bevan, along with other sports people, academics, well-known church and māori leaders, and trade unionists, sponsored the petition organized by the citizens' all black tour association that called for the abandonment of the 1960 all black tour to south africa and for the government to intervene. this was because the new zealand rugby football union had decided, as it had done in the past, that it would be in the best interests of māori players that they should not be selected for the tour. the petition gained 153,000 signatures but was largely ignored by the union and the government.