The Tour was a catalyst for Nelson Mandela’s freedom and become the first democratically elected state president of his time.
One of the most important long term consequences of the Springbok tour protests was tat it helped to bring an end to Apartheid in South Africa, Apartheid wasn't fully abolished until the 90's but many people believe that the Springbok tour protests were a starting point for Nelson Mandela’s freedom and he went on to become the first democratically elected state president. Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in February 1990 and inaugurated as the first democratically elected state president of South Africa on 10 May 1994. The 1981 tour was part of a long process that led to this significant change in South Africa, and in this respect, it represented New Zealand’s contribution towards a major international event in the closing decades of the 20th century.
One of the consequences from the tour is that we saw a shift in power due to the politics surrounding the tour, In the run up to the 1972 election, Prime Minister Norman Kirk had made promise to the people that he was not going to interfere with the tour. After winning the election, he attempted unsuccessfully to persuade the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union) to withdraw its invitation to the Springboks. At the same time he attempted to negotiate with a number of anti-tour activists and groups. When he made the decision to stop/postpone the Springbok tour there was a strong public backlash against him because there was quite a lot of pro-tour supporters who believed that this was the wrong decision and that the tour should go ahead regardless, Kirk was aware that this decision would have repercussions but he felt that he "would be failing in his duty" is he didn't accept the criticism and do what he believed to be the right decision. But those people who believed that Sports and Politics don't mix (the people who thought that Apartheid was 600000km away and it was nothing to do with us and we should not it interfere as it was not our place) During the next election The National Party acted upon this "failure" by the Labour party and exploited Labour's decision and in the 1975 election this proved to be one of the contributing factors to Nationals win over the Labour party.
Another consequence that was noted is that for the first time in history, rugby in New Zealand had become a source of embarrassment rather than pride. After the Springbok tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, when apartheid had been abolished. The tour has been credited with leading to a decline in the popularity of Rugby Union in New Zealand, until the 1987 Rugby World Cup. After the Tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, when apartheid had been repealed, and New Zealand did have a slump in Rugby Union popularity. During this time Rugby League became the more popular sport, and enjoyed much more attention.
One of the consequences from the tour was we saw a shift in the tactics being used by the police to take control of the situation and the introduction of The Red Squad was a crack team who donned riot gear and adopted tactics never seen in New Zealand before. For the first time protests in New Zealand became violent. The intimidating tactics were old-fashioned. They put on riot gear and they hacked at the opposition with long batons had never been seen before in New Zealand. The police force spent a full day schooling police in the use of the long baton, including instruction in draws, spins, punches, chops, blocks, extraction, running arm-lock and handcuff arm-lock. The police were preparing for violent protests, not normally used in New Zealand up until this point protests usually consisted of marchers down queen street in Auckland and Lambton Quay in Wellington. The Molesworth st protest was the most violent protest of all. Police chanted “Move, Move, Move” and assaulted protesters with short batons. Marchers in the front rows of the 2000-strong crowd were bloodied, to widespread public outrage. Police commissioner Bob Walton said “The baton business in Molesworth St, that was a turning point … it was a good thing that it happened when it did.” These Molesworth St riots were indeed a turning point in New Zealand, in regards to protest movements, and the NZ police force. Demonstrators were often clubbed before they were arrested. 1981 was a historic year in the history of the New Zealand protest movement. The anti-springbok tour demonstrations of that year not only saw record numbers protesting on the streets throughout the country, but also saw a level of military rarely witnessed in this country over a period of months, commencing well before the springbok team arrived in the country, the anti-apartheid movement organized hundreds of rallies, organizational and educational meetings and intended to stop the tour and highlight the illegitimacy of the South African government.
Another consequence was the cost to New Zealanders, although no lives were lost during the Tour, many people were badly injured it was more the cost to the government and the tax payer the initial cost was going to be about $2.7 million which had been set aside for Operation rugby to train up police and provide equipment etc. but when they realized that this was going to be bigger then anyone ever anticipated and the money that they had got set aside was not going to be nearly enough and the total estimated cost was excess of $15 million.
People say that the pro-tour groups came out on top and that would be the truth, the tour went ahead one or two games may have been stopped but regardless the tour went a head. Apartheid didn't stop over night because New Zealand was kicking up a fuss these consequences came late on. In the short run yes, the pro tour groups did come out on top.
One of the most important long term consequences of the Springbok tour protests was tat it helped to bring an end to Apartheid in South Africa, Apartheid wasn't fully abolished until the 90's but many people believe that the Springbok tour protests were a starting point for Nelson Mandela’s freedom and he went on to become the first democratically elected state president. Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in February 1990 and inaugurated as the first democratically elected state president of South Africa on 10 May 1994. The 1981 tour was part of a long process that led to this significant change in South Africa, and in this respect, it represented New Zealand’s contribution towards a major international event in the closing decades of the 20th century.
One of the consequences from the tour is that we saw a shift in power due to the politics surrounding the tour, In the run up to the 1972 election, Prime Minister Norman Kirk had made promise to the people that he was not going to interfere with the tour. After winning the election, he attempted unsuccessfully to persuade the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union) to withdraw its invitation to the Springboks. At the same time he attempted to negotiate with a number of anti-tour activists and groups. When he made the decision to stop/postpone the Springbok tour there was a strong public backlash against him because there was quite a lot of pro-tour supporters who believed that this was the wrong decision and that the tour should go ahead regardless, Kirk was aware that this decision would have repercussions but he felt that he "would be failing in his duty" is he didn't accept the criticism and do what he believed to be the right decision. But those people who believed that Sports and Politics don't mix (the people who thought that Apartheid was 600000km away and it was nothing to do with us and we should not it interfere as it was not our place) During the next election The National Party acted upon this "failure" by the Labour party and exploited Labour's decision and in the 1975 election this proved to be one of the contributing factors to Nationals win over the Labour party.
Another consequence that was noted is that for the first time in history, rugby in New Zealand had become a source of embarrassment rather than pride. After the Springbok tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, when apartheid had been abolished. The tour has been credited with leading to a decline in the popularity of Rugby Union in New Zealand, until the 1987 Rugby World Cup. After the Tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, when apartheid had been repealed, and New Zealand did have a slump in Rugby Union popularity. During this time Rugby League became the more popular sport, and enjoyed much more attention.
One of the consequences from the tour was we saw a shift in the tactics being used by the police to take control of the situation and the introduction of The Red Squad was a crack team who donned riot gear and adopted tactics never seen in New Zealand before. For the first time protests in New Zealand became violent. The intimidating tactics were old-fashioned. They put on riot gear and they hacked at the opposition with long batons had never been seen before in New Zealand. The police force spent a full day schooling police in the use of the long baton, including instruction in draws, spins, punches, chops, blocks, extraction, running arm-lock and handcuff arm-lock. The police were preparing for violent protests, not normally used in New Zealand up until this point protests usually consisted of marchers down queen street in Auckland and Lambton Quay in Wellington. The Molesworth st protest was the most violent protest of all. Police chanted “Move, Move, Move” and assaulted protesters with short batons. Marchers in the front rows of the 2000-strong crowd were bloodied, to widespread public outrage. Police commissioner Bob Walton said “The baton business in Molesworth St, that was a turning point … it was a good thing that it happened when it did.” These Molesworth St riots were indeed a turning point in New Zealand, in regards to protest movements, and the NZ police force. Demonstrators were often clubbed before they were arrested. 1981 was a historic year in the history of the New Zealand protest movement. The anti-springbok tour demonstrations of that year not only saw record numbers protesting on the streets throughout the country, but also saw a level of military rarely witnessed in this country over a period of months, commencing well before the springbok team arrived in the country, the anti-apartheid movement organized hundreds of rallies, organizational and educational meetings and intended to stop the tour and highlight the illegitimacy of the South African government.
Another consequence was the cost to New Zealanders, although no lives were lost during the Tour, many people were badly injured it was more the cost to the government and the tax payer the initial cost was going to be about $2.7 million which had been set aside for Operation rugby to train up police and provide equipment etc. but when they realized that this was going to be bigger then anyone ever anticipated and the money that they had got set aside was not going to be nearly enough and the total estimated cost was excess of $15 million.
People say that the pro-tour groups came out on top and that would be the truth, the tour went ahead one or two games may have been stopped but regardless the tour went a head. Apartheid didn't stop over night because New Zealand was kicking up a fuss these consequences came late on. In the short run yes, the pro tour groups did come out on top.