Abstract
New zealand, famous for its nuclear-free policy, is back in the news, taking a leading role in lobbying for international disarmament. In the 1980s, New Zealand banned nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered ships from its ports. Now an updated—and unprecedented—version of that ban is under consideration in the New Zealand Parliament.
The Nuclear Free Zone Extension Bill would prohibit transportation of nuclear materials within the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (eez), a 200-nautical-mile-wide area extending outward from New Zealand's already nuclear-free harbors. Eezs give coastal nations claims to sovereign rights over natural resources, as well as activities like scientific research.
An extension of the radius of exclusion to 200 miles would be remarkable, given that entry into the zone is permitted under international law. The bill, which had an initial reading in Parliament last July, is now in Select Committee. It faces opposition on the grounds that it violates international maritime law allowing the free passage of ships and is not expected to pass.
“New Zealand does not want any shipment of nuclear materials to come anywhere near our country, and certainly not into our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone,” said Foreign Minister Phil Goff, reacting in January to the shipment of spent nuclear fuel from Australia to Japan.
On the Tasman Sea: An anti-nuclear flotilla protests the recent nuclear shipment to Japan.
For a small, isolated, and Western-ized nation, New Zealand has a strong tradition of going against the grain on nuclear issues. As a member of the eight-nation New Agenda Coalition, New Zealand demands “the speedy, final and total elimination” of nuclear weapons. Its role in international disarmament—and its current revisitation of its no-nuclear-ships policy—underscores a continuing legacy of anti-nuclear activity.
New Zealand has not hesitated to tangle with the United States on nuclear affairs. Hatched in the 1970s and 1980s, New Zealand's nuclear-free policies became law with the 1987 Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act. By barring nuclear-powered and -armed ships from its ports, the law pitted New Zealand against the United States. As a result, the U.S. canceled joint military exercises with New Zealand, and there was talk on the floor of Congress about possible sanctions, but the United States has respected the nuclear-free policy.
“We have done everythevg we can to minimize the risks of nuclear-related accidents in our own country and region. But we remain vulnerable due to the maritime transportation of radioactive materials,” said Joan Mos-ley, New Zealand's delegate to an International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea) meeting last September.
In February, a small flotilla of yachts sailed to protest a nuclear waste shipment en route to Japan. The boats formed a loose chain between Lord Howe and Norfolk islands in the Tasman Sea.
The flotilla had the blessing of no less than New Zealand's Labour Party Prime Minister Helen Clark. In a letter read to the crews, she wrote, “The New Zealand government has objected strenuously to the passage of plutonium through the Tasman Sea. The overwhelming public support for our anti-nuclear laws illustrates the extent to which New Zealanders want nothing to do with these dangerous cargoes.” The Pacific Pintail, carrying the nuclear waste, and its escort, the Pacific Teal, reportedly changed course to avoid the floating protest.
New Zealand is also participating in the implementation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (ctbt) by helping to create a global network of monitoring stations to verify the treaty. New Zealand constructed three of the first eight radionuclide verification stations and is also supporting seismic and infrasound monitoring. In March 2000, the executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the ctbt met with Matt Robson, New Zealand's disarmament minister, commending the nation on its disarmament role and on the implementation of the monitoring network.
The government is also taking on a larger leadership role in international disarmament. Last September, Prime Minister Clark, addressing the State of the World Forum during the U.N. Millennium Summit, described increased disarmament efforts as a key goal of New Zealand foreign policy. The Labour Alliance has made disarmament a priority. Last January, Robson made it clear that New Zealand intends to “unstall” international disarmament talks and to build cooperation between nuclear free zones. The following month, Robson told the iaea, “We may be a small country, but we have earned the right to be heard on the international stage on the subject of disarmament.” He added, “Our moral authority on this issue is undisputed.”