New Zealand Listener – August 10, 2019

AUGUST 10 2019 LISTENER 43

jingoistic presentation of the

departure of New Zealand

soldiers overseas. The title

referred to Adolf Hitler’s jibe

that they were “poor deluded

country lads”, but the phrase

was adopted as a source of

pride, suggesting that the

Kiwi soldier had been forged

through hard work in the

backblocks. The nation’s cen-

tennial in 1940 was intended,

said Prime Minister Savage,

“to honour the memories and

mark the achievement of the

pioneer men and women”.

At the heart of this pioneer

worship was the belief that

the outdoor life was morally

and physically healthy. Cities

implied crowded tenement

housing, disease and immoral

behaviour. The respectability

of the New Zealand small

town held firm. The pubs

closed at 6pm, prostitution

and homosexuality were

criminal offences, and social

control was intense. The most

common criminal conviction

May 30 1959. Driven over,

climbed, flown under and

jumped off, the Auckland

Harbour Bridge has become

both a queen city and a

national icon. Its opening,

in May 1959, heralded a

new era of suburbanisation

that saw the country’s cities

sprawl outwards into the

countryside. Says historian

James Belich, the bridge can

also be seen as a symbol

of Auckland’s dominance,

as the country’s “big four”

centres became the “big

one”. Immediately too small,

the bridge’s capacity was

doubled by clip-ons in 1966.

The bridge cost $16 million

45 years ago. Construction

of a walking and cycling

connection is due to begin in

2020. A 5m-wide path on the
      bridge’s city-bound traffic
      side will link Westhaven to
      Northcote Pt.

January 1961. Although New

Zealand tended to lag behind

counterculture, the sexual revolu-

tion arrived right on time when

oral contraceptives hit our shores.

It was available only to married

women and by prescription, and

women remember having to put

on faux wedding rings before

going to Family Planning. Punitive

social sanctions for sex outside

marriage were skirted, heralding

a move away from traditional,

nuclear-family structures.

Auckland Harbour Bridge

The pill goes

on sale

Jandal becomes an

official trademark

October 1957. The jandal was

invented by Maurice Yock,

and for its first two years

came in brown or white.

According to Yock’s grand-

daughter, former Alliance

minister Laila Harré, the name

was an abbreviation of Japa-

nese sandal. Australians claim

the jandal and the pavlova as

their own, but call it a thong,

flip-flop or le slap. Jandal is

New Zealander Yock’s inven-

tion. However, says Harré, it

never made him rich: “He was

simply an entrepreneur who

came up with a good idea.”

The pubs

closed at 6pm,

prostitution and

homosexuality

were criminal

offences, and

social control

was intense.

GET

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IMA

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