KEY POINTS:
National's adoption of a bipartisan position on anti-nuclear policy was a pivotal factor in the United States' positive shift in attitude to New Zealand, a former high-ranking State Department official, Randy Schriver, said yesterday.
His disclosure comes on the eve of a historic second visit tomorrow by Helen Clark to the White House and a new resolve by the United States to strengthen its ties with New Zealand.
It will be only the third formal visit by a New Zealand Prime Minister to the White House in 24 years.
Mr Schriver suggested that the US realised that it could no longer pin its hopes on Don Brash or another Government to change the nuclear policy - and that view was backed up by strong advice from US embassy staff in Wellington.
"It was no longer a matter of hoping that the party or the person would come to power and deliver for us; that this was something that was very deeply ingrained in the psyche of the national politics of New Zealand no matter who was in power," Mr Schriver said.
Mr Schriver is a consultant now, but before 2005 he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, taking in New Zealand. His former boss and present partner is former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
National's foreign affairs spokesman, Murray McCully, said the United States had been given an impression by senior National MPs in the 90s that the legislation could be changed.
But Mr Schriver said there was now a realisation that the anti-nuclear position was "almost part of the national character", and that the United States could not use its isolation of New Zealand as leverage in the way people perhaps thought they could in 1985 and 1986.
"Our embassy in Wellington took an interest in the election in Wellington and gave a very candid assessment that we should no longer look at domestic New Zealand politics as an opportunity to try to drive home our single issue any more," he said.
Dr Brash had made a visit to Washington too "and essentially gave his views that this was not something that the party could campaign on or necessarily even, if in power, make a lot of progress on because the centre of gravity in the core of support in New Zealand was strongly behind this policy".
The admission is ironic given the grief that Labour gave Dr Brash during the 2005 election campaign over the ambiguity of him saying only a referendum would change the nuclear policy.
But that ambiguity was finally buried by Mr McCully after the 2005 election, when National adopted an unequivocally bipartisan position.
Dr Brash visited Washington last year and in 2004 - not long after he allegedly told a group of US Congressman that the nuclear policy would be "gone by lunchtime".
Mr Schriver also cited the improved communication between Foreign Minster Winston Peters and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the reassessment by the United States of its relationships since September 11 as key factors in its change of attitude towards New Zealand.
It realised it needed more like-minded friends with similar values on democracy and human rights.
Mr McCully said National had discussed its move to a bipartisan position quite openly with some of the United States officials.
