'Before and After State Sector Carve Up' poster

This poster visualises a town before and after the rationalisation and privatisation of state assets. On the left a bustling town has a working mine, a bank, a post office, and a school. On the left, these are dying or abandoned and boarded up. Even the soldier statue has packed his bags to leave. Only the pub remains unscathed.

This imagery refers to the State-Owned Enterprises Act of 1986 which began a major overhaul of New Zealand’s state sector. A prime target of reform was the Post Office Department, with hundreds of post offices closed. Many communities thoughout the country bore the brunt of such rationalisation and privatisation.