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Pricking the South Sea bubble: from fantasy to reality in Labour–led New Zealand

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 20:32 authored by Tim Bale
The fact that so few people either know or care very much about New Zealand may occasion same passing regret and even a little frustration among its inhabitants. But it is not the national obsession that some make it out to be. Recent efforts to exploit interest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, filmed in New Zealand, do not simply reflect the understandable, if pathological, desire of a small island nation to be noticed. They have rather more to do with the hard-headed hope that Frodo and friends will further boost the tourism that plays an increasingly important role in an export sector still dangerously dependent on primary production. Likewise, the attention paid to the America's Cup (a regular gathering of rich men messing about in expensive boats) has as much to do with bringing dollars into downtown Auckland and its super-yacht industry as with the desire to show the world a thing or two in spite of the decline of the once-dominant All Blacks.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Political Quarterly

ISSN

0032-3179

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Issue

2

Volume

74

Page range

202-213

Pages

12.0

Department affiliated with

  • Politics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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