Fight The Power

New Zealand Involvement in Vietnam

By the late-1960s, the national economy was not growing fast enough to maintain the standard of living many New Zealanders had experienced during the post-war decades. Darkening economic horizons accompanied the dissatisfaction of some baby boomers with the ideals, policies, and lifestyle of their parents’ society. One of the first political causes to mobilise wide youth support was opposition to New Zealand involvement in the Vietnam War (1965-1972).

Throughout the 1960s and 70s the Vietnam or ‘Indo-Chinese’ War often occupied the front page of the Waikato Times. In one local demonstration against the conflict, a minority loudly protested during the visit to the Waikato of South Vietnamese Prime Minister, Air Vice Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ in late January 1967. The day after being greeted by a ‘screaming mob’ of 300 at Auckland International Airport, Kỳ— touring the country to acknowledge New Zealand’s assistance in the war effort—was confronted during lunch at Hamilton’s Riverina Hotel. Protestors held banners reading ‘Get Out Ky!’; ‘Johnson’s butcher not wanted here’ and accused him of being an ‘American puppet’.   In another act of resistance on 30 April 1971, a ‘silent march’ against the war took place through Victoria Street. The march marked the culmination of a series of local events for a ‘national mobilisation day’. These activities included a ‘teach-in’ (an extended, participatory lecture session) at the University of the Waikato, and a ‘teach-out’ at local secondary schools.

Want to learn more? Further Reading

Roberto Rabel, New Zealand and the Vietnam War: Politics and Diplomacy (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2005).  

Ian McGibbon, New Zealand and the Korean War Vol. 1 (Auckland; Wellington: Oxford University Press in association with the Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1992–96.)

Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Vietnam War.govt.nz, Memories of New Zealand’s Vietnam War http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz

Image: Courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington