Cooks threat over N.Z. N-ship policy

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 5

Cooks threat over N.Z. N-ship policy

The Premier of the Cook Islands, Sir Thomas Davis, yesterday spoke out against the New Zealand Government’s plan to put its port ban on nuclear vessels into law. On the eve of the South Pacific Forum in Rarotonga, Sir Thomas said that the Cook Islands valued the A.N.Z.U.S. alliance and that legislation could only worsen damage already done to it. The A.N.Z.U.S. row had created a political vacuum in the region. He said that whenever there was weakness, the Soviet Union moved in, quoting Afghanistan as an example.

Sir Thomas said the same thing could happen in the Pacific, especially as many countries had economic difficulties and would find any

offer to alleviate them tempting. He threatened that if New Zealand went ahead with its plan, the Cook Islands might pursue an independent foreign policy. This would involve a change to the Cook’s Constitution which gives to New Zealand overriding authority in its foreign affairs. Sir Thomas’s comments were put to the Prime Minister after Mr Lange arrived in Rarotonga yesterday. He said that New Zealand had not before undertaken a heavier burden in defence preparedness — a message the presence of two New Zealand warships at Rarotonga for the forum seemed designed to reinforce.