Australian Governmental Resolutions

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

P 12012-12013 SENATE Monday 6 March 2000
Senator COOK (Western Australia-Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the
Senate)
(3.45 a.m.)-I give notice that, at the next day of sitting, I shall move:
(1) That the Senate-
(a) notes:
(i) the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will be
held at the United Nations
(UN) in New York from 24 April to 19 May 2000, and
(ii) the declaration of the UN Secretary-General (Mr Koffi Annan) in
February 2000 that the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda is
in a state of 'deplorable
stagnation', that it is difficult to approach the NPT Review Conference with
optimism 'given the discouraging
list of nuclear disarmament measures in suspense, negotiations not initiated
and opportunities not taken', and that a dangerous nuclear arms race 'looms
on the horizon';
(b) recalls:
(i) the conclusion of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons that, 'The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in
perpetuity and never used - accidentally or by decision - defies credibility
' and that 'the only complete defence is the elimination of nuclear weapons
and assurance that they will never be
produced again', and
(ii) the commission's observations that, 'Nuclear weapons are held by a
handful of states which insist that
these weapons provide unique security benefits, and yet reserve uniquely to
themselves the right to own them. The situation is highly discriminatory and
thus unstable; it cannot be sustained. The possession of nuclear weapon by
any state is a constant stimulus to other states to acquire them';
(c) notes the unanimous finding of the International Court of Justice in its
1996 Advisory Opinion that, 'There exists a clear obligation to pursue in
good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international
control';
(d) affirms that the nuclear weapon states have an obligation to fulfil
promptly their undertaking under Article VI of the NPT to pursue
negotiations in good faith to eliminate their nuclear arsenals;
(e) in the light of the above, urges that the nuclear weapon states reject
the indefinite possession of nuclear weapons and policies based on their
possession, unequivocally commit to the elimination of all nuclear weapons,
and agree to start work immediately on the practical steps and negotiations
required to achieve this goal;
(f) calls on all parties at the NPT Review Conference to urge the nuclear
weapon states to commence and bring to the earliest possible conclusion
negotiations to bring about the verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons
and the full safeguarding of militarily-useable nuclear material; and
(g) urges that the practical steps toward nuclear disarmament outlined by
the commission and the Tokyo Forum for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and
Disarmament, and advocated by the New Agenda Coalition of non-nuclear weapon
states, be used as a basis for immediate negotiations and action.
(2) That the text of this resolution be conveyed to the UN
Secretary-General, to the Presidents of the UN Security Council and General
Assembly, to the Chairperson of the NPT Review Conference, to the
Presidents, Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of the United States,
Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan and Israel, and
to the foreign ministers of all non-nuclear weapon NPT signatory states.