Little on US ship visits

The Herald reports:

Labour leader Andrew Little said the 50.2 per cent confirmed that people wanted NZ to have a good relationship with the US. “It is important that we do have a good relationship with them. But what is equally important to New Zealanders is our non-nuclear status. It has defined us as a nation for the past 30 years.”

Mr Little believed the almost 30 per cent who did not want the US to visit would be those who, despite any assurances from the Prime Minister, would have doubts about whether any visiting US ship was actually non-nuclear.

Umm, you’d have to be pretty stupid to have any doubts.

Whether a US ship is nuclear powered or not is a matter of public record. You can’t have a secret nuclear reactor on board a ship.

It is also publicly known that no US surface ships carry nuclear weapons. I really don’t think the USG will secretly load some on board a frigate just to piss us off.

We’ve had visits from ships from other countries that have nuclear weapons such as the UK. They do not officially confirm nor deny if any are on board, but we have let them in as it is obvious there are none. Is Little suggesting we should have a different policy for the US as opposed to the UK?