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Former Prime Minister David Lange was having a relaxing day and had not planned any festivities to celebrate winning a prestigious award last night, he said today. Mr Lange was one of the winners of the Right Livelihood Awards, known as the "alternative Nobels" which he will accept at a ceremony at the Swedish parliament on December 8. The award was founded in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, a stamp dealer who sold his collection to fund a programme to recognise work that he believed was ignored by the prestigious Nobel prizes. The Nobel prize for literature was also announced last night but New Zealand author Janet Frame, who had been mentioned as a favourite, did not win. Mr Lange was given the honorary prize "for his steadfast work over many years for a world free of nuclear weapons". At a news conference Mr von Uexkull noted Mr Lange's opposition to nuclear weapons and said he was a "pioneer in the fight against weapons of mass destruction". Today Mr Lange told NewstalkZB he was going to have a quiet day. "I am going to take my daughter and her friend out and we are going to go eventually to an Asian food court and that is the sort of day I will have." He said there was an "enormous amount of retrospectivity" with his award. "It is structured so you reflect past rather than the future. "I would not have got this at all had it not been for a long tradition of people in New Zealand being anti-nuclear and several lucky breaks like the Oxford Union debate." During that debate in March, 1985, with Moral Majority leader the Reverend Jerry Falwell, Mr Lange won a standing ovation with a retort which won international acclaim. "I can smell the uranium on your breath," he volleyed at one pro-nuclear interjector as tens of millions around the world watched with delight. New Zealand's defence relations with America began to deteriorate from July, 1984, when the Lange-led Labour Party became the government in a snap election in which its "no-nukes" policy was a major platform. In January, 1985, America sought approval for its warship, USS Buchanan to visit New Zealand. The following month Mr Lange insisted on proof Buchanan was not carrying nuclear weapons. America refused, in line with its neither confirm nor deny policy, and cancelled defence exercises, navy visits ended and intelligence sharing was cut. In June, 1987, the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act was passed and New Zealand was no longer an active member of the Anzus treaty alliance. Mr Lange's award carried no monetary benefit for him but $2 million would be shared between three organisations with whom he shared the award. However, he said there was no "common philosophical drift" between himself and the other three award winners. "One is a mixture of the Dick Hubbards and Stephen Tindalls and Jane Kelseys and the other is a straightforward one about nuclearism and peace." Walden Bello and Nicanor Perlas of the Philippines were cited for "their outstanding efforts in educating civil society about the effects of corporate globalisation, and how alternatives to it can be implemented." The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice from South Korea was honoured for "the rigour with which it has developed and disseminated its wide-ranging reform programme, based on social justice and accountability and the skill with which it is now applying the same values to promoting reconciliation with North Korea." SEKEM, an Egyptian network of businesses and social civil groups, was commended for its "business model for the 21st century in which commercial success is integrated with and promotes the social and cultural development of society through the 'economics of love." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
