It was the quip that made headlines world-wide thirty years ago, firmly imprinted on our memories to go down as one of New Zealand’s proudest moments.

After years sitting on the edge of the map, duly playing our role as the subservient subject to more powerful states, our Prime Minister stood against the world’s biggest super-power in moral defiance, batting every curveball that the opposition threw his way, and sending them sailing out of the park in a whirlwind of reason, passion and wit.

Suddenly we were punching above our weight in the world arena, and on cultural, intellectual and moral grounds, we had won.

The year was 1985, and for many months, pressure had been building on New Zealand to accept that nuclear weapons were an unfortunate, but necessary arsenal in the military toolkit of any self-respecting western nation.

Against all diplomatic advice, David Lange, the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand, accepted an invitation to argue the affirmative in a debate at the Oxford Union that “Nuclear Weapons are Morally Indefensible.” His opposition in the debate was an American team lead by TV evangelist and Moral Majority founder Rev. Jerry Falwell - a man who based his views, politics and public persona around the very notion of morality.

Today, on the 30th anniversary of New Zealand’s bold coming out as a peace-loving nation, we examine the impact that Lange’s speech in the debate had on our young nation, how it has shaped our culture, and its relevance to this day.