N.Z. ’gutless servant of money market’

Press, 11 July 1979, Page 10

N.Z. ’gutless servant of money market’

Fear of the European Economic Community was behind the reluctance of the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) to raise the •topic of decolonisation at the South Pacific Forum, the member of Parliament for Papanui (Mr M. K. Moore) has said. “Trade is being put before principles; cheese, butter, and lamb are being

put before integrity, freedom, and human rights.” Mr Moore said. \ He was referring to an item in “The Press” of Monday in which Mr Muldoon was quoted as saying that the Forum, being held in Honiara in the New Hebrides this week, was not the proper body to make recommendations to the United Nations on decolonisation. “It seems the Prime Minister is aligning himself with the old colonial Powers, more particularly France and the United States,” said Mr Moore. “I can only look back with nostalgia at the time when New Zealand had an independent line, when under a Labour Government New Zealand sent a frigate to the area as a si- • lent witness to the outrage of nuclear testing. The Prime Minister has done a somersault and his lack of support for the independence of the Pacific colonies is because he is frightened of the E.E.C.,” he said. “New Zealand was once looked up to in the world as an independent country of principle and as a moral leader in the world — not a gutless servant of the international money market. “It appears that once again under National leadership we’re looking at history through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars.” said Mr Moore.