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Story: Anniversaries

Opening of the 1990 Commonwealth Games

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Opening of the 1990 Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games in Auckland was the major event of New Zealand's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary). The opening ceremony provided a setting for an imaginative presentation of New Zealand identity, and it featured waves of different groups migrating to New Zealand – Māori, Europeans, and then Asian and Pacific peoples. This image shows a representation of the arrival of British explorer James Cook in the Endeavour in 1769.

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New Zealand Herald

Reference: 021209NZHGAMES1.JPG

by Glenn Jeffrey

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Anniversaries – Sesquicentennial, 1990, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/43032/opening-of-the-1990-commonwealth-games (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 14 October 2013.