Gleneagles ‘got P.M. out of jam’

Press, 19 August 1977, Page 4

Gleneagles ‘got P.M. out of jam’

Wellington I he Gleneagles agreement on sports .contacts had extracted the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) from a problem of his own creation, the Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr W. . Freer, told Parliament last evening.

The Opposition welcomed the agreement, which was in line with the thinking and policy of the Labour Party, he said. Speaking during the Estimates debate, Mr Freer said the Opposition had been “keenly aware" of the wav in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mr Taiboys) had tried to instil in the minds ot ' sports bodies exactly the same poilcy as that sub- i scribed to by the Labour Party. However, “it would have i built New Zealand's case no .1 end and would have fortified,! the stand New Zealand is I taking" if Mr Taiboys had ( written personally to sports iI bodies instead of leaving it to ’ the Minister of Recreation s and Sport (Mr Highet) to send letters. • I “The decision then is theirs t (sports bodies). I would notit argue with that,” Mr Freer t said. However, the Labour Party’’ was sorry that Mr Taiboys I had left the responsibility to < Mr Highet. i i Mr Muldoon, in reply, said!’ that to the disappointment of 1 the Labour Party, New Zealand efforts at the Common- < wealth heads of Government I meeting in London had been, entirely successful and the't

Gleneagles agreement was the result. New Zealand had carried out its obligations under the' agreemen' “to the letter,” he said. ; One by one this was now) being accepted by Commonwealth heads of Government. Mr Muldoon said he had received a letter from the! Canadian Prime Minister (Mr, Pierre Trudeau) thanking him for his co-operation at Gleneagles. He had also received correspondence from other • Commonwealth Prime Minis-! :ters. Asked by Mr J. L. Hunt! (Lab., New Lynn) to table the ) letter, Mr Muldoon said he! would not as they were personal documents. The Prime Minister told the ■House that New Zealand’s action “has been fully ac-1 cepted and our policy is in-! tact." The National Government) would not withhold passports' ■ from sportsmen wishing to' compete overseas nor would it refuse visas to people invited to this country by New) Zealand sports bodies. “Labour policy was different—they did refuse visas,” ; Mr Muldoon said. ”... A couple of Taiwan- i ese boy scouts whose only i

! I crime was that they wanted to attend a jamboree,” he I said. ■ A visa had been granted to ■ the South African cricketer, Barry Richards, “because it ■| was getting near election time.” Mi lalboys said it was a (Simple fact that each one of I the players invited to South j Africa had been made well [aware of the Gleneagles' agreement. They had read and! discussed it. “I would simply not con-i (template inviting each one; lof them to come to me and ; (adopt a big brother, standlover attitude. “There is certainly no supIport from the Government for' their going,” Mr Taiboys said.) “They have made their own! decisions and they are free' to do so.” i Later in the debate, Mr) Hunt called on the Govern-; rnent to state whether the late Labour Prime Minister,! Mr Norman Kirk, had been) [wrong in cancelling the 1973! Springbok rugby tour of New ; Zealand. In reply, Mr B. E. Brill [(Nat., Kapiti) said that Mr Kirk had been wrong, be-1 cause the decision was one) that should have been made by sports bodies and not byj a politician.