The Bomb Stays Banned

July marked the 30th anniversary of “what was probably the first state-sponsored Ban the Bomb protest” – NZ PM Norman Kirk’s diplomatic and symbolic attack on the French government. In outrage at continued nuclear testing by France in the South Pacific – despite an International Court ruling banning them from doing so – Kirk sent the frigate Otago on a mission of peaceful protest, to act, in his words, “as a silent accusing witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world.” Kirk’s actions made international headlines, and began a legacy of anti-nuclear opinion in NZ, which continues today.