Mr Hayden calls for ban on New Zealand at Brisbane Games

Press, 10 March 1982, Page 1

Mr Hayden calls for ban on New Zealand at Brisbane Games

NZPA Canberra Australia’s Federal Opposition leader, Mr William Hayden, strongly urged yesterday that New Zealand should not be allowed to take part in the Commonwealth Games at Brisbane.

In a Parliamentary attack on the Government of the New Zealand Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon), he said there should be no hesitation about this if New Zealand’s presence imperilled the Games. Mr Hayden was replying to a statement in the House of Representatives by the Australian Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) on Monday. He referred to the behaviour of Mr Muldoon over the Springbok rugby tour as irresponsible, reckless, and politically outrageous. The Games were too important to be imperilled, Mr Hayden said. . ‘if the slackness, the political opportunism, and contrivances of Mr Muldoon and his Government in New Zealand have been such as to imperil the Games, there should be no hesitation — New Zealand should be made aware that it will not be

allowed to participate in the Games,” Mr Hayden said. “It will not be the fault of Australia if this peril should arise.” Mr Hayden said it was a matter of regret that the “outrageous” behaviour of the Muldoon Government should have created this possible penalty for New Zealand athletes. Mr Hayden said he believed Mr Fraser had established a valuable store of goodwill with black African countries, particularly those of the Commonwealth. It appeared that the Brisbane Games might be imper- , illed by the presence of a New Zealand sports contingent which could result in black African countries withdrawing. “That would be a tragedy. In physical or financial terms it would represent a

great loss of money invested in the preparation for those Games,” Mr Hayden said. Queensland is expected to ask the New Zealand Government to withhold passports to Maori activists wishing to travel to the Games.

The approach will be made by Queensland Premier, Mr Joh Bjelke-Pet-ersen who will be in New Zealand in April to attend centennial celebrations at Dannevirke, where he was born.

“I will speak to Mr Muldoon about the Games,” Mr Bjelke-Petersen told a reporter yesterday. According to a Premier's Department spokesman, the talks between the two leaders would include encouragement from Queensland for New Zealand to take part in the Games, and would cover ways of preventing Maori activists entering Australia. The spokesman said Mr Bjelke-Petersen believed the Maori activists, who have publicly committed themselves to assisting Aboriginal demonstrators at the Games, were a New Zealand problem which should be kept in New Zealand.

Ways of keeping the activists at home could include the New Zealand Government withholding passports, and if the activists already had passports, Australia refusing entry visas. Mr Bjelke-Petersen said a ban on New Zealand by Australia was a "load of nonsense.”

“The New Zealand people are very welcome and I won’t crawl to the black African nations to get them here,” he said. Commonwealth Games officials had no power to ban New Zealand from the Games in spite of a demand by Mr Hayden said the Games Foundation’s general manager, Mr Daniel Whitehead, last evening. » “There is no provision in the Commonwealth Games constitution which allows any member nation to be banned,” he said.