Clark recalls Lange debate on visit to Oxford Union

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Minister Helen Clark has told the Oxford Union, 22 years after David Lange's famous debate, that nuclear-free status is now part of New Zealand's identity.

Miss Clark's speech to the union today was the first appearance by a New Zealand prime minister since Mr Lange crossed words with pro-nuclear debaters, telling one "I can smell the uranium on your breath".

Miss Clark did not take part in a debate, although she answered questions after her speech on New Zealand's foreign policy.

She opened it by recalling Mr Lange's visit, and the quip that made the debate so well remembered.

"It still rates as a great line 22 years later," she said.

Miss Clark described New Zealand's nuclear free status as the cornerstone of its independent foreign policy.

"Politicians tamper with it at their peril," she said.

Her speech ranged across the early years of New Zealand's development through to the founding of the United Nations, when New Zealand "found its voice" as a spokesperson for small nations.

She said New Zealand's role and interests in the Asia Pacific today were "light years distant" from what they were at the time of the Second World War.

She explained the new relationships with Asian countries and the changed composition of New Zealand's population, which she said had a bearing on foreign policy.

"We are used to living with difference at home," she said.

"We are located in a region where we and Australia are the only Western democracies, and where only New Zealand, Australia and Japan are classified as developed countries.

"So we are used to dealing with difference and complexity in our region too."

Miss Clark said New Zealand was passionate about the environment, and active internationally with commitments that covered saving whales and the Antarctic to sea bird protection and the Kyoto Protocol.

Dealing with big picture foreign policy, she said the Asia Pacific was "a huge priority" but relationships with Europe were also very important.

"We see ourselves as members of a community of shared values and as natural partners in a globalising world."

- NZPA