New Zealand Safer Without Nuclear Ban

ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader Ken Shirley today reiterated his call for the Government to indicate support for his Members Bill proposing the removal of the ban on nuclear-propelled vessels, following the comments of senior US official Grant Aldonas in Auckland yesterday.

"Access to New Zealand ports by US naval vessels is now of strategic importance in the war on terror," Mr Shirley said.

"The South West Pacific is no longer a benign region - with worrying levels of instability emerging in several Pacific Island nations - and perpetrators of international terror are known to take advantage of chaotic situations in unstable nations.

"The US administration has identified the policies banning US naval vessels from New Zealand ports as an impediment to their - and our - campaign on terror.

"The nonsense of this obstructive policy is highlighted by the fact that there is no significant safety or environmental risks to justify continuation of the ban, as stated in the 1992 report of the Special Committee on Nuclear Propulsion chaired by retired High Court Judge Sir Edward Somers," Mr Shirley said.

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