Aust. wants pact to stay open to N.Z.

Press, 19 April 1986, Page 8

Aust. wants pact to stay open to N.Z.

NZPA staff correspondent Washington

The A.N.Z.U.S. pact should remain in existence after New Zealand anti-nuclear legislation was made law so New Zealand could rejoin at some later stage, said the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, yesterday. There had been a “sincere wish” on the part of the United States Administration to change New Zealand’s point of view on ship visits, but time now appeared to be running out in terms of New Zealand’s own timetable, Mr Hawke said. “As far as we can understand New Zealand is moving to legislate by the period August, September, October at the latest” Mr Hawke said that if there was no resolution through talks and New Zealand legislated the position it had been espousing, whatever took place Australia did not want the United States to abrogate the treaty. Letters would be exchanged between Mr Hawke and the President of the United States, Mr Reagan, to establish the United States relationship with New Zealand under the treaty, and also to establish that the United States and Australia would

continue to co-operate under its terms. Thus, if New Zealand later wished to come back into the treaty, it would be there. Mr Hawke said he had made it clear throughout talks on A.N.Z.U.S., and it had been accepted by the United States, that Australia would maintain a bilateral defence cooperation relationship with New Zealand. "That is in our interests in the region, and in that sense in the interests of the United States as well,” said Mr Hawke. Earlier yesterday, after talks with Mr Hawke, Mr Reagan said he hoped New Zealand would soon return “to its traditional role as a responsible A.N.Z.U.S. member.” “We would greatly regret it if this valued partner declined to take the actions that would permit restoration of our normal collaboration and preservation of our special relationship as allies,” he said at the White House. “Whatever New Zealand’s decision, however, I have told Prime Minister Hawke that our commitment to Australia under A.N.Z.U.S. is firm.” Mr Reagan said the stabilising role of A.N.Z.U.S. had been essential to the “phenomenal growth” the

Pacific region had enjoyed in the last decade. Mr Hawke, speaking after Mr Reagan, said Australia accepted that “like other alliances, the A.N.Z.U.S. treaty entails obligations and responsibilities, as well as mutual benefits.”

Later, a senior Administration official confirmed that New Zealand, for the second successive year, would not this year attend what used to be the annual A.N.Z.U.S. Council meeting. While not saying New Zealand had not been invited, the official said the talks in San Francisco in August would be “an Aus-tralia-United States meeting”. Last year New Zealand was not invited to the A.N.Z.U.S. Council meeting in Canberra. This year the United States is the host.

The official also said that at San Francisco the United States and Australia would consider their specific course of action to follow if the New Zealand anti-nuclear legislation was passed.

United States officials had previously said that if New Zealand proceeded with its law and the United States considered it could not within that

send ships to New Zealand without compromising the non-disclosure policy on nuclear weaponry, American security obligations to New Zealand under A.N.Z.U.S. could be withdrawn.

Mr Hawke, in his talks with Mr, Reagan yesterday also dealt with the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. The United States official said the United States was still considering its stance on the zone. At his later press conference Mr Hawke said the case for the zone and its protocols was now better understod at the highest political level in the United States.

New Zealand, Australia, Canada and other primary producing nations want agriculture to be an important item at the coming Tokyo summit meeting and the later multilateral trade round in September.

Mr Reagan, in a carefully worded response mindful of domestic American farming pressure, said that the United States “will be responsive to the extent we can” to Australian interests.

“We seek a truly free international agricultural market,” he said.