Defence review committee a ‘unique opportunity’

Press, 6 December 1985, Page 4

Defence review committee a ‘unique opportunity’

The New Zealand public are being given a unique and exciting opportunity to contribute to the forming of the nation’s future defence and security policy, says a Christchurch sociologist, Dr Kevin Clements.

Dr Clements, aged 39, a lecturer at the University of Canterbury was named yesterday as one of four persons on a committee set up by the Government to look into and report on public feelings about New Zealand’s defence policy. The other members of the committee are Mr Frank Corner, a former Secretary of Foreign Affairs; MajorGeneral Brian Poananga, who retired as New Zealand’s top military officer in 1981; and Ms Diane Hunt, a scientist, formerly in the D.S.I.R. The committee is to report to the Government by June, in time for its finding to be fed into the final stages of the defence policy review.

“This is a critical committee in terms of New Zealand’s defence and security requirements,” said Dr Clements, whose inclusion on the committee may have surprised many people. He is vice-chairman of the national co-ordinating committee for the United Nations International Year of Peace in 1986, and is also on the U.N.E.S.C.O. advisory committee on communications. v He was a member of the New Zealand delegation to the Non-Profileration Treaty Review conference in Geneva in August, and he and his wife, Valerie, with their three children, were previously based in Geneva for two years at the Quaker United Nations Office. “The idea is to get as much public participation as possible into the defence policy review,” said Dr Clements.

“The committee’s mandate is quite broad and I hope New Zealanders will

get excited about the chance to discuss peace and defence issues.” The kind of questions the committee would seek to answer from this public forum, he said would be: What kind of threats do people feel there are to New Zealand? How would they wish New Zealand to

respond to them? What sort of defence and security arrangements would make people feel safe? “The committee’s inquiry will provide the opportunity for us to show what we as a nation want,” said Dr Clements. The committee would have four main aims, said Dr Clements. They were: To receive and hear public submissions on the future of New Zealand’s defence policy and to gain as broad a spectrum of opinion as possible. To question groups and individuals making those submissions on their opinions. To commission polling to provide objective public data on attitudes to defence and security questions. To prepare a report for the Government based on public feelings and poll data, which will be taken into account in the preparation of the final defence review by the Government.

“We will be receiving written submissions probably dn February,” said Dr Clements. “Then the committee will go to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in March and April to hear public submissions and depending on demand, we may also go to Dunedin.” The key subjects for'the committee to decide included the main military or terrorist threats to New Zealand; the promotion of security and stability in the South Pacific by promoting regional co-operation; looking at ways of fulfilling A.N.Z.U.S. obligations in conventional military terms in accord with the Government’s policy of not accepting nuclear weapons; maintaining ability to contribute to United Nations and other peace-keeping efforts; and looking at ways of using the Armed Forces to provide civil defence in New Zealand and the South Pacific.