'Out of ANZUS' badge

This badge called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Anzus treaty which was a mutual defence agreement with Australia and the United States established in 1951. Anzus was a response to the sense of insecurity created by the Cold War, and an acknowledgment of the US as an important ally. During World War II, the US had played a key role in defending the Pacific while New Zealand troops were in Europe.

However, from the 1970s New Zealanders become increasingly anti-nuclear and many protested against US navy visits. Many New Zealanders felt that the ideal defence scenario was a nuclear-free policy within the Anzus treaty. But when the country became officially nuclear free in 1987, the US reacted by suspending its Anzus obligations to New Zealand.