Other documentaries by Alister Barry

Duration: l hr 49 min

Someone Else's Country

The story of the New Right revolution in New Zealand

During the early 1980's, a group of rightwing economists quietly came to dominate policy development in the New Zealand Treasury.

This feature documentary tells the story of how the new right elite took power and exercised it relentlessly to turn our country into their version of the model free market state.

Narrated by Ian Johnstone and aimed at a general audience, this is a fast-moving and entertaining history of our times.

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In a Land of Plenty

The story of unemployment in New Zealand

From the Great Depression of the 1930's to 1984, the first objective of economic policy was full employment. But with the election of the Labour government in 1984 unemployment was made an instrument of economic management, to be manipulated in the pursuit of other objectives.

This feature length documentary tells the story of how the policies and institutions which sustained full employment were abandoned and reconstructed to maximise the effectiveness of the new policy.

This film shows the political battles fought inside and outside government and the increasing effects on the cultural, social and economic life of New Zealand as a new poverty-stricken underclass developed.

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A Civilised Society

The war between teachers and the New Right over public education in New Zealand

This is the untold story of the epic struggle between teachers and the radical right during the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1984 free market zealots took power intent on transforming public education. Schools were to be run as businesses competing in the marketplace, a process called ‘Bulk Funding'.

This is our history told from the front-line - parents, teachers and politicians. We see archive footage of Treasury officials confidently espousing their theories, and ministers like Lockwood Smith forcing the changes. Those ultimately affected - the students - face an increasingly unequal system. The struggle intensifies.