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Story: Regional economies

Regional development in politics

The Labour Party campaigned on imbalances in regional development in the 1972 general election. The campaign was directed particularly at the South Island. Strategies to promote regional development were put in place after Labour won the election. Critics argued that there was little regional variation in income and employment levels.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-C-NZ-LABOUR-1972-02

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

Malcolm McKinnon, Regional economies – Regional economies, 1960 to 2000, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/25232/regional-development-in-politics (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 6 April 2010.