This image was taken for a story that ran in The Manawatu Evening Standard on Wednesday 22 November 1978 “Angry Crowd gives P.M. a rough ride: Election fervour hit Palmerston North at lunch time today when the Prime Minister Mr Muldoon took part in a parade around the central city. The parade never reached the heights of some of the Ranfurly Shield parades the city has seen, but the ‘Blues’ can take some credit for bringing a carnival air to a quiet election campaign. Two lone placard bearers saw the party of supporters and local candidates off at the corner of Church and Pitt streets, but further along the journey the Prime Minister’s entourage was faced with New Zealand citizens in ‘mourning’. Boos and jeers met the parade as the corner of the Square and Broadway and something was thrown into the vintage car carrying Mr Muldoon. Otherwise the parade was uneventful”
The Prime Minister’s tour around the Square occurred the day after Muldoon was heckled and jostled at a contentious meeting at the Dunedin Town Hall the previous evening, where he and his wife were hit with water bombs and their vehicle was thumped and kicked upon leaving. Interviewed on the plane between Dunedin and Palmerston North, Muldoon stated it was “…not as bad as two previous National Party conferences in the city.”
