Story: Communes and communities

Centrepoint, 1984

Centrepoint residents dish up lunch in the community's dining room in an excerpt from a 1984 television documentary. Led by charismatic therapist Bert Potter, Centrepoint emphasised sharing and personal liberation. Its members pooled their finances, shared possessions, slept in longhouses, and used communal toilets and showers without doors. The community faced ongoing problems with finances, the local council and public hostility, and in the early 1990s Potter was convicted and imprisoned on charges relating to drugs and sexual assault.

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How to cite this page:

Caren Wilton, 'Communes and communities - From Centrepoint to eco-villages: 1980s–21st century', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/28121/centrepoint-1984 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Caren Wilton, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 4 Apr 2018