Xiao Banfa
4th March 2008, 00:55
Secret 1951 Waterfront Strike files released
NZPA
The Security Intelligence Service is opening up its historical archive, starting with its files covering the bitter 1951 waterfront industrial dispute.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the files of the Special Branch -- which was the predecessor of the SIS -- would be made publicly available at Archives New Zealand.
This would be the first transfer in an ongoing programme to declassify material, with the most interest being shown in records from the early Cold War period, the files of the World War 2 Security Intelligence Bureau and the remainder of the old police records held by the SIS.
The 1951 dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand's history, dividing not only the union movement, but the country.
It lasted for 151 days and at its peak involved 22,000 wharfies and other union allies.
Both sides denounced each other as communists, nazis and traitors.
To this day there is no general agreement whether the dispute was lock-out or strike.
The split union movement was eventually defeated by a hardline National Government led by Sid Holland.
The dispute included the bombing of a rail bridge to disrupt coal supplies and police wielding batons to break up union protests.
Union leader Jock Barnes was jailed for two months for defamation and eventually the ports reopened for business using non-striking labour.
Archives New Zealand said on its website it had 14 files from the SIS, some of which had documents removed on privacy or security grounds.
"The condition of many of the documents is poor since Special Branch sometimes typed reports on the backs of old forms and there are press cuttings on newsprint and propaganda pamphlets printed on paper of variable quality interspersed throughout the volumes (and five of them are entirely made up of cuttings and pamphlets)," Archives New Zealand said.
The files provided a "unique record of New Zealand's most significant industrial dispute".
"The files are not just about the policing of the waterfront dispute (revealing for the first time the view from the Police side)."
They include:
* Substantial reports on the attitude of the wider union movement;
* The policy of the Communist Party;
* Letters to and from Prime Minister (Sid) Holland and his Ministers for Police and Labour;
* Letters to the government from members of the public protesting about the imposition of the 1951 Emergency Regulations.
* Verbatim transcripts of speeches by watersiders leader Jock Barnes;
* Two volumes of cuttings from the national newspapers for each day of the dispute; and
* Three of pamphlets issued by the deregistered watersiders' union which probably exist no-where else in such a dedicated collection.
Miss Clark said it was a significant move under the SIS's archive policy, but she had not been briefed on the contents of the files on the "lockout".
The move would bring the SIS in line with other agencies policy to declassify material after 50 years.
The SIS had considered OIA requests on their merits in the past, Miss Clark said.
She had no information about whether sensitive information or references to individuals involved in the dispute had been removed to protect privacy.
NZPA
The Security Intelligence Service is opening up its historical archive, starting with its files covering the bitter 1951 waterfront industrial dispute.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the files of the Special Branch -- which was the predecessor of the SIS -- would be made publicly available at Archives New Zealand.
This would be the first transfer in an ongoing programme to declassify material, with the most interest being shown in records from the early Cold War period, the files of the World War 2 Security Intelligence Bureau and the remainder of the old police records held by the SIS.
The 1951 dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand's history, dividing not only the union movement, but the country.
It lasted for 151 days and at its peak involved 22,000 wharfies and other union allies.
Both sides denounced each other as communists, nazis and traitors.
To this day there is no general agreement whether the dispute was lock-out or strike.
The split union movement was eventually defeated by a hardline National Government led by Sid Holland.
The dispute included the bombing of a rail bridge to disrupt coal supplies and police wielding batons to break up union protests.
Union leader Jock Barnes was jailed for two months for defamation and eventually the ports reopened for business using non-striking labour.
Archives New Zealand said on its website it had 14 files from the SIS, some of which had documents removed on privacy or security grounds.
"The condition of many of the documents is poor since Special Branch sometimes typed reports on the backs of old forms and there are press cuttings on newsprint and propaganda pamphlets printed on paper of variable quality interspersed throughout the volumes (and five of them are entirely made up of cuttings and pamphlets)," Archives New Zealand said.
The files provided a "unique record of New Zealand's most significant industrial dispute".
"The files are not just about the policing of the waterfront dispute (revealing for the first time the view from the Police side)."
They include:
* Substantial reports on the attitude of the wider union movement;
* The policy of the Communist Party;
* Letters to and from Prime Minister (Sid) Holland and his Ministers for Police and Labour;
* Letters to the government from members of the public protesting about the imposition of the 1951 Emergency Regulations.
* Verbatim transcripts of speeches by watersiders leader Jock Barnes;
* Two volumes of cuttings from the national newspapers for each day of the dispute; and
* Three of pamphlets issued by the deregistered watersiders' union which probably exist no-where else in such a dedicated collection.
Miss Clark said it was a significant move under the SIS's archive policy, but she had not been briefed on the contents of the files on the "lockout".
The move would bring the SIS in line with other agencies policy to declassify material after 50 years.
The SIS had considered OIA requests on their merits in the past, Miss Clark said.
She had no information about whether sensitive information or references to individuals involved in the dispute had been removed to protect privacy.