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New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online abstractsBook reviewStanding Upright Here: New Zealand in the Nuclear Age 1945-1990 by Malcolm Templeton. Victoria University Press in association with The New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Wellington. 2006. 400 p. $NZ49.95 (paperback). ISBN 0864735405 The title of Malcolm Templeton’s book comes from a poem by New Zealander Allen Curnow which includes the lines:
The reference is to the major theme of the book, New Zealand’s struggle to forge an independent policy stance in the nuclear age. Templeton provides a detailed account of New Zealand’s official involvement with nuclear issues from the development of “the bomb” until the achievement of “nuclear free” status, based on meticulous research into the archives of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (in its various iterations), print media analysis, and the writings and input of some of the protagonists (including officials, scientists, a judge from the International Court of Justice, a Chief of the Defence Staff, and Cabinet Ministers). Templeton’s own credentials are impressive: he has been a permanent representative to the United Nations, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Department, and has written several books on significant diplomatic issues. Written from within a foreign policy framework, Templeton claims that this book is only “one important thread” in the account of New Zealand’s nuclear policy making, so while it concentrates on government activity, it does not include non-government organisations and the protest movements which are part of the more complete story of New Zealand’s response to global nuclearisation. The thread which Templeton has handled has been finely and accurately described, and this official part of the nuclear story has now been comprehensively covered for us. New Zealanders were involved right from the beginning, with Ernest Rutherford’s work in the development of atomic physics, and then that of the eight New Zealand physicists who worked with the British, American, French, and Canadian teams to develop the atom bomb. And right from the beginning the secrecy surrounding the project was challenged and concerns about the potentially destructive power of nuclear energy were raised. For example, in his 1945 report to the government on these developments, Marsden, the secretary of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, warned that atomic weaponry could create a situation which was “beyond the wildest nightmares of the imagination” (p.16). Templeton traces the debates, correspondence and conversations between New Zealand officials and politicians related to its policy stance on nuclear issues, and with the United States, Britain and France concerning their presence as nuclear powers in the Pacific. He includes issues of nuclear testing, the International Court, the South Pacific Nuclear-free Zone, and New Zealand’s confrontation with the United States, ending with the General Election of 1990 “as a convenient stopping point” and a chapter entitled “Unfinished Business”. The author states that he has relegated his personal views to this final brief chapter. Here his summing up in seven succinct points is useful and perceptive. But his factual account with its intricate details also gives some hints of his own opinions and his wry sense of humour. The subtitle to the chapter on “Confrontation with France”, for instance, is “The Mouse that Roared”. The chapter begins with another of Curnow’s poems, Whim Wham, which includes a verse about the protests against French nuclear testing in the Pacific:
There is also a revealing account of correspondence between senior officials Frank Corner and Alister McIntosh, in which Corner suggests a dramatic action by “sending up a couple of frigates to enforce our demand that the peoples of the South Pacific be not subjected to this new hazard” (p.167). McIntosh’s reply refers to the film The Mouse that Roared as the source for some ideas about New Zealand’s position, but he was afraid that this “gimmick”, while being “magnificent coverage”, might make New Zealand look foolish. Standing Upright Here gradually unravels the way in which New Zealand has been pressured to cooperate with Britain, the United States and France in their commitment to nuclear weaponry for global security, and New Zealand’s growing resistance as it became increasingly evident that initial fears about the destructive potential of nuclear energy were well founded. The book will be of value for students and scholars of international relations and public policy, as it explains and details the processes behind an important aspect of New Zealand’s history and politics, and constitutes a comprehensive record of official processes during this period of New Zealand’s coming of age. It will also be of interest to those concerned with the current debate about nuclear power, conflict resolution and the peace movement. That said, the detail, scope and length of the book make it a challenge to read from cover to cover. It can also be difficult to read selectively about a particular aspect of the larger topic. Moreover, because of the large number of players involved, it is not always easy to fit names to official roles; a list of the various officials with their credentials and dates of service would have been helpful, as would a time-line. At the launch of the book, Malcolm Templeton gave a speech which included a reference to the title: As to the title of this book, who knows precisely what Allen Curnow had in mind in what he himself described in a recent documentary as his best known two lines of poetry. It’s too late to ask him. Standing upright in reaching adulthood, maturity, independence? I like to think that he may also have had in mind the other meaning of “upright” – honest, honourable, principled. In New Zealand’s international relations, an independent policy is fine provided it is firmly based on principles. That I hope is what New Zealand Governments strive to achieve. I would like to endorse these sentiments, and share Templeton’s hope that New Zealand can continue to stand upright here in relation to its nuclear policy. I recommend this book as a worthy and worthwhile contribution to the debate, and hope this earnest endorsement will not be a deterrent for readers! Heather DevereAuckland University of Technology
1From Curnow’s poem c.1943 The Skeleton of the Great Moa in the Canterbury Museum, Canterbury. This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page | PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality
(585K) Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2007, Vol.
2: 119–121
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