I trust America before I trust Lange-Bolger

Press, 29 May 1989, Page 3

I trust America before I trust Lange-Bolger

PA Invercargill The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, said last evening he trusted the United States before he trusted the Prime Minister, Mr Lange. He vowed to return New Zealand to the A.N.Z.U.S. alliance. He called Mr Lange “the man who told Americans he would sort it out so their ships could continue to visit nuclear-free New Zealand, and then ratted on his word.” Mr Bolger told the National Party’s Otago-Southland regional conference that A.N.Z.U.S. was “the cornerstone of our defence and security.” He saw no threat to New Zealand today, but he was not prepared to say there would never be a threat in five years, or in 55 years. “To those who say ‘we cannot trust America,’ I say America has not failed us,” Mr Bolger said. “Sons and daughters of America have in the defence of New Zealand.

“Americans and New Zealanders shed blood together in four wars, fighting far from home for values we share. I trust America before I trust David Lange.” Mr Bolger said National would return New Zealand to A.N.Z.U.S. “We will do so in our own interests, and in the interests of security, peace and nuclear disarmament,” he said. The super-Powers were “edging from the nuclear abyss,” he. said. “We want to be in position to urge them to greater achievement.” He did not want New Zealand to be outside the great conference rooms where vital decisions on peace and security were made. New Zealand needed a respected place at the table, “and we have that as a full member of A.N.Z.U.5.,” he said. “If that step costs us some popularity, so be it. We must do some things because they are right, not because they are popular.” ®