This paper reports that the story of peace education in New Zealand has been one of extremes. While there has been some interest in the subject for decades, it was only in the 1980s that there was any serious activity and widespread debate. In 1984, the conservative National government, which had ruled the country for 9 years, was replaced by a Labour government. An important part of the new Labour government's policy was a strong commitment to a nuclear free New Zealand. As a part of this commitment, there was a strong effort, particularly from 1984 to 1987, to introduce peace education into New Zealand schools. This efforts proved to be extremely controversial. A conservative government was elected in 1990 and the commitment to peace education from the government ended. However, regardless of the official position, peace education seems to have strong support in many quarters. (Contains 10 references.) (DB)