Mr Lange denies confidence breach
NZPA staff correspondent Bangkok The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, yesterday rejected Opposition assertions that he had breached a confidence in revealing details of his talks with the United States Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz.
The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, specifically referred to Mr Lange’s attribution to Mr Shultz of a statement that the American system
“leaked like a sieve.” Mr Shultz had been justifying rejection of a New Zealand offer to keep secret any refusal of a future proposed ship visit. “I did not breach any confidences at all,” said Mr Lange after talks yesterday with Thai leaders. “I have endeavoured to set the matter on record so that there can be no misunderstanding of the New Zealand position and I have never experienced within -the United States
any anxiety when that is done,” he said. “What I talked were the facts, they are the facts, they are not the subject of dispute — that cannot cause trouble.
“I believe that they will be perfectly acceptable,” said Mr Lange. “The U.S. has chosen not to comment on them. I did not characterise the United States in the way that I have been characterised by unnamed Government officials for
the last two years. “We’ve managed to keep our cool and I’m sure the United States has no interest in stirring up difficulties.”
Mr Lange said there was an increasing sense of desperation about the Opposition on the nuclear ships issue. “You always know when an Opposition’s in real trouble — they keep saying there’ll be an early election. They’re back on that old tack, which of course is one of the things which caused the former Leader of the Opposition to go down the political tube. His successor is hellbent on following him.
“Can you breach a confidence when somebody goes into a corridor and announces the outcome of what happened?” said Mr Lange, referring to Mr
Shultz’s comments to re-
porters directly after the talks in Manila on Friday. Mr Lange met the Thai Prime Minister, General Prem Tinsulanonda, yesterday. He said the A.N.Z.U.S. rift had not been raised as a matter of concern by Thailand which has a defence pact with the United States and a security problem on its border with Kampuchea, occupied since late 1978 by Vietnam. Mr Palmer, page 5
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Press, 1 July 1986, Page 4
Word Count
390Mr Lange denies confidence breach Press, 1 July 1986, Page 4
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