Letter to de Gaulle monte] ates in New Zealand by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, ; .
xs
*
oe Dear President De Gaulle,
In January 1964 your Defence Minister, M. Messmer, stated in Tahiti that "to his knowledge there had not really been any protests about the French plans to test nuclear weapons in the South Pacific © from the Australian or New Zealand Governments." But the faot is that our New Zealand Government formally protested in May 1963 and a formal acknowledgement was. received in July 1963. Throughout the country the indignation of New Zealanders is intense, far beyond any formal protest,
The right to conduct. these tests in the name of national independence, strength and prestige, if claimed by every nation on earth, oan lead only to the destruction of all, On the other hand the most important finding from the tests held already is that the world dare not countenance any more of them,
The partial test-ban treaty gave us hope that the spread of nuclear weapons would be checked. and. the arms race slowed down, We appeal to France, so often a friend and ally of this country, not to destroy this hope. France will gain increased respect everywhere if she will sign the treaty.
We are concerned for the wellbeing of our Island neighbours, some of whom are under our direct protection, Mothers fear for the health of their ohildren,. Farmers wish to protect their produce from contamination by possible fall-out,
The organisations who have. signed this letter have a variety of aims, but the letter has only one aim, We beg France to turn away from the dangerous policy followed in testing nuclear weapons,
to withdraw this threat from the Pacific Ocean, and to exeroise with us the duty of civilised nations to protect the Island peoples and the health of future generations,
MAORIS