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (NZ) was co-founded in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1959 with the help of Elsie Locke and Mary Woodward. Mabel Hetherington, who belonged to an earlier generation of peace activists from England, was largely responsible for setting up the organization in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

when she moved to New Zealand after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. With Alison Duff and Pat Denby, Hetherington carried it in Auckland through the 1960s. It was largely from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (NZ) and the Peace Media that

Greenpeace New Zealand Greenpeace Aotearoa (GPAo) is one of New Zealand's largest environmental organisations, and is a national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace. History Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand was founded in 1974, two years after ...

evolved.

In 1959, responding to rising public concern following the British H-Bomb tests in Australia, New Zealand voted in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

to condemn nuclear testing while the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

voted against, and Australia abstained. In the early 1960s the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament New Zealand organised marches and speeches throughout the country to highlight the concerns about French atmospheric nuclear tests at

Mururoa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

atoll in French Polynesia. In 1961, with the support of other peace groups, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament New Zealand urged the New Zealand government to declare it 'will not acquire or use nuclear weapons' and to withdraw from nuclear alliances such as

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on militar ...

. In 1963 the organization presented the 'No Bombs South of the Line' petition with 80,238 signatures to the New Zealand Parliament calling on the government to sponsor an international conference to discuss establishing a nuclear-free-zone in the southern hemisphere. It was the biggest New Zealand petition since the one in 1893 demanding

votes for women A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election. Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to: Music *''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004 *"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006 Television * " ...

. In 1972, in a joint campaign with Greenpeace and Callum Lockie, the yacht Vega was renamed "Greenpeace III", and it sailed in a defiant protest into the atomic exclusion zone at

Atoll. The Vega was rammed by a French military

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

and David McTaggart (co-founder of Greenpeace International) was severely beaten by French military police in a second voyage in 1973.Dead-Serious Prank: A Greenpeace Operation
''Time'', 18 September 1995 The international publicity which surrounded the incident marked the beginning of a three decade protest against nuclear testing at Mururoa with an eventual test ban implemented by the French in 1996. In 1987 the New Zealand parliament adopted the

New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 In 1987, the Fourth Labour Government passed the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act. The Act essentially declared New Zealand as a nuclear free zone. The purpose of the Act was ambitious and wide-ranging: “to est ...

declaring the country and its territorial waters a

nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor pro ...

Two leaders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament New Zealand in the 1970s went on to parliamentary careers. President Richard Northey ONZM was MP for Eden from 1984 to 1990 and MP for Onehunga from, 1993 to 1996. His Vice President, Callum Lockie CNZM was Premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011.

References

{{Greenpeace Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Anti–nuclear weapons movement Environmental organisations based in New Zealand

See also

References