Pro-tour groups such as the Society for Protection of Individual Rights (SPIR) were organisations that actively put forward an alternative view to that of the anti-tour movement. SPIR planned a march down Queen Street, which went ahead but only drew a few hundred supporters, as opposed to the thousands of anti-tour protestors who went on protest marches.
FUN FACT
Tim Shadbolt was always alert for opportunities for dialogue with the enemy, and when he heard that SPIR were planning a protest march down Queen Street he suggested that MOST activists join in dressed as the Ku Klux Klan.
However, in the actual event, an impromptu street theatre group called the CIA (Concerned Individuals Association) upstaged Shadbolt’s idea. Alexa Johnson recalls how the march unfolded:
“A group of us had been talking about the SPIR march at the Art Gallery, and we thought of the Breughel painting ‘The Blind Leading The Blind.’ So we devised a tableau with a blind woman feeling her way along the road with a white stick, and other figures representing the Rugby Union, the National Party and SPIR linked behind her. A figure representing the South African government drove the group along, shouting ‘Raus’. We…joined in at the front of the SPIR march, leading them all the way up Queen St…The crowd gave us a great reception.”
Another organisation was the New Zealand Rugby Union, which for obvious reasons was pro-tour. The organisation maintained its stance throughout the tour, and included household names such as Ron Don and Ces Blazey.
FUN FACT
Tim Shadbolt was always alert for opportunities for dialogue with the enemy, and when he heard that SPIR were planning a protest march down Queen Street he suggested that MOST activists join in dressed as the Ku Klux Klan.
However, in the actual event, an impromptu street theatre group called the CIA (Concerned Individuals Association) upstaged Shadbolt’s idea. Alexa Johnson recalls how the march unfolded:
“A group of us had been talking about the SPIR march at the Art Gallery, and we thought of the Breughel painting ‘The Blind Leading The Blind.’ So we devised a tableau with a blind woman feeling her way along the road with a white stick, and other figures representing the Rugby Union, the National Party and SPIR linked behind her. A figure representing the South African government drove the group along, shouting ‘Raus’. We…joined in at the front of the SPIR march, leading them all the way up Queen St…The crowd gave us a great reception.”
Another organisation was the New Zealand Rugby Union, which for obvious reasons was pro-tour. The organisation maintained its stance throughout the tour, and included household names such as Ron Don and Ces Blazey.