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Story: Taxes

Julius Vogel as a kangaroo

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Julius Vogel as a kangaroo

This cartoon from 1887 features New Zealand Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel as a kangaroo hounded to the cliff edge by dogs labelled Extravagance, Borrowing, Deficits and Protection. At the time Vogel was looking at loans to cover government spending as taxes were not raising sufficient revenue for his plans. As colonial treasurer in the 1870s he had already borrowed heavily to fund public works.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-034-007

by William Hunter Reynolds

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Paul Goldsmith, Taxes – Taxation – 1840 to the 1880s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/21527/julius-vogel-as-a-kangaroo (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Goldsmith, published 27 October 2009, updated 2 September 2016.