Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Patrick, for your question. There are a number of issues that have you raised in that question, and I'll try to canvass as many of them as I can. In the first instance, Australia has been very strongly engaged with the IAEA since the announcement of AUKUS itself. We notified the IAEA as soon as the announcement occurred. The Prime Minister himself met with the Director General Grossi on 2 November.

Importantly, Australia comes to this table absolutely steadfast in our support of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and its cornerstone, the NPT. There is no change to our status as a non-nuclear weapon state, and we will comply with our obligations under the NPT. In fact, we have one of the best nuclear weapons non-proliferation reputations in the world. I can go to that further, but let me also record for the record that neither the NPT nor Australia's comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA prohibit naval nuclear proliferation. We aim to set the highest possible non-proliferation standard and strengthen the integrity, indeed, of the non-proliferation architecture.

Australia delivered a trilateral statement with the United Kingdom and the United States during the IAEA Board of Governors meeting last week, from 24 to 26 November. That statement emphasised: Australia does not and will not seek nuclear weapons; our willingness and intent to proceed in an open and consultative manner, especially regarding issues of nuclear material, facilities and activities relevant to the IAEA; our cooperation will be fully consistent with the three parties' respective non-proliferation obligations; and that this cooperation will be pursued in a manner that preserves the integrity of the non-proliferation regime. As is publicly known, many of the program's specifics have yet to be determined across the next 18-month period. (Time expired)