Letters to All Blacks a nonsense—Opposition

Press, 5 July 1985, Page 1

Letters to All Blacks a nonsense—Opposition

By

PATRICIA HERBERT,

in Wellington The Government’s action in sending letters against the South African tour to each All Black was dismissed by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr McLay, yesterday as “public relations nonsense.” He said that every one of the 30 players selected knew full well where the Government stood and that many had gone through “a long and anguishing process” before making themselves available for selection. All the issues had been fully canvassed and there was nothing to be gained in further pursuing the matter, Mr McLay said. Rather, it would only deepen the divisions. He said the Government had already fulfilled its obligations under the Gleneagles Agreement and that the decision to send individual letters was going “far too much further.” “It is in effect engaging in the intimidation that the Parliamentary resolution (opposing the tour) said should not be done,” he said. The Acting Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, had an-

nounced at a press conference that morning that he would send a letter to each team member. He said it was important that they be left under no illusion regarding the Government’s position. Mr Palmer rejected Mr McLay’s assertion that the gesture was unnecessary and divisive. He said that by not making it, the Government would be neglecting its duty both under the Gleneagles Agreement and to the public. Asked what his message to the players would be, Mr Palmer said he would simply review the objections to the tour and point out the damage that was likely to occur should it proceed. “We think it is important for the young men who have been selected to consider the matter and I am sure they will consider it. What effect it will have is up to them,” he said. Five of the players are public servants and, under State Services Commission policy, will have to choose between the tour and their jobs if they do not have enough leave accumulated to cover the time out. The Opposition spokes-

man on sport, Mr John Banks, condemned this yesterday and called on the Government to be less vindictive to its employees. But Mr Palmer described it as “a perfectly proper position” for the commission to take and said he did not think it unfair to the players in question, especially as they had been fully aware of where they stood for months. The commission took the stance of denying special leave and leave without pay to sportspeople wanting to go to South Africa when the Gleneagles Agreement was signed in 1979, and adopted the same attitude toward athletes wanting to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics against the then National Government’s will. Mr Palmer was reminded yesterday that the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, had on that occasion as a member of the Opposition criticised the commission’s stand as “undemocratic and foreign to the New Zealand way of life.” In reply to this <pparent inconsistency in Labour’s position, Mr Palmer said he had not spoken against the commission in 1980.

He also said he thought

the South African tour would have more serious repercussions for New Zealand than did the Moscow Olympics because it would give “aid and comfort to apartheid.” To the South African Government, the All Black visit was “a considerable propaganda victory,” Mr Palmer said, because New Zealand had a good reputation internationally for its race relations. Mr McLay said it had always saddened him personally that the commission had adopted the attitude it had and that he did not think it fair, but he emphasised that the policy was set by the State Services Commission and not by the Government of the day. “I would prefer that people did not lose their jobs,” he said. “I think once they have made a free and conscious decision, ' there should not be any penalties.” But he said he understood the background behind the stand and did not want his statements to be interpreted as an attempt to make “a strong political point” on the issue. Other reports, pages 2, 3