The new book Secret History: State Surveillance in New Zealand, 1900-1956 by Richard S Hill and Steven Loveridge (Auckland University Press, 2023) opens up the ‘secret world’ of security intelligence during a period in which counter-espionage and counter-subversion duties were primarily handled by the New Zealand Police Force.
This is the first of two volumes chronicling the history of state surveillance in New Zealand. It is the story of the surveillers who – in times of war and peace, turmoil and tranquillity – monitored and analysed perceived threats to national interests. It is also the story of the surveilled: those whose association with organisations and movements led to their public and private lives being documented in secret files. Secret History explores a hidden and intriguing dimension of New Zealand history, one which sits uneasily with cherished national notions of an exceptionally fair and open society.
At this session, recorded at the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington in October 2023, the authors discussed the book’s revelations, methodology and implications with Malcolm McKinnon. This was followed by a Q and A session with the audience.
Speakers:
Richard S. Hill is an Emeritus Professor at the Stout Research Centre. Among his outputs are four books in the History of Policing in New Zealand series, and two on Crown-Māori relations in the twentieth century. His co-authored book, Secret History, is the first of two volumes in a history of security intelligence in twentieth-century New Zealand.
Steven Loveridge is an adjunct Research Associate at the Stout Research Centre. His published work includes some major studies of New Zealand society during the First World War, and work on diplomatic history and security intelligence. He is currently co-authoring the second volume in the history of security intelligence in twentieth-century New Zealand which will cover the 1956-2000 period.
Malcolm McKinnon is an adjunct research associate in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka. He is the author of a number of works on the history of both New Zealand's foreign relations and its political economy.
Download a transcript of this talk: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/secret-history-public-history-talk.pdf
Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand’: Jared Davidson
Adoption: From severance and secrecy to connection and openness
Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay
Te Motunui Epa – making history from the underground
‘An overview of New Zealand’s radical right tradition’: Matthew Cunningham
Archives in Place: Deep Histories in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station: Redmer Yska and Cherie Jacobson in conversation
Musicians, Myths and Manifestos
Solidarity and the Right to Strike
Making Space: A history of New Zealand women in architecture
New Zealand’s Foreign Service: A History
A Biography of Lake Tūtira
Women Will Rise! Recalling the Working Women’s Charter
Mahuru Māori: Māni Dunlop and Jamie Tahana
Shifting perspectives about colonial conflict: The Wairau Affray and the Battle of Boulcott’s Farm
With the Boys Overseas: radio listening during World War II and New Zealand’s first broadcast war correspondents
Learning in and from primary schools: Teaching Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories at Years 1 to 6
‘There was no honour in it’: Two aspects of New Zealand’s military history
The Platform: the radical legacy of the Polynesian Panthers
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Everything Everywhere Daily