When a historian fails to mention initiatives such as these (all of them signs of a women’s movement on a march to victory, not defeat) it is almost always a sign that the historical narrative is being tailored to fit a contemporary political purpose.

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Known principally for his political commentaries in The Dominion Post, The ODT, The Press and the late, lamented Independent, and for "No Left Turn", his 2007 history of the Left/Right struggle in New...