Foreign relations ‘failure’

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 6

Foreign relations ‘failure’

Wellington reporter In the field of foreign relations the Labour Government has been a total failure, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, told a meeting in Upper Hutt.

It had succeeded in getting New Zealand off-side with its four main trading partners on international issues and those relating to the Western alliance. He said New Zealand was off-side with its near neighbour Australia on defence and foreign relations and with Japan.

There had been disagreement with the British Government. There were big continuing difficulties with the United States, the reason for which was the immaturity of the Lange Government.

That immaturity linked the New Zealand Labour Government with the Government of Vanuatu, Mr Bolger said. Vanuatu had banned the ships of its ally, Australia, as New Zealand-had banned those of the United States. A further link between Vanuatu and New Zealand

was that Vanuatu was a non-aligned national, and the Labour Party wanted New Zealand to be nonaligned. Serious matters of foreign policy did affect trade. New Zealand exporters would certainly lose market opportunities because of the Labour Government’s inability to have an amicable working relationship with it traditional allies, he said. National was committed to New Zealand remaining a member of the Western Alliance.