Secrecy on the ships

Press, 7 August 1976, Page 12

Secrecy on the ships

Whether “nuclear-powered” or “nucleararmed” vessels should be welcome in New Zealand ports is an issue which raises important questions about public safety, about the strategic balance in the South Pacific, and about New Zealand’s foreign policy. Whatever the rights and wrongs on any of these grounds of American vessels’ coming into ports like Lyttelton, no good purpose is being served by keeping the date and place of the first vessel’s visit a secret. Mr Muldoon’s purpose in refusing to divulge this information is presumably to make it more difficult for protesters to hinder the vessel’s movements and to curb the possible disorder that may result when New Zealanders opposed to the visit make their feelings vigorously known If such secrecy would prevent unnecessary and fruitless disorder at sea or in a port it could perhaps be justified. But the protest groups are confident that, from any number of signs, they will know when a visit by a nuclear vessel to a New Zealand port is imminent and will have time to mobilise to make their protest. Mr Muldoon cannot hope to be able to stifle all opposi-

tion to the vessel’s visit, or pretend that the issue is not of concern to many New Zealanders, even if he does manage to blunt the edge of any initial protest. Many New Zealanders are perturbed that the vessels are coming on grounds that deserve to be respected, if not accepted, and their right to make their concern knowm, so long as they keep within the law, should not be abridged. By playing an undignified cat-and-mouse game with the protesters in an attempt to thwart them—and perhaps to give an impression that the country is more united in its support for his policy on nuclear ships than it in fact is—Mr Muldoon is running a grave risk Those who are indifferent to the visits and their implications or disposed to trust the Government may be encouraged to suspect that, because he is making efforts to stifle protest and the debate it should provoke, there are better grounds for questioning his policy than Mr Muldoon has cared to admit. An issue of this importance should be debated in a rational way on serious grounds. Mr Muldoon must bear part of the blame for the fact that the issue is not being treated in the way it deserves.