N.Z. prepared to bomb island

Press, 4 May 1984, Page 4

N.Z. prepared to bomb island

PA Wellington New Zealand, if called upon, would take part in the bombing of an uninhabited Hawaiian island during the five-nation Pacific Rim (Rimpac) exercises this winter, said a Ministry of Defence official in Wellington last evening. Wing Commander Geoff Clarke, the Ministry’s director of public relations, said Kahoolawe Island was a legally . designated gunfire target controlled by the United States Navy.

He was not sure if New Zealand would have the task of bombing the island. “However, if we were involved in those parts of the exercise which required

naval bombardment, we would take part,” Wing Commander Clarke said.

At the last Rimpac exercises, in 1981, New Zealand was not involved in that part of the exercise.

Australia has declined to bomb the island, and last month Japan announced, without explanation, that it was withdrawing from the Kahoolawe bombing exercises.

Opponents of the bombing contend that the island is historically, archaeologically, and spiritually significant to the Hawaiian culture.

Rimpac involves the navies of the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.