Labour pledged to A.N.Z.U.S.

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 2

Labour pledged to A.N.Z.U.S.

The Labour Party has reaffirmed its commitment to the A.N.Z.U.S. defence pact, in spite of a call by its annual conference to withdraw from it.

The Labour spokesman on defence, Mr M. A. Connelly, said at the week-end that he did not anticipate any change in the party’s attitude to ...N.Z.U.S. He told a defence seminar in Christchurch that the party’s policy council was aware that a Labour government had asked for the A.N.Z.U.S. pact in the first place and that the need for it still existed. “The council can be exl ected to view any proposals for change in that light and act responsibly. I don’t anticipate any change in the basic policy,” Mr Connelly said.

The A.N.Z.U.S. agreement was the cornerstone of . New Zealand’s defence policy, he said. As long as the arms race continued and aggressor nations could take over other nations, it would be neces-

sary for New Zealand and its allies to “face up to the reality of the situation” and achieve technological superiority. '“I see a continuation of our involvement in A.N.Z.U.S. as necessary, in the 1980 s,” he told the seminar. Mr Connelly said that Labour was pledged to defend New Zealand’s territorial interests, channels of communication, and economic zone. It was committed to collective security, and within that framework, it would co-operate internationally. Mr Connelly said that any extension of A.N.Z.U.S. to include United States involvement in the Indian Ocean would have to include social and economic expansion by the United States in SouthHe said that Labour’s Minister of Labour in 1975 (Mr Faulkner) had told the A.N.Z.U.S. council meeting “significantly” that “as well as having friends in the ships we should have friends on shore.”

New Zealand could not afford to isolate.. itself or to adopt a position of armed neutrality, Mr Connelly said New Zealanders could retain their hard-won rights of freedom, self-determination, justice, and their way of life only if they were prepared to

fight for them. “A country that has no linkages or guarantees can stand alone only as long as some major Power, which has the potential and the opportunity to take it over, is prepared to let the country remain,” Mr Connelly said. Even with all the people and resources New Zealand might be able to commit to a .policy of armed neutrality, it would have no hope of defending itself from a major aggressor. The A.N.Z.U.S. pact was not meant to be a static alliance, however. Labour would work towards a wider persepective of Pacific security, as was stated in the preamble to its defence policy at the 1978 General Election.