There has been little discussion of what archival accounting evidence can contribute to an understanding of a society's response to a natural disaster. This article focuses on two severe earthquakes which struck New Zealand in 1929 and 1931 and makes two main contributions to accounting history. First, by discussing evidence from archival sources, it contributes to the literature on accounting in a disaster. This provides a basis for future theory building and for future comparative research related to the response to more recent natural disasters such as the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes. Secondly, it questions the conclusions of recently published research concerning the role of central and local government in this and recent earthquakes.

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Government taxation measures are rarely recalled for long; yet the New Zealand Labour Government's 1958 budget remains proverbial more than half a century after it was delivered. Commonly referred to as the "Black Budget", this narrative is still used by politicians, advertisers, the media, and the general public. Although the Black Budget is grounded in historical events, the events themselves are largely forgotten by most New Zealanders. Rather, the story of the Black Budget may be theorised as a type of landmark narrative, where putative conditions are constructed as a problem, and the effectiveness of that narrative no longer depends on the factual base upon which it was constructed. This article revisits the Black Budget, and highlights the role of claimsmakers in perpetuating the narrative. The Black Budget illustrates the tension between historical events and how (and by whom) they are related.

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The Land and Income Assessment Act of 1891 introduced both New Zealand's first income tax and the principle of progression into New Zealand's taxation system. Its passage through Parliament provided a rare opportunity for Parliament to discuss taxation policy at the level of broad policy, rather than at the level of specific measures. The 1891 Parliamentary Debates provide evidence of the thinking of Parliament on such fundamental issues as the legitimacy of taxation, the focus of taxation, and the question of progressiondiscussions which continue to this day. This article reviews these parliamentary discussions by discussing the contemporary context, and how the 1891 Bill was defended and opposed. The resulting discussion enhances understandings of the past and provides a basis for further interpretation and application.