New Zealand's fight for economic survival: Rita Ricketts suggests that British claims that it did not abandon New Zealand in the 1970s should be taken with a grain of salt.

AuthorRicketts, Rita

Marcel Proust's novel A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, beginning with a description of childhood dependence on the mother, brings to mind the situation faced by New Zealand when its mater sought to join the European Economic Community. Those who lived through this period truly feared for their economic well-being, despite evidence of New Zealand's increasing ability to fend for itself, and they turned to Britain for help. Whereas a new generation of officials and historians, among them the current British high commissioner, dismiss the idea that New Zealand was abandoned, former officials have a different perception. New Zealand's case had moved the hearts and minds of the British people, and in the end Edward Heath's government, mostly against its wishes, supported special arrangements for New Zealand's exports. After Brexit the tables have turned. As Britain tries to find a new, global, role, it is seeking New Zealand's support. It has high hopes of securing a free trade agreement, although its interests are not identical to New Zealand's. New Zealand, once again, will have to confront British protectionism, and the United Kingdom must adapt to a negotiation process where Kaupapa Maori is on a par with Pakeha interests.

Throughout its history, New Zealand has engaged in trade negotiations with the United Kingdom. Thanks to the fast footwork of politicians and officials, it has managed to secure deals, even when they were not fully in accord with Britain's national interest. Such was the case when the United Kingdom joined the EEC, and New Zealand managed to secure special arrangements for its sheepmeat and dairy exports. Without guarantees of continued access to the British market, New Zealand negotiators claimed, the economy would be imperilled. New Zealand's interests, however, were hardly uppermost in the mind of the British team as it navigated the Brussel's labyrinth; and Edward Heath regarded any special arrangements for its erstwhile colony as an impediment. (1) Yet, during two world wars, New Zealand had been quick off the mark in defence of Britain. Now that it was threatened, it called in the favour. On this, New Zealand's chief negotiator, Jack Marshall, a consummate lawyer, rested his case. In the past, he argued, 'New Zealanders came to fight and to die; now they must come to fight to live'. His mantra was to be repeated in the capitals of the EEC's member states, during Britain's three bids to join them. At the third attempt, the first two bids having been thwarted by the French, the negotiations seemed likely to succeed, but there was still no agreement on New Zealand's access.

Marshall described the final stages of the negotiations as 'torturous'. New Zealand's case was, however, viewed sympathetically by Germany's Willy Brandt and by Hans de Koster, the Netherlands' minister of defence, who had been a resistance fighter during the war. In Britain, New Zealand had successfully won the backing of the grass-roots, and many MPs, mindful of this, lobbied hard for the Heath government not to abandon New Zealand. (2) Prime Minister Heath, despite his antipathy, knew that he had to listen to the electorate. (3) However, the British official in charge of the negotiations, Con O'Neill, was in favour of taking a hard line, unless New Zealand limited its demands. The minister responsible, Geoffrey Rippon, reassured Marshall that he would continue to argue on New Zealand's behalf, and an exasperated Heath, anxious to get the deal over the line at any price, advised the British team to 'swallow the lot and swallow it whole'. (4) Yet it was the Italians, not the British, who broke the deadlock. The Italian foreign minister, Aldo Moro, suggested that New Zealand be offered 71 per cent of milk equivalent. And New Zealand settled for that; New Zealand had rejected the previous offer of 66 per cent. When Ian Stewart, New Zealand's ambassador to Rome, called to thank Moro, he was told that Italy had not for The United Kingdom's successful campaign to join the European Economic Community in 1973 presented New Zealand with a profound economic crisis. Those who lived through this period truly feared for their future, but in the end a satisfactory arrangement provided a buffer while New Zealand found alternative markets. The...

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