Dispute feared, but party instead for British ship

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32967, 13 July 1972, Page 3

Dispute feared, but party instead for British ship

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

NOUMEA, July 12.

Official action by the authorities in New Caledonia averted a serious dispute when the small British freighter Jean Philippe arrived with its New Zealand cargo.

The masters of several French ships, which cannot sail to New Zealand because of the Federation of Labour’s ban on handling French ships and aircraft, had earlier threatened to blockade the port of Noumea when the Jean Philippe arrived. But the authorities told the masters they must weigh their personal feelings against the commercial effect on New Caledonia of direct action, and they made no move to stop the Jean

Philippe entering port on i Monday. i The arrival of the freightet I was actually marked by a i cocktail party on Monday i evening, attended by the masters of the- French ships, and I the atmosphere was reported 1 to be "jovial.” The two most welcome i New Zealand products in the I Jean Phillipe’s cargo were a consignment of sawn timber and another of onions, the ! latter being particularly wel-1 come for a country which ' prides itself on fine food. i Mrs Elisabeth Ulrich, as- : sistant editor of the “New Caledonian News,” said in an : interview about the new i French nuclear testing in .

the Pacific that New Caledonians were astonished that the New Zealand Government did not take more positive action.

Asked if the F.O.L. ban had hurt New Caledonia, she said: “The most serious effect has been the dislocation of shipments of pre-frabricated housing which was a growing business.”

Labour politicians and supporters as the opening shots in their election campaign. Fr McKay said he did fear immediate commercial retaliation by New Caledonia, but recalled that Mr Pierre Messmer, the new French Prime Minister, had said in Noumea last month that New Zealand’s present actions contrasted with those during the E.E.C. negotiations.

The Rev. J. McKay, a New Zealand priest unofficially recognised as New Zealand’s “consul” at Noumea, said in an interview that the New Zealand actions against the French tests were generally seen by New Caledonians as motivated consciously or unconsciously by New Zealand

“Of course, Mr Messmer is an Alsatian, and they are renowned for speaking bluntly,” Fr McKay said.