Blackball, New Zealand

Blackball
Blackball Miners Strike Memorial
Blackball Miners Strike Memorial
Map
Coordinates: 42°22′0″S 171°24′46″E / 42.36667°S 171.41278°E / -42.36667; 171.41278
CountryNew Zealand
RegionWest Coast
DistrictGrey District
WardEastern
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial authorityGrey District Council
 • Regional councilWest Coast Regional Council
 • Mayor of GreyTania Gibson
 • West Coast-Tasman MPMaureen Pugh
 • Te Tai Tonga MPTākuta Ferris
Area
 • Total1.94 km2 (0.75 sq mi)
Population
 (June 2023)[2]
 • Total300
 • Density150/km2 (400/sq mi)
Local iwiNgāi Tahu
The hotel known as "Formerly the Blackball Hilton"

Blackball is a small town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately 29 km from Greymouth. Elevation is approximately 100 metres. The town was named after the Black Ball Shipping Line, which leased land in the area to mine for coal.

Blackball was a centre of New Zealand radicalism and workers' militancy. It is credited as the birthplace of (the predecessors of) the New Zealand Labour Party, which followed the 1908 miners 'cribtime' strike, at ten weeks the longest in New Zealand history.[3] In the 1913 Great Strike, Blackball miners were the last to return to work, in 1914. During the strike they had picketed miners in nearby Brunner and had burnt down the secretary of the 'arbitration' (strikebreaker) union's home. In 1925 the headquarters of the Communist Party of New Zealand moved to Blackball from Wellington. The pit closed in 1964.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Subnational population estimates (RC, SA2), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (regional councils); "Subnational population estimates (TA, SA2), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (territorial authorities); "Subnational population estimates (urban rural), by age and sex, at 30 June 1996-2023 (2023 boundaries)". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023. (urban areas)
  3. ^ "Returning to Labour's Roots". www.labour.org.nz. New Zealand Labour Party. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

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