Anti-nuclear bill opposed in Canberra

Press, 5 December 1985, Page 8

Anti-nuclear bill opposed in Canberra

NZPA-AAP Canberra Australia opposed the New Zealand Government’s draft legislation banning visits by nuclear-capable warships, the Foreign Minister, Mr Bill Hayden, said yesterday. He had just talked for an hour to the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, who gave him a copy of the bill. The United States gave a warning yesterday that enactment of the legislation would force Washington to review its commitments under the A.N.Z.U.S. defence treaty. New Zealand’s exclusion from the pact was probable. The legislation, approved by the Cabinet earlier this week, is expected to be introduced in Parliament next week.

The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, said that it should

become law by March. Mr Hayden said that copies of the legislation would be sent for analysis to his department, as well as to the Defence Department, the Prime Minister’s Department, and the Cabinet.

“After we have done that, we will consider whatever comment might be appropriate, if indeed any comments are appropriate,” he said.

He had discussed with Mr Palmer a “range of possible considerations” for Australia should New Zealand proceed with the legislation. He declined to outline them publicly.

Confirming that Australia would stay out of the dispute, he strongly repeated Australia’s opposition to the Lange Government’s nuclear-ship policy.

“We have always made it clear that our preference is for no such legislation, that we have a substantial difference with them on this issue.

“We do allow access to our harbours by American naval vessels and ships ! and... we accept the importance of that, indeed the essentiality of that, for the purposes of the A.N.Z.U.S. treaty. “This is a maritime part of the world, the United States has only one Navy, substantially nuclearpowered, substantially with a nuclear capability. “We could scarcely ask them to develop different naval force structures for particular regions of the world and exclusively for those regions,” he said.

“So all of our views have been put very clearly on the record and the differences

have been made quite clear in the process of doing that.”

NZPA’s Sydney correspondence reported that Mr Palmer made just a brief statement, when he emerged from the meeting. “The survival of A.N.Z.U.S. now depends on the United States,” Mr Palmer said.

“The legislation is not anti-A.N.Z.U.S.”

The United States may decide to allow its warships to start visiting New Zealand ports again, Mr Palmer said.

Only one clause in the bill dealt directly with nuclear ship visits. It did not require any declarations by the United States of what weapons its ships carried. '■ Any decisions or assumptions would be made by the New Zealand Government, he said.