PM rejects tour ban despite poll

Phil Goff has said the only thing likely to stop the tour is a significant deterioration in security. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

The Government will not introduce legislation to stop the Black Caps touring Zimbabwe despite a new poll showing most New Zealanders want the cricket tour outlawed, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday.

"The proposition put to the Government was that there should be legislation under urgency to prevent national sports teams travelling to another country," she said. "That is territory no New Zealand government has ever entered into and we don't propose to."

Moves by the Government to stop the Zimbabwe cricket team coming to New Zealand were "stronger action than any other country has taken against Zimbabwe".

The International Cricket Council has said the Government would have to make the Black Caps' tour illegal or NZ Cricket would suffer multimillion-dollar penalties if it cancelled the tour.

Opponents of the tour want it scrapped to protest against human rights abuses under the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

Helen Clark said it was clear most New Zealanders did not want the tour to go ahead. "Obviously it is of concern that our cricketers might get caught up in circumstances which compromise them."

The Black Caps were taking steps similar to those taken by English cricketers two years ago to ensure there was no association with Mr Mugabe and his associates, she said.

Foreign Minister Phil Goff has said the only thing likely to stop the tour was a significant deterioration in security.

A Fairfax/ACNeilsen poll published yesterday showed that 53 per cent of voters would support a law banning sports teams touring countries that violate human rights.

Greens co-leader Rod Donald said yesterday: "The Government should welcome this clear public support for strong, decisive action to stop the Black Caps' tour."
Claims by the Government that legislation would infringe on the fundamental rights of New Zealanders were game-playing to justify its contradictory stance.

"The public obviously hasn't bought this spin," Mr Donald said.

"Why is it that our cricketers' right to play in Zimbabwe is inalienable, yet our right to play cricket with them in New Zealand is not?

"This human rights argument is hollow. It's just a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that the Government has not yet had the political will to do what the majority of Kiwis want it to do - pass legislation to prevent the Black Caps' tour from going ahead."

But Act MP Ken Shirley said yesterday that New Zealanders must be able to travel free of Government interference.

"While polls clearly favour the Black Caps not touring Zimbabwe, the choice must remain theirs. I am confident that a majority of New Zealanders would say 'no' if asked the direct question, 'Should the New Zealand Government ban citizens from travelling abroad'."

NZ Cricket head Martin Snedden said earlier that low turnout at a protest march in Auckland on Saturday calling for a halt to the tour showed the public sympathised with the Black Caps.

- NZPA