White House invitation eludes Lange

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 2

White House invitation eludes Lange

By

BRENDON BURNS

in Wellington

A family fund at President Bush’s university, Yale, will honour the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, this month, but there will be no White House invitation.

Mr Lange announced yesterday he will visit the United States and Canada from April 21 to 29. At Yale University, Mr Lange will deliver the George Herbert Walker, jun., lecture. Established three years ago, it is named after President Bush’s uncle. Mr Walker had been a mentor to the young George Bush when he was establishing himself in business.

Mr Lange will speak about New Zealand’s international relations against the background of events in recent years. He will also be the Hendon Fellow at Yale’s Berkeley College this year.

Previous recipients have included the late British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan; the broadcaster, Alistair Cook; and Alexander Haig, a former Secretary of State under President Reagan. The Hendon Fellow typically visits Yale campus for a day or two, meets students and staff and delivers a speech. Yale is the university that George Bush attended.

Mr Lange said the invitation to visit the university had been long-stand-ing.

In New York, he will attend an Anzac- Day service and speak on New Zealand’s economy and economic policies to a joint luncheon of the Asia

Society and the United States-New Zealand Council. In Los Angeles, he will open Air New Zealand’s new North American headquarters. In Ottawa, Mr Lange will meet Canada’s Prime Minister, Mr Brian Mulroney, and other Cabinet members. He will give a speech on New Zealand and Canada in the Pacific. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, said Mr Lange had obviously not been able to establish his credentials with the new Bush Administration. “Washington is a glar-

ing omission from the itinerary for his United States trip later this month,” he said. There was no sign of any meeting with any key official from President Bush’s Administration. Since taking office in 1984, there has been little high-level contact between the Lange Government and the United States. The lack of invitations to Washington seems to confirm that President Bush plans no change from the cool relations imposed by his predecessor, Mr Reagan.