Story: Referendums

Off-course betting, 1951

Off-course betting, 1951

This man is operating an off-course betting machine at the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) in April 1951. In the second of the two referendums held on 9 March 1949, voters endorsed off-course betting by a two-thirds majority. The government established the TAB  in 1950, and on 28 March 1951 the country's first off-course betting offices opened in Feilding and Dannevirke.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Evening Post Collection (PAColl-0614)
Reference: 114/274/03

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:

Nigel Roberts, 'Referendums - Consultative referendums before 1970', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/36953/off-course-betting-1951 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Nigel Roberts, published 20 Jun 2012, reviewed & revised 30 Aug 2016, updated 1 Dec 2020