Public misled—Mr Bolger

Press, 13 August 1986, Page 8

Public misled—Mr Bolger

PA Wellington The Left-Wing of the Labour Party took only two years to get New Zealand out of A.N.Z.U.S., said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, yesterday. He accused the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, of deliberately misleading the public "for months and months” by saying Labour’s policy on A.N.Z.U.S. remained consistent with New Zealand’s membership of the alliance. That "duplicity” was “blown out” by yesterday’s communique from

San Francisco, said Mr Bolger. “The Prime Minister said he wants to be in A.N.Z.U.S. The facts are his policies have taken us out of A.N.Z.U.5.,” Mr Bolger said, during a snap debate in Parliament on the withdrawal of United States security obligations to New Zealand under A.N.Z.UJ. However, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, retorted that the National Party was pronuclear and accepted uncritically anything said by the United States Government “They act as the

spokespeople for the United States Government in this House,” he said. The wording of the communique meant that National now accepted the United States position that A.N.Z.U.S. was a nuclear alliance. Consequently nuclear weapons would be entering New Zealand ports if the National Party became the Government, said Mr Palmer. Mr Bolger said National’s policy on A.N.Z.US. was “crystal clear” and it would take the necessary steps for New Zealand to rejoin as a fully operative member

of the alliance. Mr Palmer said that when National said it strongly supported A.N.Z.U.S. it meant it was for nuclear weapons in New Zealand, and would actively encourage that happening. He was “grateful” to Mr Bolger for revealing what the real position of the Opposition was. Mr Palmer said there was .little doubt that the United States could have accommodated New Zealand anti-nuclear policies in the same way it had done for other allies, but it had chosen not to do so.