Just out of curiosity, is the US Navy allowed to port in New Zealand, or are you still playing “Nuclear Free Zone” like you were in the Cold War?
> Just out of curiosity, is the US Navy allowed to port in New Zealand, or are you still playing “Nuclear Free Zone” like you were in the Cold War?
As I understand the situation, the US Navy has always been welcome in New Zealand waters, providing that they were willing to assure the NZ Government that no nuclear weapons or propulsion was deployed or in use on the vessels visiting our shores. The US Navy has had (sensibly) a policy of neither confirming nor denying the nuclear capabilities of its vessels. Ergo, because they will not play the game, they aren’t allowed in.
It is bucket-headed stupidity, and for that we can thank the French, mostly. The Anti-nuclear push in NZ was a result of French nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll, and the US copped the backlash unwittingly.
(Plus there was the small matter of the US bombing the Hell out of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, but that happened long before the nuclear ban).
If I had to guess, I’d speculate that the NZ Gov’t wishes the issue could go away, but the anti-nuclear thing has by now become so ingrained in the national psyche they cannot be seen to “back down” on it.
My electricity bill for June was over $600. It is a matter of time before nuclear generation becomes seriously debated. When that happens, the anti-nuclear thing will come to a head, and hopefully go away. I don’t know many people who can afford water-or-coal-generated electricity at that price on a sustained basis. Something has got to give!