ANZUS Dispute Revisited

For Immediate Use - Monday 25 June 2007

Anzus Dispute Revisited

Twenty years ago New Zealand walked away from the ANZUS alliance and proclaimed its opposition to nuclear deterrence as the basis of world security.

This controversial step effectively ended New Zealand's involvement in the Cold War, the forty-year confrontation between the West and the Soviet Union.

Did New Zealand walk away from its Western allies" What were the implications for its relations with the United States and other powers"

These and many other questions will be the focus of debate at the 'Seeing Red: New Zealand in the Cold War' conference which is being held in Wellington over the weekend 6-8 July. A distinguished group of overseas and New Zealand historians will grapple with the implications of the struggle for New Zealand.

Organised by the New Zealand Military History Committee, the conference will be the fourth in a series looking at conflicts involving New Zealand.

'The Cold War was central to New Zealand's international relations for four decades and shaped the world we live in today', according to Committee chair Ian McGibbon. 'It could have led to World War III but didn't --- thanks in large part to deterrence.' But New Zealand did not go unscathed.

A hundred New Zealanders lost their lives in Cold War conflicts in Korea, Vietnam and Malaya.

With the end of the Soviet Union, it is now possible to see the other side of the hill. It is timely to reassess New Zealand's participation in light of this new information.

Among the speakers at the conference will be Washington-based Dr Kathryn Weathersby, an expert on the Soviet archives that are now available.

Professor Roger Dingman, from California, will speak on the American response to the ANZUS controversy --- and will be followed by a panel discussion involving New Zealand participants in the dispute.

Other speakers will look at various aspects of the Cold War from New Zealand's and Australia's viewpoint.

The conference will be held in the National Library Auditorium and it is still possible to register.

The draft conference programme is below.

For more details contact John Crawford (04) 498 6997 or iancmcgibbon@hotmail.com

New Zealand and the Cold War - DRAFT PROGRAMME

Friday, 6 July

5.00 p.m. Registration

5.30 Reception in Auditorium foyer of the National Library, Molesworth Street, Wellington [we would have to pay a lot more to get the main foyer]

6.0 Opening of conference (Mr John Campbell, National President of the Royal New Zealand Returned & Services' Association)

6.30 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Prof Jack Granatstein, 'Canada in the Cold War (sponsored by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association)

Saturday, 7 July

8.30 a.m Registration

9.00 Welcome

Auditorium

9.05-10.00 John Crawford (Chair) DR IAN MCGIBBON: 'Peter Fraser and the Onset of the Cold War'

10.00-10.30 Morning tea

10.30-11.30 Dr Ian McGibbon (Chair) PETER COOKE: 'Preparing for World War Three: The New Zealand Territorial Force and 3 NZEF 1949-57''

11.30-12.15 Peter Cooke (Chair) DR STEPHEN CLARKE: 'Cold War Warriors: The RSA and the Campaign for Compulsory Military Training 1946-49'

12.15-1.15 Lunch

1.15-2.15 Dr Malcolm McKinnon (Chair) PROF PETER LOWE: 'Australia, New Zealand and cultural diplomacy in the Cold War: an unanticipated consequence of the Colombo Plan for aid to South and Southeast Asia'

2.15-3.30 Prof Rob Rabel (Chair) DR KATHRYN WEATHERSBY: 'Origins of the Cold War in East Asia: New Perspectives from Communist-Bloc Archives.' [sponsored by the New Zealand Defence Force]

3.30-4.00 Afternoon tea

4.00-5.00 Prof Jeffrey Grey (Chair) JOHN CRAWFORD: 'A New Kind of War: Defence Science in New Zealand 1946-1956'

7.00 Conference Dinner at Café Bastille [Ticket only]

Sunday, 8 July

Auditorium

9.00-10.30 Prof Peter Dennis (Chair) Dr DAMIEN FENTON: 'All along the Mekong: New Zealand's Military Commitments under SEATO 1955-1965', PAUL BELLAMY: 'The Cold War and the Khmer Rouge'

10.30-11 Morning tea

11.00-11.45 Dr Stephen Clarke (Chair) Dr CAROLINE PAGE: 'New Zealand Official Propaganda and the Vietnam War'

11.45-12.30 Lunch

12.30-2.00 John Crawford (Chair) PROF JEFFREY GREY: 'Coming of Age: Australian defence and strategic policy in the Cold War' PROF ROBERTO RABEL: 'Without Passion: New Zealand's Very Cold War 1945-1991'

2.05-3.35 Dr Ian McGibbon" (Chair) PROF ROGER DINGMAN: 'DARE TO SAY "NO!" New Zealand's Nuclear Ship Port Visit Ban and the Ending of the Cold War' [sponsored by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence] COMMENTARY: Mr Bruce Brown Air Marshal Sir Ewan Jamieson Mr Denis McLean

3.35-4.00 Afternoon tea

4.00-5.00 Panel discussion

Brief Closing Remarks (by a Member of the Committee)

ENDS

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