Posted on 27-3-02

Defining Time For Clark

"Helen Clark will be under immense pressure when she meets with President
Bush," Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Keith Locke said today.
"But she must not leave even a crack open in the door. "We expect the White
House to push for what they will portray as a 'symbolic' concession in the
nuke-free policy. "Such a concession would indeed be symbolic: it would
symbolise the end of our most defining foreign policy stand."

If this Government is serious about promoting trade, said Mr Locke, they
should balance the dubious benefit of a US free-trade deal against the cost
of ditching our nuclear free policy, in terms of tourist numbers and trade
opportunities. "Our much-admired 'clean green' image is greatly helped by
being nuclear-free," said Keith Locke. "Not only could that image be
compromised, but Bush is also likely to try and weaken our stance on GE and
our labelling laws, as part of any free trade deal. "The Green vision of
our future sees trade opportunities opening up around the world for produce
from an organic nation which is both nuclear free and GE free. Helen Clark
should be aware that Mr Bush's agenda is not in this country's best
interests."