Britain joins the EEC
- When
- 1 January 1973
- Reach
- Nationwide
New Zealand’s guaranteed British market for lamb, butter and cheese began closing after ninety years. The economy has never worked the same way since.
In 1960 Britain took more than half of New Zealand’s exports. Special access arrangements softened the transition, but the direction was clear, and the oil shock later that year compounded it. The response was a scramble for new markets in Asia, the Middle East and eventually China, and at home the Muldoon government’s borrowing and Think Big projects — followed by the abrupt liberalisation of 1984.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
First refrigerated cargo sails for London
The Dunedin left Port Chalmers with 4,900 frozen carcasses and arrived in London 98 days later with the cargo sound. It changed the country’s economy permanently.
Port ChalmersNew Zealand declares war on Germany
‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.
New Zealand enters the First World War
About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and 41,000 were wounded — proportionally among the heaviest losses of any country.
Vogel’s public works and immigration scheme
Julius Vogel borrowed £10 million in London to build railways, roads and telegraph lines, and to bring 100,000 assisted migrants.