Aust, alters N-ship stance

Press, 27 February 1984, Page 1

Aust, alters N-ship stance

NZPA Canberra Friendly naval ships will not have to declare that they are carrying nuclear weapons when they use Australian ports but the Australian Government will have the final say on whether they can nse drydock facilities, under new policy guidelines announced in Canberra yesterday.

The key passage in the guidelines announced by the Minister of Defence, Mr Gordon Scholes, says requests for the use of drydock facilities “will have to be considered on their own merits, taking into account technical and safety factors, and the strategic and operational circumstances obtaining at the time.”

The statement comes after weeks of controversy caused when the British aircraft carrier H.M.S. Invincible, once, destined for the Royal Australian Navy, was refused access to Garden Island naval dry dock in Sydney last December because the British declined to say whether she carried nuclear weapons. Mr Scholes said the guidelines were adopted after talks with the United States and British Governments.

He emphasised that “as a matter of record the Government does not require that allied governments reveal whether their ships carry nuclear weapons.”

“Both the United States and British Governments have a policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons. We accept the reasons for that policy,” the Minister said.

The Opposition responded to Mr Scholes’s statement by calling on him and the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, to apologise to the British Government over the Invincible affair. The leader of the National Party and Opposition defence spokesman, Mr lan Sinclair, said the statement showed that the Government had' been “totally wrong” about the Invincible ban.

Mr Scholes had gone on record as saying that the Government did not require allied governments to reveal whether their ships carried nuclear weapons. "However, this was the only reason why the Invincible was refused permission to dock at Garden Island,” Mr Sinclair said. “Instead, we forced the British carrier to limp to Singapore for repairs. “Mr Scholes and Mr Hawke should now publicly apologise to the British Government.” Mr. Sinclair also pointed out that there was no assurance in the Minister’s statement that the Government would require trade nnion acceptance of the policy.