N.Z. concern may be justified

Press, 13 July 1976, Page 17

N.Z. concern may be justified

PA Nelson. The feelers being extended towards Tonga by Russia could presage a dramatic justification for New Zealand’s concern at the expansion of the Russian naval strength in the Eastern hemisphere, said the Minister of Defence (Mr McCready) in Nelson. Speaking at a regional seminar of the National Party, Mr McCready said the Russian Pacific fleet now numbered 155 ships of various types, including 30 nuclear submarines, “and Russia is launching one more nuclear submarine every six weeks,” he said. The Government's opponents were trying to cloud the issue on the New Zealand ports, he New Zealand- ports,” he said. “They raised the issue of nuclear weapons. An unarmed nuclear weapon is a thousand times safer than a conventional weapon,” he said. Mr McCready claimed that poor journalism had

also tended to cloud the issue. In one case feature writers had indulged in poor writing and in another the Labour Party had released an advertisement during the Nelson by-election campaign depicting a fleet of phantom ships in the Marlborough Sounds. “Under the A.N.Z.U.S. Pact New Zealand has an obligation to maintain effective armed forces for protection of our own national interests. As well we have to develop our capacity to act with the United States and Australia to resist any armed attack.” The number of nuclearpowered ships was increasing all the time, Mr McCready said. In order to meed its A.N.Z.U.S. obligations New Zealand must expect these ships to visit its waters at different times, even if only for leave for the ships’ crews. “This is what we would expect for our own ships when they visit American waters,” he said.