SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1966. Buying British

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31221, 19 November 1966, Page 14

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1966. Buying British

The leader of the Labour Party, Mr Kirk, wants the National Airways Corporation to buy the British Aircraft Corporation’s One-eleven as a replacement for its Viscounts; Mr Mathison, who was Minister of Aviation in the last Labour Government, favours an American aircraft, the Boeing 737. This is very puzzling for the party faithful; if the issue were not so important, it would be amusing to speculate on the hurried consultations among Labour’s “ top brass ” to hammer out the “ party line ” before further attempts are made to buy votes with a choice of aircraft Mr Mathison, speaking at Palmerston North, claimed the Government had already decided to buy the Boeing 737, and he said he agreed with this decision. He was very sorry there “ just isn’t a British plane that is comparable ”. New Zealand should help Britain as much as possible, but in this case it could not. Mr Kirk said that, with the possibility of Britain joining the Common Market coming closer, he knew of no time when it was more important to buy British.

Mr Kirk's approach to the question is more realistic than Mr Mathison’s; Mr Mathison’s preference may be the right one, but for the wrong reasons. The decision cannot be left to N.A.C., though its expert judgment on technical matters must be given due weight In the very delicate state of world trade today, with Britain’s possible entry into the European Economic Community hanging over New Zealand like a sword of Damocles, all the implications of this decision must be carefully weighed by the Government An undertaking by the British Government to continue to buy New Zealand butter and lamb even after Britain entered the Common Market would be a powerful inducement to buy the B.A.C. One-eleven. A relaxation of the American restrictions on the import of butter would be a temptation to buy the Boeing 737. The technicalities of aviation may get short shrift at the Cabinet meeting when the decision is taken: if the Labour Party really expects to form a Cabinet after November 26 its aspirants must very quickly reconcile their divergences.