A.N.Z.U.S. ‘test of political ingenuity’

Press, 27 January 1986, Page 26

A.N.Z.U.S. ‘test of political ingenuity’

By TOM BRIDGMAN NZPA staff correspondent Washington

New Zealand and United States political ingenuity will be tested over the next months as they seek a solution to the A.N.Z.U.S. dispute, says the Ambassador to the United States, Sir Wallace Rowling. “The legislation now being constructed to confirm our nuclear-weapon-free status is being carefully devised so as not to directly challenge the United States and United Kingdom policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons on their naval vessels.

“We are hopeful that before the measure finally becomes law we will be able to reach an understanding with the United States which would

see a resumption of ship visits,” Sir Wallace said in an opening lecture on New Zealand, part of a Smithsonian resident associate’s programme. Both sides clearly would wish to restore the alliance relationship to its full vigour, but neither would sacrifice the integrity of certain deeply-held principles, he said. “Our political ingenuity will be tested- in the months ahead, but the effort we make is the least of the tributes we can pay to the warmth and depth of the relationship that has evolved over the years," said Sir Wallace.

"That is one point on which there is no disagreement There is no disagreement either that the Pacific is our focus for the future. “We are nations of vastly different size, re-

sources and talents but our objectives are Indivisible. It is our common task to ensure that the Pacific is true to its name as a region of peace where all people can enjoy the right to the freedom of expression and individual dignity.”

Sir Wallace said New Zealand recognised that the substantive contribution it could make to arms control was limited.

“By declaring a nuclear-weapon-free New Zealand we are doing no more than keeping faith with our concerns as individuals and as a nation.

“Empty rhetoric is not our style. Our decision is made in response to our particular circumstances. “Other countries, other democratically elected Governments, will respond to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in other ways. “We claim no monopoly of virtue: but we do claim to be the best judges of what it is appropriate and responsible for New Zealand to do,” he said. In his lecture, which traversed New Zealand history and ties to the United States, Sir Wallace said that sensitivity to the nuclear question had been at a high level in the Pacific since the early days of atomic testing.

The British and the United States had moved their testing from the area but the French persisted.

“The Rainbow Warrior incident underscored French insensitivity to Pacific feelings and guaranteed a consolidation of the anti-nuclear sentiment which had been steadily on the increase for the last 10 to 15 years,” he said.

“The blowing up of the Rainbow Warrior has been the only manifestation of international political violence in New Zealand since World War 11.

“The perpetrators of that act were agents of a Government with which we are, through our common ties with the United States, indirectly allied. You can well imagine the kind of questions that raises among New Zealand people,” he said.

Sir Wallace said New Zealand had no wish to fall out with its friends and did not wish to quarrel with France. A strained relationship with the United States “is most certainly no part of our anti-nuclear policy.” The lecture was the first of six over a five week period in a series entitled “New Zealand: New Perspectives.” Others will deal with New Zealand trade and business, Hhe arts, culture, New Zealand as a Pacific nation, and Polynesian New Zealand.