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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 37, Number 5. 3rd April 1974

Govt. can't stop insuring apartheid

Govt. can't stop insuring apartheid

Government has decided that it cannot take legal action under existing law to prevent New Zealand and South British Insurance Companies from operating in Rhodesia.

This was made clear in a letter to NZUSA from the acting Prime Minister, Mr Watt. The International Vice President of NZUSA, Alick Shaw, said that the Association had for some time been considering the possibility of private prosecution against the two companies. It now appeared that it would not force either of the companies to cease their operations even if it were successful. "Therefore we have decided that pressure on Government to strengthen UN sanctions and its own regulations might be more profitable."

Mr Watt's letter made it clear that Government, although unable to stop the companies under present regulations, was not happy with the continued involvement of the two companies in Rhodesia. He said, "I would prefer, for so long as the Rhodesian problem remains unsolved, that New Zealand companies refrained from participating in the Rhodesian economy."

Alick Shaw said that it was encouraging that Government was willing to go further than the regulations in this matter even though at this stage Government is merely voicing disapproval. "What is needed is an amendment to the regulations that makes confined involvement in Rhodesia impossible for New Zealand Companies," he said.