People Library: Trevor Richards (The 81 Springbok Tour)

The Festival of Colour's People Library is a way to 'borrow' a range of clever people with expert knowledge of particular topics. Borrow Trevor Richards (The 81 Springbok Tour: Why were the protests so large and so passionate) for 20 minutes and enjoy his insight into this controversial tour.

Trevor Richards was national chairman of the Halt All Racist Tours movement from 1969-80, then its international secretary. He is author of Dancing on Our Bones, a history of NZ sporting relations with apartheid South Africa. He says: “The rugby relationship with South Africa was the lightning rod for conflict. No issue better encapsulated the differences between two competing visions for the soul of Aotearoa New Zealand.”