P.M. continues campaign against drift-net fishing

Press, 6 October 1989, Page 6

P.M. continues campaign against drift-net fishing

NZPA New York The Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, continued his campaign against drift-net fishing yesterday with a show of support for the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, on its way to the South Pacific to disrupt Asian fleets. During an hour-long visit to the ship, Mr Palmer wished the environmental group luck in its efforts to end drift-net fishing but stopped short of any commitment to provide assistance for the Rainbow Warrior. Greenpeace gave the Prime Minister a warm reception aboard the cement for the original RainbqW Warrior, sunk by French saboteurs in Auckland in 1985. The ship is due to sail from New

York in two weeks, headed for direct confrontations with Japanese and Taiwanese drift-netters in international waters off New Zealand in December. During three days of intensive bilateral sessions with other leaders at the United Nations, Mr Palmer has sought support for efforts to get the practice banned. He also yesterday confronted an issue in the background during his visit to the United States — the post-A.N.Z.U.S. ban on high-level - political dialogue with New Zealand. Mr Palmer expressed hope the Bush Administration would move to allow normal contact again after the ban imposed since 1986. “Tensions and pressures” arising

from the A.N.Z.U.S. split had lessened, Mr Palmer told a lunchtime gathering of the Asia Society. 1 - Both countries had been working to improve “the atmospherics” of the relationship, he said. * While “perfectly relaxed” about the United States ban on high-level political contacts, Mr Palmer said it was important friendly states had such dialogue. But he also made it clear his Government would not be dropping the nuclear-free policy, which lie said was now “engraved in the hearts and minds” of New Zealanders. Clearly pieced with progress on the drift-net jojue, Mr Palmer told reporters the Indonesian Foreign

Minister, Ali Alatas, had yesterday given him good news. He hopes a resolution against the so-called “wall of death” practice will come out of the United Nation’s General Assembly session. Aboard the Rainbow Warrior, Mr Palmer said the quickest way to slop it was by mobilising world opinion. “We’ve already seen the Japanese commitment to reduce by two thirds what they are doing and the campaign has only just started,” he said. Mr Palmer took away from Greenpeace a request to join its action this summer by sending the naval research shipiMonowai into the South Pacific ts. monitor the drift-netters.

y “I’ve given no commitments because it involves serious policy s issues,” he said. ' He undertook to discuss the mat--1 ter with the Minister of Defence, Mr Tizard, and also to have the r Government review other possible ’ assistance to Greenpeace, including 1 the supply of information gathered by Orion aircraft surveying the ’ Asian fleets. , Asked where New Zealand would > stand if the Rainbow Warrior was used to cut nets at sea, Mr Palmer j said, “We can’t sanction any illegal . actions." s In a brief ceremony on the ship’s > deck, he wished the|l6-member > crew "all the best” afci presented them with a small shield bearing

the New Zealand coat of arms. He also presented the crew with a jar of Mannite, suggesting it would be enjoyed by two New Zealanders among them — deckhand Sue Ware and first mate Naomi Petersen. The Rainbow Warrior’s skipper, Peter Willcox, reciprocated with the gift of a limited edition screenprinted picture of the ship. Mr Willcox, captain of the first Rainbow Warrior, recalled "warmth and support” given by New Zealand when the ship was bombed in 1985. The new ship, a North Sea trawler completely overhauled and looking due in Aucklamj in late November before starting Ifc campaign. ~