‘Frigate foil to French'

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32941, 13 June 1972, Page 18

‘Frigate foil to French '

(Prom Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 12. A suggestion that New Zealand should send the frigate Waikato into the area of the French nuclear tests, as a means of stopping the tests, was made tonight by Dr G. A. WaD (Lab., Porirua) in a speech to the Porirua Labour Representation Committee. The frigate could lie at anchor or go on patrol outside territorial waters, said Dr Wall. “If the Government thinks

this action would be too hazardous for its service personnel, I’m sure the Federation of Labour would provide volunteers with the necessary skills. And I, personally, would be happy to join them on the mission, as I'm sure others of my colleagues in the House would be. “If the Government knows when the tests are scheduled and could not get the frigate there in time, then surely It could send a Government aircraft into the area until the frigate arrived.” This proposal might be interpreted as an act of agression, said Dr Wall. But surely what die French proposed to do was an act of unprovoked aggression also.

“The contamination of water supplies and pastures can be seen as nothing less than unprovoked aggression, unless it is done by arrangement with the Government of New Zealand. “If the tests are as safe as the French say they are, it seems strange that they must be held as far from France as possible.” He said that it was apparent that international negotiation with the French had produced no concessions. "The prime example is New Zealand’s treatment by France on the unanimity clause in the E.E.C. negotiations. The Prime Minister, on his return from Europe, told the House that it would

be ’a breach of faith* if the negotiators insisted on the maintenance of thia crucial clause, which affects New Zealand’s future Huntings with the E.E.C. This clause was re-inserted and we didn’t hear any more talk of a breach of faith.

“In principle, we must deplore the industrial action being taken by the Federation of Labour to protest against the French tests. In practice, when a government is so obviously failing in its responsibility to the people, one can only condone an organisation using what weapons it has available to protest against the aggressive acts of a foreign Government and the ineffective actions of its own Government.”