P.M. says rapport established

Press, 12 November 1977, Page 1

P.M. says rapport established

NZPA Washingtoi The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) has left Washington confident he has established a close relationship with President Carter and members of his Administration. He said he was very satisfied with the two days of talks he had had in the nation’s capital. "I did not come to negotiate issues. 1 wanted to get on a personal basis with Mr Carter and I have achieved this.” Mr Muldoon said it was quite easy to establish a rapport with the President “and at a Head-of-State level I don’t think there will be any problems during this Administration’s term.”

Mr Muldoon said that Mr Carter had invited him to telephone the White House direct if any difficulties between New Zealand and the White House recurred. New Zealand officials travelling with Mr Muldoon clearly are delighted that the visit has gone so well.

Certainly there was no sign of any lingering hostility towards Mr Muldoon because of his tart criticism of the President earlier this year. One of Mr Muldoon’s main aims in his talks with the President . and various members of the Carter Cabinet was to express New Zealand’s increasing concern about world agricultural protectionism and the problems New Zealand’s economy faces because of this trend.

He was emphatic on this point in all his discussions and he said yesterday he had found sympathetic understanding. Both the United States and New Zealand agree the Japanese must make major changes in their attitude to imports, and from what Mr Muldoon has said it is clear that the Americans will do their best to help New Zealand’s efforts to wring more liberal trade concessions from the Japanese.

Several times Mr Mul» doon has referred to ongoing attempts to get Japan to take more farm products from New Zealand in return for permission to fish in New Zealand’s newly established 200-mile economic zone. He said at a press conference that his Government had no wish to exclude Japan from fishing in the zone and that it should be possible to work out an arrangement before New Zealand issues zone licences next April. But he gave a warning again that Japan would not get a licence unless it was prepared to meet New Zealand requests for bet* ter access. He said he believed the Japanese fish catch in New Zealand waters was significant to Japan. Mr Muldoon said the United States was not the worst offender in the field of protectionist barriers but said there were problems. New Zealand would like to have better access to the American market for its beef and dairy products, he said.

Mr Muldoon visited the central headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency hi Washington—and talked about fish. However, he said he had also been given a general briefing on C.I.A. activities and the kind of information the agency can give New Zealand. But he said the major issue discussed was fishing. “I was given a detailed analysis of the world’s distant-water fishing effort as it has developed recently and particularly in respect of the establishment of the 200-mile zones.” He said he got much infonnation on the changes in the weight of fishing by various nations necessitated by the 200-mile zones in the context of New Zealand and the South Pacific. Mr Muldoon and Mrs Muldoon left Washington early yesterday morning by helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base for a 90-minute flight on a Presidential aircraft to La Grange, Georgia.

The trip was semi-private and other members of the New Zealand party flew direct to Orlando. Florida, later in the day.