Games exclusion of N.Z. 'intolerable’

Press, 4 March 1982, Page 3

Games exclusion of N.Z. 'intolerable’

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney The exclusion of New Zealand from the Brisbane Commonwealth Games would be “intolerable,” said an editorial in the “Australian” newspaper yesterday. “Despite the disappointment that would be caused by the debacle at Brisbane, the exclusion of the New Zealand team, for the reasons put forward by the O.A.U. (Organisation of African Unity), would be an intolerable price to pay for the holding of any sporting carnival,” it said. The “Australian” said it would be “outrageous” if athletes from New Zealand were prevented from taking part in the Games because New Zealand did not conform to the policies, of the Organisation for African Unity, “an organisation presided over by Colonel. Ga-

dafi and one ot whose recent presidents was Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada.” “The threats of the O.A.U. are only remotely related to the question of apartheid and involved the interference with the right of a democratic country to run its own affairs. They should be resisted by Australia,” said the “Australian.” • The “Melbourne Age,” under a headline of “Muldoon and the Dirty Dozen,” commented that Australia, and not New Zealand, could end up paying the bill for Mr Muldoon’s “exercise in political cynicism” last year on the Springbok tour. Mr Muldoon had calculated that he stood to gain more votes than he would lose at the elections a few weeks later by letting the Rugby Union have the final say on the tour.

"The elections proved him right. Mr Muldoon won — but at a huge cost,” it said. The "Age” commented that with no mechanism for excluding a Commonwealth nation from the Games the outlook for Queensland was gloomy. “This means that unless New Zealand can be persuaded to withdraw in the interests of international harmony — an unlikely occurence, given Mr Muldoon's natural pigheadedness — the Games will go ahead without the Black African nations and probably a number of other non-white Commonwealth nations too,” it said. The “Sydney Morning Herald” questioned how seriously the boycott threat as stated by Dr Abraham Ordia should be taken.