Poll favours US ship visits

Nuclear-powered USS Texas visited Auckland in 1983.

Most New Zealanders support allowing American warships into our harbours now they no longer carry nuclear weapons, a privately-commissioned poll shows.

The result will put pressure on National, many of whose MPs agree but are nervous about raising the sensitive issue in election year.

The Digipoll of 750 people was commissioned by a group of "concerned New Zealanders" and issued through Act foreign affairs spokesman Ken Shirley.

He said the group were business people, not Act members, and were concerned about the negative impact of the nuclear ban on getting a billion-dollar free trade deal with the United States. They had offered the poll results to National, which was not interested, so they had instead given them to Act.

Last night, United States Embassy spokeswoman Janine Burns welcomed the public re-examination of issue. "We are not surprised that New Zealanders would respond to how the world has changed in the past 20 years, just as the United States has altered some of its policies in response to a changing world," she said.

Mr Shirley has a private members' bill before Parliament that would repeal the ban on nuclear-propelled craft, which he plans to amend so it would take effect with the approval of a public referendum.

He expects it to come up for its first reading at the end of July, just before the House rises for an election, but Labour and National have signalled they will vote against it.

"I think National are terrified, and they have a history, a record, of back-tracking on the nuclear policy, of not walking the talk," he said. "One thing about the Act Party, we walk the talk."

A government report by Justice Somers, commissioned in 1991, found Auckland Hospital emitted twice as much radiation into the environment every day as the entire American naval fleet did ina year.

The poll question cites the Somers Report as finding visits from American and British nuclear-powered ships were completely safe. On that basis, 56.7 per cent of respondents said the Government should give the finding furtherconsideration and 36.2 per centdisagreed.

Asked whether United States ships should be allowed to visit New Zealand ports, given the navy removed its nuclear weapons in 1992, 61.9 per cent said "yes"; 33.8 per cent disagreed.

The poll questionnaire was provided by the anonymous client, and Digipoll did the fieldwork at the end of last month. It has a margin of error of 3.6 per cent.

National leader Don Brash issued a statement through a spokesperson.

"National's policy is clear - we will make no change to existing legislation without a specific public mandate, either by way of referendum or as an explicit part of an election manifesto. It will not be part of our manifesto."

Several National MPs have previously expressed their concern about the statutory ban on nuclear-propelled vessels.

The party's foreign affairs spokesman, Lockwood Smith, said last night that supporters of change should set in place a referendum before trying to change the law.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said through a spokesman that if the United States were to seek permission to send a conventionally-powered navy vessel here - as the British and French do - that would be granted.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY