Commonwealth 'must act, or decay’

Press, 18 June 1979, Page 4

Commonwealth 'must act, or decay’

PA Wellington I nless the Commonwealth faced up to its responsibilities and the moral issues at the Commonwealth conference in Lusaka, the Commonwealth could crumble, said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling ) at the week-end.

In an address to the an-’I nual conference of the 1 ’ United Nations Association jl in Wellington, Mr Rowling • said the time had come for I those who belonged to the i' Commonwealth to decide i whether they wanted it to.; fulfil its real potential tn a i changing world or whethet I' it was simply to decay, because it had failed to face I up to the real issues. i At the coming Lusaka con- | ferencc, two over-riding i issues had to be faceo. he' said. The first was the ever- I growing gap between the. i "haves” and rhe "have-nots.”.i "We are relatively wealthy. ' but with a very high de-' 1 gree of reliance on primary' products,” Mr Rowling said.' "Many of the problems which we have and which are' 1 seriously draining our economy, such as trade barriers.! and restricted trade practices. are those which frus-jl trate the efforts of the de- j veloping nations." Mr Rowling said a “spirit' of outrage" had emerged at the Commonwealth con-1’

i itself we tolerated Idi Amin, but we pushed our integrity! io the limit on the question of apartheid. "We have never stood as a . group for the political rights! . of those who are dispossessed and trampled on by! war. We have never really! exerted the huge moral force: that we represent.” The moral issues that would dominate the Lusaka; meeting would be human rights in black Africa, apart-! heid. and the future of Zim-j l babwe. he said. "New Zealand cannot and '[must not be seen to equivo-j qca’e on these issues. We can-; • not stand apart from the ; issue of apartheid, whatever ■jmay be the political consid- . erations at home. I "There is no way that any! .Government can claim to I support a continuing and I'viable Commonwealth and at the same time back away! . from the. very issues that; will ensure either its survi- ' val, or its demise." said Mr : Rowling. “New Zealand cannot sit on the fence any longer on •the issue of Zimbabwe,” he, i!said.

ference at Jamaica in 1975. | ”1 said at that conference that the question of the! sharing of the resources, of food supplies, and the provision of more equal tradling opportunities, were among the most fundamental problems that the Commonwealth faced. “I came home feeling that, progress was imminent. Yet in the four years that have passed, what has the Commonwealth really attained? “What has my own coun- i Try really contributed? We. have engaged in endless: I talk. We have spilt veritable i rivers of ink, but we have I very little to point to that Iwe can really call progress.”! ■ Mr Rowling said the ' second challenge involved i the repeated failure of the. i Commonwealth to speak with a united voice on moral' | issues. "Our diversity and our heritage should give us the | necessary depth of understanding.” he said. "Yet our I voice has been muted. 'Within the Commonwealth!