Robert Muldoon Born on the 25th September 1921, Robert Muldoon, nicknamed ‘piggy’, was one of the most controversial figures in New Zealand political history. He led to a split in the views of the New Zealand public in a variety of issues. He entered parliament in 1960, leading the National Party to win the 1975 election. He took a liberal approach to many issues and was also opinionated and aggressive. Muldoon undertook the strong stance in stating that sport and politics should not mix. Following this stance, Muldoon said that it was up to the individual whether or not to play sport against the leaders of Apartheid. He stated that if he was to have any influence on the sportsmen’s decisions it would be authoritarian-like. Even with Muldoon permitting the Springbok Tour in 1981, he maintained his position as Prime Minister in the general election later that year.
David Lange David Lange entered Parliament in 1977. Lange led the Labour party to defeat Muldoon in the 1984 election. He also achieve a second term as prime minister, something that the Labour party had not achieved since the 1940’s. Lange’s strong anti-Apartheid stance was strong. In his time as prime minister, Lange had shut down a South African consulate, which worked to maintain a strong relationship between South Africa and New Zealand, in favour of a new focus on ‘states which were in the front line of the struggle against apartheid’, which was quoted in his biography, My Life. Lange was well-known for his strong stance for maintaining New Zealand’s ‘clean and green’ image. This was proven in the widely televised Oxford Union debate in March 1985, where Lange argued that ‘nuclear weapons are morally indefensible’. A South African consulate, which had worked hard to maintain the relationship between the two countries, was closed down in favour of a new focus on ‘states which were in the front line of the struggle against apartheid’.
John Minto John Minto was born in 1953. John Minto is a political activist who is well known for his participation in left wing groups, but significantly Halt All Racist Tours (HART), in 1969. He later became the chairman in 1980. He was nationally symbolic as the spear-head of the anti-tour protests. Minto was an anti-tour activist who believed it was morally wrong to continue sporting ties with a country that allowed racist and apartheid practices. He was one of the many protesters to take the field in Hamilton resulting in the game being cancelled. He was assaulted by angry rugby supporters leaving the ground in all the chaos.
HART (Halt All Racist Tours) was a key anti-tour and anti-apartheid protest group which was significantly affected by the 1981 Springbok tour. Led by the national organiser, John Minto, HART focused its attention on local non-violent action. They were affected mostly from the aggressive behaviour of the New Zealand Police Force who clashed with them during the tour. To counter the Riot Squad's aggressive approach, front-line protesters donned crash helmets and padded clothing. The long batons used by riot police during the tour were nicknamed 'Minto Bars'. Dedicated protesters would sometimes travel great distances to be present at demonstrations. After the protesters had been escorted off the field by the police at Hamilton while chanting, 'The whole world is watching', rugby supporters attacked them. Families were divided and torn apart by this conflict as people were so intensely opinionated on the matter. Over 2000 people were arrested during the tour.