ICAN welcomes Australia’s cross-party commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free world

Australia, March, 2012: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) welcomes the Parliament’s adoption this morning of a motion affirming “its support for the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons”. In a show of bipartisan support for the cause of disarmament, the Prime Minister and Opposition leader each spoke in favour of the motion.

The motion comes two months after ICAN launched a major appeal to the Prime Minister urging action for a nuclear weapons ban. More than 700 recipients of the Order of Australia signed on, including former prime ministers, governors-general, and chiefs of the army, navy and air force, as well as some of the nation’s most celebrated actors, artists and authors.

The appeal aimed to raise cross-party support for the parliamentary motion. The motion calls for the “exploration of legal frameworks for the abolition of nuclear weapons, including the possibility of a nuclear weapons convention”. More than 140 countries have called for immediate negotiations on such a treaty.

“The threat of nuclear weapons has not gone away, and today’s resolution highlights the important role that Australia can – and must – play in eliminating these ultimate instruments of terror and destruction. A global ban on nuclear weapons is long overdue,” said Tim Wright, director of ICAN in Australia.

The resolution also calls for a reduction in the role of nuclear weapons in national security policies. “Australia continues to provide tangible support to the US nuclear war-fighting apparatus. If it is genuine about disarmament, it will adopt a
nuclear-weapon-free defence posture,” Wright said. “The government should also abandon plans to sell uranium to India, which is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal.”

Read the full text of the motion here