KEY INDIVIDUALS
Keith HolyoakeKeith Holyoake was not prime minister when the ANZUS alliance was signed but he was in power when New Zealand was called on to aid South Vietnam. He was prime minister in New Zealand from 1960-1972. Keith Holyoake oversaw the sending of New Zealand nurses and engineers to Vietnam and in May 1965 he announced that a batter of 161 New Zealand soldiers would be sent to Vietnam. Holyoake was pressured by trade and defence commitment (ANZUS ect), anti-communism and by the USA to support action in the war. Heavily due to the alliance and fear that the British couldn’t protect a country so small and far away, Holyoake made the difficult decision to send troops to Vietnam. New Zealand sent more or less as few troops as possible but due to the nature of the war the country still faced backlash and protest from some of its people.
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Tim ShadboltTim Shadbolt was a leading protest in the late 1960s anti-Vietnam war protests. He was a young Auckland University Politician who was considered a radical activist. He joined and lead protest movements against apartheid prisons and various groups of power such as city councils and universities. Many people found the the views and actions of Tim Shadbolt and his protest movement were too radical or shocking but through his protest he drew some attention to the issue of the Vietnam war. At first his protests didn’t bring much positive attention and even when they grew the public opposed to what he was saying and saw the anti-war movement as a disgrace. During the anti-Vietnam war protests an American flag was burnt in protest of America's involvement with New Zealand, this was featured in Tim Shadbolt's "Bullshit and jellybeans" published in 1971. This book was a biography on New Zealand from the view of Shadbolt and was considerably infamous, the front page had a sticker that read "CAUTION This may offend". He wrote it after being jailed for a second time and the provocative book became a bestseller. Tim Shadbolt's protests were considered less radical than that of the Progressive Youth Movement but were still a factor into the returning of troops to New Zealand and the drawing of attention to the war issue.
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