Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The pace of global disarmament has been dangerously slow. In recent weeks we've been reminded again of the risks of nuclear war, as tensions flare between two fractious and nuclear-armed leaders. But next Wednesday, at a United Nations ceremony, government leaders will begin signing on to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This new treaty was negotiated and adopted by 122 countries in July and is a categorical rejection of nuclear weapons. It bans the production, stockpiling, testing, possession, hosting, use and threat of such weapons and is a major milestone on the path to a nuclear-weapon-free world. The treaty is founded on the understanding that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic consequences to which no humanitarian or government agency could adequately respond.

Sadly, the Australian government boycotted the nuclear disarmament negotiations and was the only one of 115 countries that belong to nuclear-weapon-free zones to vote against the start of negotiations. Australia has signed the treaties banning chemical and biological weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions. If this government is serious about nuclear disarmament, it will sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Frankly, there is no legitimate role for these weapons, and we must relegate them to the past.