Mr DOWNER (Foreign Affairs) (10:25 AM) —I move:

That the bill be now read a second time.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Bill 1998 will give effect to Australia's obligations as a party to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and will provide a legislative basis for its national implementation. The CTBT bans all nuclear weapons test explosions and all nuclear explosions for all time. It marks a watershed in international efforts to address the global threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and also brings the nuclear arms race to a definitive end.

The CTBT has attracted the signatures of 149 states. Thirteen states have so far ratified. Two nuclear weapon states—France and the United Kingdom—deposited their instruments of ratification this week in New York. I signed the CTBT on behalf of Australia when it was opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996. Early ratification by Australia is critical. We are one of the 44 states whose ratification is required in order for the treaty to enter into force.

Australia is universally recognised as a key player in the adoption of the CTBT and we can be justifiably proud of the part we played in achieving this outcome. We were instrumental in accelerating the negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament. Following the failure to achieve final consensus in the Conference on Disarmament on a draft treaty text which was all but agreed, the government took the unprecedented and courageous step of submitting the treaty to the United Nations General Assembly for adoption. The Australian sponsored resolution attracted the co-sponsorship of 127 countries and was adopted by an overwhelming majority. This was a truly great achievement by the Australian government.

On presenting this bill, I would like to remind the House of Australia's longstanding and well-deserved reputation as a leading international player on arms control issues. That reputation has been enhanced by this government's imaginative and successful efforts in taking the arms control agenda forward.

This government's commitment to the cause of disarmament is evident in our substantial contribution to the international movement in favour of the total elimination of antipersonnel landmines as a weapon of war. In December 1997, Australia joined over 100 countries in signing the Ottawa treaty. The next step is to get negotiations under way in the Conference on Disarmament as soon as possible as a way of complementing the Ottawa treaty and tightening the clamps on the global supply of landmines.

On 3 February 1998, in my second address to the Conference on Disarmament since becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs, I urged the Conference on Disarmament to begin immediate negotiations not only on a ban on landmines transfers but also on a convention to prohibit the production of fissile material for explosive purposes. I have instructed that Australia be active in Geneva and elsewhere in promoting this so-called `cut-off' treaty as a priority arms control objective for 1998 and if necessary beyond. Just as the CTBT has brought an end to the qualitative further development of nuclear arsenals, so `cut-off' will cap the quantitative expansion of those arsenals.

In another area of the arms control agenda, I recently announced a new initiative to strengthen the biological weapons convention. The government's initiative is aimed at fast-tracking the negotiations on a verification system for the biological weapons convention and highlights our serious commitment to preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

By signing the CTBT, Australia has aligned itself with the basic obligation not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion. Part 2 of this bill makes it an offence to engage in activities prohibited under the treaty and provides appropriately severe penalties of up to life imprisonment for offences committed under clause 6 relating to the treaty prohibitions.

The CTBT will establish an intrusive verification regime. The International Monitoring System, which is the principal arm of this regime, will be a worldwide network of over 300 monitoring stations and laboratories. Australia will host 21 monitoring stations and laboratories. Part 4 of the bill provides for the establishment and the operation of monitoring facilities on Australian territory, including authorisation to gain access to these facilities. Part 3 of the bill covers the arrangements which would apply should an on-site inspection be called on Australian territory. Part 5 of the bill provides for the establishment of a national authority to manage treaty implementation in Australia. I commend the bill to the House and present the explanatory memorandum to this bill.

Debate (on motion by Dr Theophanous) adjourned.