Through much of the 19th century NZ politicians and administrators dreamed of running a vast empire in the Pacific. Parts of that dream came true - although for some, it was more like a nightmare. Today, Aotearoa has fewer Pacific possessions that it once had, but the history of our attempts at colonial expansion has effects which continue to reverberate throughout the Pacific.

It seems an almost heretical question, but it’s gotta be asked! Why are NZ and Australia different countries? You might be surprised to know that we did consider joining up with our mates across the Tasman back in the late 19th/early 20th century, but it never worked out. And that’s just a small fragment of the fascinating history of our Trans-Tasman relationship with our mates across the ditch. For more on this subject: The Prickly Pair by Denis McLean A Destiny Apart by Keiieth Sinclair Remaking the Tasman World by Philippa Mein Smith Te Ara Encyclopaedia - Australia and New Zealand: https://teara.govt.nz/en/australia-and-new-zealand

On 19 September 1893 Aotearoa became the first self-governing country in the world where women could vote. But the road to get there was anything but smooth. So… How did it happen? Well that’s a wild ride from the French Revolution, through the colonisation of Aotearoa, to battles over booze, to ultimate victory. In this episode we discuss: - How New Zealand's first parliamentary election had far more liberal voting rights than in the UK. - The role of Māori women in decision making before colonisation. The global suffrage movement. - The rise of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the role debates over alcohol played in the battle for suffrage. - The story of Kate Sheppard and her allies in the campaign for suffrage. - The story of Māori suffragists including Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia. -- For more on this subject: A History of New Zealand Women by Barbara Brookes. Women's Suffrage in New Zealand by Patricia Grimshaw. Women and the Vote - NZHistory.govt.nz: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage Voting Rights - Te Ara Encyclopaedia: https://teara.govt.nz/en/voting-rights

Marine mammals have played a vital role in the history of Aotearoa. Māori and Moriori hunted seals in huge numbers for food and clothing, and many non-Māori were drawn to these shores to harvest the skins and oil of seals and whales. For more on this subject: The Old Whaling Days: a History of Southern New Zealand From 1830 To 1840 by Robert McNab Te Ara Encyclopaedia - Whaling: https://teara.govt.nz/en/whaling Te Ara Encyclopaedia - Sealing: https://teara.govt.nz/en/sealing

New Zealanders like to think we have a “Number 8 Wire Mentality” - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources. From the first Māori arrivals who worked out how to grow tropical plants in our cold, wet climate - to modern scientific breeding and robotics, New Zealand agriculture has always been at the cutting edge. But innovation isn’t always good news for all people, or for the environment - so in this episode we dig into the history of New Zealand agriculture through the lens of innovation. In this episode we discuss: How Māori worked out which native New Zealand plants were edible. How Māori managed to grow tropical plants like kūmara in New Zealand's cold and wet climate. New Zealand innovations in sheep breeding and shearing - including the violent disputes over wide shearing combs in Australia. New Zealand’s embrace of topdressing, and the devastating impacts of phosphate mining in Nauru. A whole lot more! For more on this subject: Making a New Land edited by Eric Pawson & Tom Brooking Three Steel Teeth by Mark Filmer Farming Inventions - Te Ara Encyclopaedia: https://teara.govt.nz/en/inventions-patents-and-trademarks/page-3

All aboard for a voyage into the history of New Zealand’s railways! From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon. If our rail network was once so massive, why is it now a shadow of its former glory? For more on this subject: Can’t Get There From Here by Andre Brett Trainlands by Neill Atkinson Te Ara Encyclopaedia - Railways https://teara.govt.nz/en/railways

For more than 30 years Aotearoa was beset by warfare as Māori hapū and iwi made use of new gunpowder weapons to settle old disputes with rivals. It’s estimated 50 thousand people were directly affected - killed, injured, enslaved, or forced to migrate from traditional lands. These conflicts had a massive impact on everything from the Treaty of Waitangi, to the battles of the New Zealand Wars. These days they are most commonly known as The Musket Wars.

Moriori history has often been twisted out of shape over the years, much like some of the trees on Rēkohu bending in the strong winds. The stories of these remote islands and the people who made their home there go back centuries, but they've been misunderstood and misinterpreted for nearly as long. Moriori are not the first people of New Zealand, they weren't forced out by Māori and they aren't extinct. In fact, we've worked closely with the Hokotehi Moriori Trust on this episode, drawing on their oral traditions as well as our own thorough, independent research. What emerges is a story that challenges what many New Zealanders have been told and leaves some hard questions. But at its centre is a centuries-long commitment to peace and non-violence that has had a profound influence far beyond Rēkohu's wild shores. In this episode we try to set things straight by explaining: How Moriori first arrived in Rēkohu. How Moriori adapted to the harsh conditions of their home. The development of Nunuku’s law of peace. Some details of Moriori life, culture, and religion. The first arrival of European explorers. The impact of European sealing gangs. The invasion of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama in 1835. The killing and enslavement of Moriori by these iwi How New Zealand colonial authorities responded (or failed to respond) to the enslavement of Moriori. The efforts of Hirawanu Tapu and others to reclaim Moriori land, and preserve Moriori history and culture. The impact of Moriori philosophy on the pacifist Parihaka movement. The origins of myths of Moriori as the “first” people of Aotearoa, and why they became popular. The modern revival of Moriori culture. This episode has been edited to remove a quote which was mistakenly attributed to Dr Hazel Petrie For more on this subject: www.moriori.co.nz Moriori YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqCX1A_mHDTN7YqrWpFtoCQ Moriori language app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devign.teremoriori Moriori: A People Rediscovered by Michael King Moriori Deed of Settlement https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Moriori/moriori-deed-of-settlement-initialled.pdf Moriori - Te Ara https://teara.govt.nz/en/moriori

In 1841 just a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today that picture has reversed, and Māori control a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court. This episode we discuss: The right of preemption and the large crown land purchases in the 1840s and 50s. How these purchases contributed to increasing Māori opposition to land sales. How Māori opposition to land sales contributed to the New Zealand Wars. The different ways Māori and Pākehā thought about land. How and why the court was first established. The racist attitudes of some judges and officials. The impact of the “1840 rule” and the “10-owners rule”, including the sale of the Heretaunga block. How debt was used to ensnare Māori in the court. The negative impacts of attending court on Māori. How Māori attempted to reform or remove the court in the 19th century, including the efforts of the Kotahitanga movement. The efforts of Māori MPs to slow down the loss of Māori land in the early 20th Century. The 1965 Māori Affairs Amendment Act and how it acted as a catalyst for protest movements. How those movements achieved reforms, including Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. The ongoing impacts of the Native Land Court and attempts to address injustices. For more on this subject Te Kooti Tango Whenua by David Williams Illustrated History of New Zealand by Judith Binney Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End by Ranginui Walker Conquest by Contract: Wealth Transfer and Land Market Structure in Colonial New Zealand by Stuart Banner, Law & Society Review https://doi.org/10.2307/3115116

Gold! The mania for this shiny yellow metal swept all over Aotearoa in the second half of the 19th century and left the country, and many of its people, fundamentally changed. This episode we ask: Māori attitudes towards gold before, and after European contact? What makes a gold rush happen? How did the New Zealand gold rush fit into the context of gold rushes overseas? How did the rush get started? Who were the diggers and what were they like? What was the role of women in the rush? How did the gold rush affect tangata whenua? What was the role of Chinese migrants in the gold rush, and how did Europeans respond to them? How did the gold rush happen in different parts of Aotearoa? For more on this subject: Diggers, Hatters and Whores by Steven Eldred-Grigg https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/diggers-hatters-and-whores-9781869797034 Finding “Te Wherro” in Ōtōkou: Māori and the early days of the Otago gold rush by Lloyd Carpenter, MAI Journal. https://www.journal.mai.ac.nz/sites/default/files/MAI%20Journal%20Vol.2_2%20Pages%20105-120%20Carpenter.pdf Journey to Lan Yuan by Toitu Otago Settlers Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEdIikz78dU Gold and Gold Mining - Te Ara https://teara.govt.nz/en/gold-and-gold-mining

When the Tahitian Navigator Tupaia arrived in Aotearoa with James Cook in 1769, Māori and Tahitians had been separated for at least 500 years, and in that time a lot had changed! In this episode we look at: How Māori arrived in Aotearoa. How the first few generations seem to have lived. Evidence of Aotearoa’s “first capital city” at Wairau Bar and the role it may have played in early Māori society. How the extinction of megafauna and a cooling climate seem to have triggered major changes in Māori ways of life. Why Māori had different lifestyles in different parts of Aotearoa. How Māori traded re For more on this subject and settled disputes. How the end of the “little ice age” seemed to trigger more changes in Māori ways of life. For more on this subject: Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History by Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney and Aroha Harris The Making of the Māori Middle Ages by Atholl Anderson, Journal of New Zealand Studies https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/jnzs/article/view/3987 Māori - Te Ara https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori/page-2

During the Covid-19 pandemic we’ve heard people say stuff like “we’re living in unprecedented times” …But every time they hear that, historians get extremely annoyed! In this episode we dig into the history of epidemics in Aotearoa New Zealand, including: - Why Māori were relatively free of diseases until European arrival in Aotearoa. - The factors which helped promote the development of epidemic diseases in Europe and Asia. - The early impacts of disease on Māori in the 19th century. - Efforts by colonial authorities to reduce the impacts of disease on Māori, and how these efforts were linked to a goal of “assimilating” Māori into European culture. - Efforts by Māori to reduce the impact of disease. - The development of sanitary infrastructure and its impact on epidemic disease. - The 1918 flu pandemic. - Polio epidemics in the 20th century. - The impact of modern medicines, including vaccines. For more on this subject: The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand by Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakely Black November by Geoffrey Rice Dirt: Filth and Decay in a New World Arcadia by Pamela Janet Wood Epidemics - Te Ara. https://teara.govt.nz/en/epidemics

The 1950s saw an explosion of youth culture in Aotearoa. Stories about “bodgies and widgies' ' tearing up the streets on motorbikes, canoodling in the cinemas and hanging around in milk bars scandalised many Kiwi adults. In fact, it’s often said the whole idea of “the teenager” was born in the 1950s. But is that really true? And what even is a “milk bar” anyway? In this episode we trace the history of kiwi teens including: The drama over the 1954 “Mazengarb Report” How people in their teens were viewed by wider society, both Pākehā and Māori, in the early 19th century. How the industrial revolution, and the introduction of compulsory education, reshaped those views. The experience of takatāpui (LGBTQ+) teenagers, including for Māori prior to colonisation, and Pākehā teens in the late 19th Century. Compulsory military service and a generally conservative society in the early 20th century. How “teen culture” emerged in the 1950s. How Māori teens experienced life in the city as Māori increasingly migrated to urban areas after WWII. The involvement of teens in protest movements from the 1960s onwards. For more on this subject: Teenagers: The Rise of Youth Culture in New Zealand by Chris Brickell All Shook Up by Redmer Yska The “Mazengarb Report” https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14760/14760-h/14760-h.htm#Page_11 Teeangers and Youth - Te Ara https://teara.govt.nz/en/teenagers-and-youth

The 60s, 70s and 80s were rowdy decades. Kiwis were getting out in the streets and raising their voices about the rights of Māori, women and LGBT people, nuclear energy, the environment. Plus the most controversial sporting event in our history: The 1981 Springbok Tour. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

We start season two burrowing into the story of rabbits and other pests. What started with plenty of (h)optimism has led to generations of damage to our environment and economy. In this episode we look at: The introduction of exotic animals to Aotearoa by Māori, and early European explorers like Captain Cook. The ideology of many colonists that Aotearoa needed to be “improved” through the introduction of exotic animals. How rabbits were first introduced to Aotearoa and why they spread so rapidly The impact they had on the land, and farmers. The lives of “rabbiters” who trapped and poisoned rabbits for a living in the 19th century. The fierce debate over the introduction of rabbit predators such as ferrets, stoats and weasels. The introduction of new rabbit control methods such as 1080 and calicivirus. The current threat of rabbits to Aotearoa. For more on this subject: Unconquerable enemy or bountiful resource? A new perspective on the rabbit in Central Otago by Rachael Egerton. https://www.environmentalhistory-au-nz.org/2014/03/unconquerable-enemy-or-bountiful-resource-a-new-perspective-on-the-rabbit-in-central-otago/ Exotic Intruders by Joan Druett. Rabbits: It’s as bad as it’s ever been by Melanie Reid. Newsroom. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rabbits-its-as-bad-as-its-ever-been WELLS, P. K. (2006). “An Enemy of the Rabbit”: The Social Context of Acclimatisation of an Immigrant Killer. Environment and History, 12(3), 297–324. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20723581 Rabbits - Te Ara. https://teara.govt.nz/en/rabbits Funded by the Ministry of Education.

After the war came a new quest for security and identity. With it came new political debates and alliances. Even a moral panic. Maori and Pasifika moved to the cities. The way we viewed ourselves as a nation was changing. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

It’s the final episode! This time it’s the Rogernomics, Ruthanasia and the total restructuring of our economy and voting system. Plus the changing demographics of Aotearoa/New Zealand, the growth of dairy & tourism and the challenges we’re facing the future. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

New Zealanders play a small but significant role in the Second World War on land, sea and air. Meanwhile our farms and factories keep supplies flowing to the battlefields. But when Japan enters the war it looks like the fighting is about to arrive on our doorstep. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

It’s the war which claimed more New Zealand lives than any other. It’s also the event that’s often claimed as the ‘foundational moment” where we “became a nation”. But is that really true? In this episode we take a deep dive into the First World War, why we fought, what it cost us, and its long-term effects on kiwi identity. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

It’s the 1920s and kiwi prosperity is reaching a new high point. Unfortunately, the roots of another disaster are lurking just beneath the surface... The Great Depression rips through the global economy, causing huge political upheavals for Pākehā and Māori alike. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

More settlers are coming to NZ and most want one thing: Land. This time the colonial government doesn’t launch a war to get hold of that land - instead it creates new legal structures that undermine Maori tradition. Plus, how early colonists shaped our image of the “classic kiwi bloke” and the story of Parihaka. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

The New Zealand Wars are over… what comes next? A whole lot of political wrangling over how to run the new colony - centralism or provinces? Plus - how refrigeration saved the Kiwi economy from the brink of disaster and how women won the right to vote. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ / NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

British troops are leaving Aotearoa but conflict between the government and so-called “rebel” Māori gets more intense as settler militia enter the fray. Some Māori chose to fight alongside the Crown while others become followers of new religious movements, which seem to promise a way out. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ / NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

Waikato Māori had been steadfast allies of Pākehā but the hunger for land from influential colonists and the rise of Kingitanga encourages Governor George Grey to launch a massive invasion. The war is devastating for Māori but the fighting is not as one-sided as the British expect. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ / NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

In Europe, factions argue over the future of Aotearoa. Colonisation? Protection for indigenous peoples? Meanwhile Māori have their own ideas how to handle the growing number of Pakeha. In the end, Te Tiriti o Waitangi is signed, but the early promise quickly turns to confusion and, ultimately, war. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ / NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

Abel Tasman and James Cook’s first contacts with Māori were complex and sometimes violent. Europeans introduce new technologies, food and ideas, such as muskets, potatoes and Christianity. In some cases this works out well for Tangata Whenua - but in other cases the consequences are devastating. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund

The story of Aotearoa begins 100 million years ago. Huge tectonic forces rip apart the old supercontinent of Gondwana. A brand new continent is formed, Te Riu-a-Māui/Zealandia, it’s many times the size of modern day New Zealand. We meet the creatures which called this land home and witness the geological and climatic forces which reshaped the land. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ / NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

The Polynesian people who first discovered Aotearoa spent hundreds of years exploring the Pacific Ocean. When they finally arrived here it was unlike anything they had seen before. It’s a story of technological innovation, new horizons and becoming a new people. Series Classification: G (General Programmes) Made possible by the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund