700 prominent Australians call for nuclear ban
Campaign, 26 January, 2012: This Australia Day 706 prominent Order of Australia recipients have stepped forward as "Australians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention" calling on the Australian government to support international efforts to achieve a nuclear weapons treaty and to adopt a nuclear-weapon-free defence posture.
The new project from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has garnered the support of such diverse and prominent Australians as writer Bryce Courtenay, media personality Ida Buttrose, sportsperson Liz Ellis, former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, and former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam.
The Order of Australia recipients have endorsed a statement supporting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for negotiations on a treaty to outlaw and eliminate all nuclear weapons.
Former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said: "International cooperation provides the only route to a nuclear-weapon-free world. I support a nuclear weapons convention and hope that Australia can be one of its prime movers.”
Sir Gustav Nossal, Australian of the Year in 2000, said: "Australia Day 2012 is an appropriate day for all Australians to nail their colours to the mast for an eventually nuclear-weapon-free world. The convention is already supported by a veritable legion of Australian leaders, and I now call on the Australian public to raise their voices for a truly important cause.”
Dr Hugh Wirth, President of the RSPCA and Australia Day ambassador said: “As a proud Australian and Melburnian, I want to ensure that the next generations of my family are able live at peace in a world free of the threat of nuclear war.”
ICAN Australia Board Member Frederick Mendelsohn said: “We continue to urge the Australian Government to adopt a nuclear-weapon-free defence posture and to work towards the creation of a comprehensive, verifiable treaty to abolish nuclear weapons. Failure to rid the world of these dreadful weapons would expose future generations to unacceptable risk.”
www.nuclearweaponsconvention.org.au
Click here to read Melcolm Frasers oped 'Let's not wake to the sight of a city in ashes'
