100 years ago, in the winter of 1908, the first “New Zealand Industries Week” was held and was the first recorded campaign aimed at encouraging domestic shoppers to buy NZ made goods. Manufacturers of Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington combined to showcase their wares to the New Zealand public through a series of displays in city shop windows. Co-ordinating such a campaign required excellent cooperation and support from the New Zealand Shopkeepers’ Association. The railways ran special excursion trains to bring country people to see the displays.
Following on from the success of this event, further Industries Weeks were held over several years and, in co-operation with the Department of Industries and Commerce, NZ associations of manufacturers held further industrial exhibitions. In 1922 the Department assisted the NZ Industrial Corporation, which had been founded in 1897 by the various regional manufacturers’ associations, to hold a Dominion Industrial exhibition in Christchurch. The Canterbury Industrial Association launched, organised and managed the 250 exhibits. More than 126,000 people attended over the seven weeks. A further show was held at Auckland in 1924 and in Dunedin in 1925.
In 1924 a campaign to encourage the people of the Dominion to buy New Zealand made goods was run by the Department of Industries and Commerce, in co-operation with the Industrial Corporation. It issued a booklet and a challenge: “Help to Make it £100,000,000 By 1930” referring to increasing the economic value of New Zealand manufacturing from £77,000,000. Mr J W Collins, Secretary of the Department, stated that, “Our objective is to educate public opinion to appreciate the wisdom of giving preference to New Zealand Made Goods, and to secure self- reliance by making New Zealand more self- contained.”
In 1927 the Post Office supported the buy New Zealand made message by postmarking envelopes with the words “Put Your Own Country First Buy Only New Zealand Made Goods.”
From 28 March 1929 to 5 May 1932, the Auckland Manufacturers’ Association published weekly advertisements in the New Zealand Herald and other newspapers.
These advertisements focused consumers on buying NZ-made goods to support their fellow workers and industries and "Bring down depression”.
In the midst of the gloom Esther James walked the length of the country, literally, to support local products (see opposite).
During the Depression, “Buy NZ Made” processions were held in town centres such as Nelson. In 1932 a parade of the Christchurch city streets by Boy Scouts, each bearing one of the letters of the slogan ‘Buy NZ Made Goods’, was a feature of New Zealand Shopping Week at Christchurch. The campaign took place in the Depression and was an attempt to boost employment and production within the community. The boys are shown later at the beach.
Prior to World War 2, and promotional messages were seen on the side-tanks and tenders of locomotives. At the behest of the Government of the day, instructions were issued on 12th December 1938 that the slogan “Buy New Zealand Made Goods” was to be painted the sides of most locomotives that were running principal passenger trains. In a short space of time 57 locomotives had been so adorned, which was intended to be short term only. The instruction to remove the slogan from all locomotives was issued on 9th January 1940, and this work had been completed by 7th June 1940.
New Zealand followed policies of heavy state intervention and import substitution from the early 1930s until 1984. This ensured local goods were favoured over significantly more costly imports.
On 1 January 1983 the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement came into force to provide for an open economic and trade agreement. From 1984, New Zealand implemented a series of radical reforms – including effective removal of import protection, inflation targeting, floating the exchange rate, adopting a broad-base low-rate income tax and value added tax, privatisation of state trading enterprises, abolition of subsidies and virtually all industry policies, deregulation, public ssector reform and more.
Ref: PAColl-5744-10
To highlight the issue of buying New Zealand made goods, in December 1931 inventor, architect and fashion model Esther James started a walk from Spirits' Bay in the Far North to Stewart Island - and in doing so walked her way into the history books as the first person recorded to have achieved this feat. Wearing only New Zealand made clothing and eating New Zealand made food, she arrived in Wellington on 2 April 1932.
At each place she stopped, the Mayors fixed official seals or postmasters put their stamps in the log - a satchel specially made from brown paper as New Zealand had no manufacturer of white paper. It took 131 walking days to cover 1600 miles, meeting many manufacturers enroute.