Wanganui Computer Centre bombing

Wanganui Computer Centre bombing
Location Wanganui, New Zealand
Coordinates 39°55′50″S 175°03′23″E / 39.9306°S 175.0564°E / -39.9306; 175.0564
Date 18 November 1982 (18 November 1982)
c. 12:35 am (NZDT)
Target National Law Enforcement System mainframe
Attack type
 Suicide bombing
Deaths 1 (perpetrator)
Perpetrators Neil Roberts

The Wanganui Computer Centre bombing occurred in Wanganui, New Zealand, in 1982. The event was an act of political terrorism, 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.

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.”[5]

Film

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.[6]

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. ↑ Campbell, Russell. "System Overload: Neil Roberts, Punk Anarchism and'The Maintenance of Silence'." Journal of New Zealand Studies 8 (2009): 85.
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