Sir Wallace puts case for N-zone again

Press, 28 February 1986, Page 18

Sir Wallace puts case for N-zone again

By

TOM BRIDGMAN

NZPA staff correspondent Washington The South Pacific nuclear-free zone was a regional response to the continued threat of nuclear proliferation, said the Ambassador to the United States, Sir Wallace Rowling. That and New Zealand’s anti-nuclear legislation were reminders that in every part of the world, “however apparently remote and unpopulated,” the further refinement of nuclear weapons was still an affront to humanity.

"Our actions also serve as signposts — so that those who come after us will know that when threatened by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, however limited was our ability to influence events, we at least did not stand by and do nothing,” he said. Sir Wallace was speaking in Tucson, Arizona, to

a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize-winners, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Sir Wallace said many people had told New Zealand that by seeking to exclude nuclear weapons from its territory “we are merely burying our heads in the sand.”

" ‘Wake up New Zealand’, they say. ‘Look at the real world’.

"Well, we have looked at the real world, and along with most other Governments and peoples, the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one part of it we would wish to see changed,” said Sir Wallace.

The nuclear gridlock provided an illusion of security, the so-called deterrent producing for the time being a nuclear stand-off.

"However, it provides no prescription for security in the wider sense,” he said.