Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Many Australians would have absorbed the news yesterday and into today that North Korea conducted a nuclear test yesterday. I am sure that all members of this place and many members of the Australian community would share my concern at this very provocative and dangerous act and will join me in condemning it. North Korea's nuclear weapons program and its development of long-range missiles threaten international peace and security beyond the Korean Peninsula. They open up the extraordinarily dangerous possibility that North Korea may one day be able to arm long-range missiles with a nuclear device.

North Korea's actions are, of course, but a flagrant breach of UN Security Council resolutions and international nuclear non-proliferation norms. This conduct will only serve to further isolate North Korea, and already North Koreans live desperate lives of poverty and, many of them, of starvation. The Security Council met overnight in New York, and Australia, along with other Security Council members, condemned this test. Council members agreed to begin working immediately on appropriate measures to respond to this latest provoking of the international community. As a member of the council, we will continue to work for the strongest possible response to this continued threat to peace and security. (Time expired)

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