Just a part of the huge crowd outside Parliament.
by Martin Gregory
On my way into Wellington this morning I wondered how many primary teachers and principals would heed their union’s call to take part in the area march and rally at Parliament, and how many would take the opportunity for a well-deserved day of relaxation. I need not have worried about the level of commitment, the turnout was huge. Stuff reports over 4,000, and I can believe it. Before marching to Parliament the union held a mass meeting in the Westpac Stadium. Two alternatives for further action were put to the members. The first was a programme of rolling strikes, area by area; this was received coolly. The second plan was far better, a national two-day strike; this was received rapturously. Support in the union ranks for the campaign is unmistakable.
The march had a joyous carnival atmosphere, similar to the mood at recent actions by the health workers and government staff at the Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. All the teachers carried something: either a union ‘Kua tae te wā – It’s time’ placard or a home-made sign or banner.
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From the archive
Anzac Day: Against the Carnival of Reaction
On Anzac Day 1967, at the height of New Zealand involvement in the ‘American War’ in Vietnam, with New Zealand troops taking part in the suppression of the Vietnamese struggle for national liberation, members of the Progressive Youth Movement in Christchurch tried to lay a wreath following the dawn service in memory of those killed by imperialism in Vietnam. They were arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour. Feminists a decade later faced down a media-driven public outcry when they laid wreaths to the victims of sexual violence during war.
Lest we forget? It’s more like lest we remember. Anzac Day serves as a carnival of nationalist reaction, a day of public ritual aimed at promoting forgetting: forgetting the real legacy of New Zealand imperialism and militarism in favour of a sentimental nationalism, an anti-political celebration of national unity. [Read More…]
