Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (NZ)
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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (NZ) was co-founded in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, in 1959 with the help of
Elsie Locke Elsie Violet Locke (née Farrelly; 17 August 1912 – 8 April 2001) was a New Zealand Communism, communist writer, historian, and leading activist in the feminism and peace movements. Also available to subscribers at Oxford Reference Online'. P ...
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 ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
when she moved to New Zealand after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. 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 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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
voted against, and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
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 French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
. 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 collective security agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that was signed in 1951, and from which New Zealand has been partially su ...
. 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 Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
. In 1972, in a joint campaign with
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
, the yacht Vega was renamed "Greenpeace III", and it sailed in a defiant protest into the atomic exclusion zone 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. The Vega was rammed by a French military
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
and
David McTaggart David Fraser McTaggart (June 24, 1932 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian environmentalist who played a central part in the foundation of Greenpeace International. An excellent all-around athlete, as a young man he won three consecutive Canadian ...
(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 and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question, but are generally distinct from nuclear-weapon-free zones, in that the latter only b ...
. 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,
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
CNZM was Premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011.


See also

*
New Zealand's nuclear-free zone In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, l ...
*
Fri (yacht) ''Fri'', a New Zealand yacht, led a flotilla of yachts in an international protest against atmospheric nuclear tests at Moruroa in French Polynesia in 1973.Elsa Caron, (ed.) 1974, Fri Alert (Caveman Press, Dunedin). The Yacht Fri's own story of h ...
*
Greenpeace Aotearoa 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 aft ...
*
Nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question, but are generally distinct from nuclear-weapon-free zones, in that the latter only b ...
* ANZUS - New Zealand bans nuclear ships *
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...
*
Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior The sinking of ''Rainbow Warrior'', codenamed Opération Satanique, was an act of French state terrorism. Described as a "covert operation" by the Division Action, "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-Gene ...
*
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone A nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) is defined by the United Nations as an agreement that a group of states has freely established by treaty or convention that bans the development, manufacturing, control, possession, testing, stationing or transpo ...
*
Treaty of Rarotonga The Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalises a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific. The treaty bans the use, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons within the bord ...
*
Antarctic Treaty System The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms ...
* Mongolian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Status *
Treaty of Tlatelolco The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (commonly known as The Tlatelolco Treaty) is an international treaty that establishes the denuclearization of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was proposed b ...
*
African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty The African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba (named after South Africa's main nuclear research facility, run by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) and was the location where South Africa's ...
*
France and weapons of mass destruction France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France is the only member of the European Union to posse ...
*
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...
* Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration - New Zealand


References

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