Skip to main content

Story: Terrorism and counter-terrorism

Trades Hall bombing, 1984

Image
Trades Hall bombing, 1984

This police poster calls for information on the Trades Hall bombing, at Vivian Street, Wellington, on 27 March 1984. A bomb left in a suitcase killed Ernie Abbott, a unionist and caretaker of the hall. At the time of the bombing Trades Hall was the headquarters of a number of trade unions. The attack came after a period of heightened industrial tension, during which Prime Minister Robert Muldoon made frequent verbal attacks on the union movement. The bombing remains an unsolved crime, but it appears to have been the action of an individual with a hatred of unions.

Courtesy of New Zealand Police – Nga Pirihimana O Aotearoa

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-C-POLICE-1984-01

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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Lance Beath, Terrorism and counter-terrorism – Terrorism and New Zealand: the historical background, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/34677/trades-hall-bombing-1984 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Lance Beath, published 17 April 2012, updated 1 September 2021.