[asia-apec 1191] APEC/NZ: Lamb protest farmer: They'll lock me up

[Gatt Watchdog]

The Dominion, Wellington, July 10 1999

Lamb protest farmer: They'll lock me up
By Helen Bain
Political Reporter

A MARLBOROUGH farmer who plans to lead a tractor protest to the
Apec leaders meeting in Auckland in September says police have
told him he will be locked up for the duration of the meeting.

Andrew Barker, who planned an convoy of tractors and stock trucks
to protest against the decision by United States President Bill
Clinton to place a 9 percent tariff on New Zealand lamb, said
Blenheim police told him about the lockup.

"I have been told by police that they will arrest me and put me in
jail for three weeks because I am a threat to the security of
Apec," he said.  "They have made it very clear to me that I won't
be reaching Auckland."

Mr Barker said he had support from several farmers who wanted to
join the protest, but would not say how many.

He said farmers' tractors with front-end loaders could shift any
police roadblocks, and he has said an aircraft pilot had offered
to "dump whatever is necessary" on delegates at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum meeting.

He said his protest would be peaceful, but farmers had to "stand up
and say enough was enough".

Blenheim police said they could not comment on Mr Barker's claims
till the town's police inspector returned on Monday.

However they said the law would enable police to detain anyone
perceived as a security threat, citing the case of Christopher
Lewis, who tried to shoot the Queen in 1981.

Police tracked Lewis during later Royal visits and detained him
when the Queen was in New Zealand for a Commonwealth Heads of
Government meeting.

Mr Barker's allegation follows reports earlier this year that the
Security Intelligence Service was monitoring immigrant groups in
the leadup to Apec.

His protest has the backing of Marlborough Federated Farmers,
whose president, John Shand, has suggested he might join Mr Barker
with a bulldozer.

But at national level the federation urged a peaceful approach to
getting farmers' concerns heard by Mr Clinton.  President
MalcolmBailey said farmers were angry about the tariffs, but they
did not support a call by Labour agriculture spokesman Jim Sutton
for Mr Clinton to stay away from Apec.

Mr Bailey said farmers should encourage Mr Clinton to come to Apec
so they could show him the error of his ways - but unruly protests
were probably not the best way to do it.

The federation would be "more than happy" to show Mr Clinton
around New Zealand sheep farms to demonstrate to him the
efficiencies that United States sheep farmers were lacking, Mr
Bailey said.

"Farmers are very angry, but we have to think how we can use that
anger most constructively - we'd rather use the power of
persuasion."

Labour leader Helen Clark said she did not agree with Mr Sutton
that Mr Clinton should stay away from Apec, but she did support
his view that Mr Clinton "would not exactly be welcome".

"Of course [Mr Clinton] should come to Apec - he is the leader of
the most powerful economy in Apec," Miss Clark said.

She would not be disciplining Mr Sutton over his comments.

"I think Jim is speaking for the heartland, for his constituency,
which feels passionately about this," she said.

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