Wanganui Computer Centre bombing

The Wanganui Computer Centre bombing occurred in Wanganui, New Zealand, in 1982. The event was carried out to protest New Zealand's ability to record the personal information of citizens which was seen as potentially dangerous by civil libertarians.[1] The Computer Centre continued to operate until its closure in 2005.

Wanganui Computer Centre bombing
LocationWanganui, New Zealand
Coordinates39.9306°S 175.0564°E / -39.9306; 175.0564
Date18 November 1982 (18 November 1982)
c. 12:35 am (NZDT)
TargetNational Law Enforcement System mainframe
Attack type
Suicide bombing
Deaths1 (perpetrator)
PerpetratorsNeil Roberts

Bombing

On 18 November 1982, a suicide bomb attack was made against a facility housing the main computer system of the New Zealand Police, Courts, Ministry of Transport and other law enforcement agencies, in Wanganui. The force of the blast made it so that police were initially unable to determine the sex of the perpetrator.[2] The attacker, a "punk rock" anarchist named Neil Roberts, was the only person killed, and the computer system was undamaged.[3][4] He had written on a piece of cardboard before the explosion, "Heres [sic] one anarchist down. Hopefully there’s a lot more waking up. One day we’ll win - one day.” A public toilet nearby had the slogan "We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity" painted on it, a slogan which the police believe Roberts had painted,[5] and borrowed from the Revolutionary Proclamation of the Junta Tuitiva of 1809.[6] The phrase is still closely linked with the bombing by the New Zealand public.[7]

In 1984, a short was produced titled The Maintenance of Silence. The film portrays a young man named Eric probing into the facts of the bombing. The protagonist is disturbed by being awakened in Auckland at the exact moment of the bombing in Wanganui. Eric becomes absorbed in pondering the character and fate of Neil Roberts.[8]

Rochelle Bright wrote a musical play about Neil Roberts in 2015 as part of her residency at the Michael King Writers' Centre in Auckland.[9]

The graffitied sentence "We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity" has been used by New Zealand artist Ann Shelton in various works, notably as part of her "Doublethink" installation (2013) and exhibition "The City of Lead and Gold" (Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, 2013).[10]

See also

References
  1. Lance Beath, 'Terrorism and counter-terrorism - Terrorism and New Zealand: the historical background', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/34659/bomb-damage-to-the-wanganui-computer-centre-1982 (accessed 25 January 2017)
  2. "Wanganui Computer Centre explosion news report". Radio New Zealand. 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  3. "1982: The death of Neil Roberts".
  4. "Neil Roberts 20th Anniversary Memorial Punk Fest".
  5. "An anarchist with a death wish". The Wireless. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  6. The Maintenance of Silence, nzonscreen.com, Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  7. Field, M., "Opera about NZ's only suicide bomber," stuff.co.nz 11 November 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  8. Campbell, Russell. "System Overload: Neil Roberts, Punk Anarchism and'The Maintenance of Silence'." Journal of New Zealand Studies 8 (2009): 85.
  9. Kilgallon, S., "Daffodils show returns to Auckland, film and worldwide tour in the offing," stuff.co.nz 31 January 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  10. "The City of Lead and Gold," Ann Shelton's website. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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