The second postwar year of reconstruction has seen unemployment[in New Zeal<strong>and</strong>] reduced to extremely low levels … by 31 st March,1947, they totaled only 67 males <strong>and</strong> 7 females, including 43 semiemployablepersons.The rate of unemployment continued to decline, with the Labour <strong>and</strong> EmploymentGazette (Department of Labour, 1951) reporting in February 1951 that, in theprevious year, 403 men were classed as unemployed. This was just .01 percent of theworkforce – the lowest number of males unemployed on record. Citizens were thusable to feel secure in their daily lives, with the knowledge that their jobs were secure.Social cohesion <strong>and</strong> homogeneityThe sense of stability, security <strong>and</strong> comfort brought about by economic conditionswas complemented by the homogeneity of the population <strong>and</strong> the pervading sense oftogetherness this generated. At this stage, New Zeal<strong>and</strong>’s ties with Britain remainedstrong <strong>and</strong> most New Zeal<strong>and</strong>ers still spoke of Britain as ‘Home’ (King, 1988: 7).Entry of migrants was restricted on the grounds of ‘race’, where the profile of whatwas considered a ‘good migrant’ remained predominantly white <strong>and</strong> British (Smith,2005: 172). A comprehensive assisted passage scheme was introduced in July 1947for British residents, restricting entry to ‘physically fit single persons between theages of twenty <strong>and</strong> thirtyfive who were experienced in certain specified occupationsof an essential nature’ (National Employment Service (N.Z), 1947: 8). Thehomogeneity amongst the majority population provided a strong sense of communitywhere citizens united to form close social bonds.In contrast, any group whose language, culture or looks made it clear they were notfrom Britain were faced with extensive barriers, with Chinese immigrants inparticular suffering from prejudice <strong>and</strong> misunderst<strong>and</strong>ing (King, 2003). WhileBritish immigrants <strong>and</strong> those from the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s accounted for over 90 percent ofall migrants to New Zeal<strong>and</strong> in 1955, ‘other foreign countries’, which were notdistinguished by ethnicity or race in annual reports, accounted for only 6 percent(Department of Labour, 1955: 7). The restrictive controls placed on all immigrantswho were not British were deemed necessary to maintain ‘White New Zeal<strong>and</strong>’ as22
immigration was considered a threat to the nation’s homogeneity rather than as acrucial source of diversity <strong>and</strong> growth (Belich, 2001: 224) 8 .The only thing that seemed to stir white New Zeal<strong>and</strong> was the increasingurbanisation of Māori, who, at that time, made up about 5 percent of New Zeal<strong>and</strong>’stotal population. In the postwar period, the urban Māori population increased from13 percent to 23 percent in fifteen years (Metge, 1964). Many Māori families,directed by the Department of Labour <strong>and</strong> Employment, had shifted from rural tourban communities to help out with the war effort, <strong>and</strong> to take advantage of labourmarket opportunities. This move, however, severed the tight bonds that still existedwithin Māori communities (Durie, 2008; Metge, 1964). A large proportion of thegroup who had moved shared similar attributes: they were between the ages ofsixteen <strong>and</strong> thirty, were unmarried, unskilled <strong>and</strong> under or unemployed, <strong>and</strong> wereeager for adventure or new experience (Metge, 1964). The new visibility of Māori inurban centres had been accentuated by the ‘patterns of dress <strong>and</strong> public behaviourwhich singled them out, not only as country folk, but also as Māori – culturally aswell as ethnically “different” from the Pakeha population (New Zeal<strong>and</strong>ers ofEuropean stock)’ (Metge, 1964: 2). These factors, combined with the low level ofwork available, had significantly impacted on levels of Māori imprisonment, whichgrew from 431 prisoners in 1952 to 573 prisoners in 1956 (Department of Justice,1957). At this stage, however, the high level of Māori imprisonment did little todisturb postwar tranquillity.Social securityThe serene New Zeal<strong>and</strong> setting was further enhanced by the state’s ability toprovide firm guarantees of security. Indeed, in the post1945 period, its welfarearrangements were amongst the most advanced of welfare societies (Pratt, 2006).The Social Security Act 1938 (which was in place until the Social Security Act 1964came into force) stated that all persons who had been ‘deprived of the power toobtain a reasonable livelihood through age, illness, unemployment, widowhood, orother misfortune’ were eligible for assistance (Social Security Department, 1938: 58Modern historians consistently refer to this immigration policy as the ‘White New Zeal<strong>and</strong>’ policy,similar to that which was in operation in Australia, Canada, <strong>and</strong> the United States from 1924 (Belich,2001). However, unlike New Zeal<strong>and</strong>, prior to 1945 all these countries had relaxed their immigrationcontrols to allow for further diversity <strong>and</strong> growth.23
- Page 3 and 4: AcknowledgementsWriting this thesis
- Page 5 and 6: ContentsAbstract ..................
- Page 7 and 8: IntroductionIn September 2007, New
- Page 9 and 10: Thereafter, the Labourled coaliti
- Page 11 and 12: Postwar Security and Penalwelfa
- Page 13 and 14: the exterior of electoral politics,
- Page 15 and 16: social conditions, towards that whi
- Page 17 and 18: penal policy development where they
- Page 19 and 20: implementation of this legislation.
- Page 21: increasingly aware of crime, gainin
- Page 25 and 26: in agricultural exports, particular
- Page 27 and 28: The time would seem to be appropria
- Page 29 and 30: In keeping crime out of the public
- Page 31 and 32: The Labour Party’s response to th
- Page 33 and 34: across a multitude of family househ
- Page 35 and 36: Changes in New Zealand mediaThe dif
- Page 37 and 38: dominant feature of New Zealand soc
- Page 39 and 40: Despite its manifest contradictions
- Page 41 and 42: Governments and their civil servant
- Page 43 and 44: The Victims Task Force believed tha
- Page 45 and 46: eferendum into legislation, motivat
- Page 47 and 48: [New Zealand was] one of the safest
- Page 49 and 50: governments in the hope that ‘suc
- Page 51 and 52: McVicar paints of himself as the
- Page 53 and 54: that New Zealanders have been expos
- Page 55 and 56: This combination of circumstances c
- Page 57 and 58: Sympathy, empathy, commiseration an
- Page 59 and 60: [h]ad not risen from the ‘victims
- Page 61 and 62: illicit a response from the communi
- Page 63 and 64: Reform Bill). The Trust made submis
- Page 65 and 66: The willingness by Opposition MPs t
- Page 67 and 68: I remind [the National Party] that
- Page 69 and 70: However, the Labourled government
- Page 71 and 72: 6). While these opposing parties po
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One development in particular incre
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policymaking 32 . From 2000 to 2006
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had removed suspended sentences as
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Chapter Four:Resistance to Penal Po
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2004: 44). The situation worsened i
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were designed to address New Zealan
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$3.341 million annually from 2009/2
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organisation, was interested in bur
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Because of the capability of the me
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The case of Graeme BurtonThe second
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‘parole should be a privilege, no
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given the difficulties in measureme
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package to prioritise this issue. H
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emained insecure and overtly puniti
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the end of its tenure. As a result,
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The thesis has explained and analys
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main determinants are addressed. As
- Page 107 and 108:
Atkinson, J. (2002). Structures of
- Page 109 and 110:
Bureau of Justice Statistics (2008b
- Page 111 and 112:
Cullen, P., & Lloyd, C. (1991). Lob
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Department of Statistics (N.Z) (199
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Hall, G., & O'Driscoll, S. (2002).
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Johnson, R. J., & Ogloff, J. R. P.
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Maguire, M. (2002). Crime data and
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Ministry of Justice (2002a). Senten
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New Zealand Parliament (1993a). Cri
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asket.co.nz.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/searc
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O'Conner, D. (2006). Effective Inte
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Prisoners in line for waist restrai
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Sentencing Amendment Act. (2007). R
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http://www.stats.govt.nz/products
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contours of New Zealand (pp. 1111