Aust. chides French for tests

Press, 11 October 1986, Page 11

Aust. chides French for tests

NZPA-AAP New York South Pacific Forum countries, including Australia, orchestrated another attack against France yesterday over nuclear testing . in the Pacific. The criticism was designed to embarrass France in yet another United Nations forum for what the countries see as its insensitivity to the wishes of South Pacific islanders. One of Canberra’s two Parliamentary delegates to this United Nations session, Senator Nick Bolkus, led the Australian offensive. “The countries of the region have repeatedly expressed their individual and collective outrage at France’s continued

nuclear testing programme in the South Pacific,” he said. Fiji, as chairman of the South Pacific Forum this year, accused France of selectively quoting from a joint Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australian scientific study to try to justify continued testing on Mururoa atoll. "France argues it is safe to test nuclear devices at its Mururoa site,” Mr Bolkus told the United Nation’s special political committee today. “They argue that there has been no leakage of radioactivity nor has there been any weakening of the geological structures of the atoll. “As the Fiji Ambassador has pointed out, we categorically reject conclusions drawn on the

basis of a selective reading of the report. “We are rightly concerned that long-term degeneration of the geological structures of the atoll may occur and that the effects will be visited upon future generations of Pacific islanders. “If France truly believes that the tests are safe and are necessary, they should be conducted in metropolitan France, not in a region whose inhabitants do not want the tests.” As on previous occasions when such issues have been raised, France took exception and exercised its right of reply. “My country, in its own national territory, in accordance with its rights and in the exercise of its sovereignty, is conducting

actions which pose a threat to no country, and are not prejudicial either to the health of the population or to the environment,” said Laurent Rapin. He denied that his country was selectively quoting from the Atkinson report on the dangers of nuclear testing in the Pacific. Mr Bolkus’s entreaty that France test closer to home, was “specious and exorbitant,” he said. Australia received strong support from Fiji and Chile in criticising what they say is French arrogance in nuclear testing.

A senior Australian official, John Oakley, used the right of reply to express amazement and “stark disbelief” at

French assertions that nuclear testing was “harmless.” “This contention cannot and should not go unchallenged,” he said. “The Atkinson report does indeed raise serious questions about the future effects on Mururoa atoll. It warns of possible future leaks of radioactivity from the progressively degraded geological structures of the atoll.” The clashes between Australia and France over nuclear testing are becoming part of the ritual of United Nations meetings. When the Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Bill Hayden, was in the United Nations last week he irritated France by referring to the issue in his speech to the General Assembly.