Vance-Taiboys talks after A.N.Z.U.S.

Press, 4 July 1979, Page 3

Vance-Taiboys talks after A.N.Z.U.S.

NZPA Canberra The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mr Taiboys), will hold talks in Canberra with the United States Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance), after the A.N.Z.U.S. council meeting ends tomorrow. An hour has been set aside for the two men to discuss relations between their two countries. The meeting will be one of three Mr Taiboys will have in Canberra. He will also meet the Australian Minister of Immigration (Mr Michael MacKellar), and the Australian Special Trade Negotiator (Mr Victor Garland).

Tomorrow morning Mr Taiboys will have breakfast with Australia’s GovernorGeneral (Sir Zelman Cowen). It is believed that Sir Zelman, who is said to take a keen interest in AustralianNew Zealand reiafions, made a special request for the meeting.

With the A.N.Z.U.S. council meeting taking up most of today and tomorrow morning Mr Taiboys faces a demanding schedule before leaving for Sydney tomorrow evening.

He is due in Canberra early this morning (New Zealand time) from Bali aboard a United States Government airliner also carrying Mr Vance and the Australian Foreign Minister (Mr Andrew Peacock). The three men have been attending the meeting of Association of South EastAsian Nations Foreign Ministers. The flight together should give them an opportunity for informal talks which might help smooth

the path for a gathering which will be concerned with global and regional political instability. Among regional matters expected to be discussed by the A.N.Z.U.S. council are the Soviet military influence in the Indian Ocean and F-cific Ocean, the Indo-Chi-nese refugee problem, and the fighting in Kampuchea. Mr Taiboys has expressed the hope that the talks will “cover the waterfront.” A.N.Z.U.S. council meetings in the past have produced communiques which ranged widely over world issues and there is no reason to believe this one will be any different. Mr Vance, with his firsthand experience of the recent Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the Tokyo summit meeting, will be able to bring his New Zealand and Australian counterparts up to date on these matters. Discussion on the situations in the Persian Gulf and southern Africa is also certain. Mr Vance will probably

seek reassurances from Mr Talboys on visits by United States nuclear-powered warships. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said recently that a ban on such visits would mean the end of the A.N.Z.U.S. alliance, which is often described as the cornerstone of New Zealand’s foreign policy. New Zealand values the A.N.Z.U.S. council as the only regular formalised meeting between New Zealand and the United States at Ministerial level. The fact that Mr Vance is able to attend this council meeting — the Deputy Secretary of State has usually come to Canberra -nd Wellington for past councils — is something of a bonus. Mr Vance will start his official programme in Canberra today by meeting the Australian Prime Minister (Mr Fraser). Also in Canberra for the council meeting will be the United States Ambassador at Large and President Carter’s Co-ordinator of Refugee Affairs (Mr Richard Clark).