Ingratitude for aid’

Press, 3 May 1977, Page 6

Ingratitude for aid’

PA Auckland The National M.P. for Waitemata, Mr D. M. J. Jones, ■tonight questioned whether New Zealand should continue to aid some of its Pacific neighbours when they only repaid it with ingratitude. In a statement Mr Jones said: “We support the economies of four governments — Tonga, Western Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands. We seek nothing in return although we are sometimes repaid with an ingratitude which makes me wonder whether assistance to some of these countries is worth while.” Mr Jones said that for the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Sir Albert Henry, to call a member of the New Zealand press on his recent visit a liar was simply amazing. “That Prime Minister’s Government’s bills are probably paid by the taxes of the news media,” he said. Elaborating on his remarks later, Mr Jones said that he was referring specifically to Tonga. Western Samoa, and (the Cook Islands for their occasional ingratitude to New i Zealand aid.

If they continued to be so unthankful then he felt it was time the New Zealand Government considered whether, to continue such aid.

In the statement Mr Jones also announced that he had asked organisers of next month’s Commonwealth Parliamentary visit conference to include “human rights in the Commonwealth” as a topic for debate. Mr Jones, Who will be the New Zealand Government representative at the conference in Britain, said if New Zealand sports policy was to be discussed then he wanted human rights in certain other countries also discussed. He . had suggested that human rights in New Zealand, Australia, Nigeria and Uganda be discussed.