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Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Page: 4466

Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Debate resumed on the motion:

That this House:

(1) Affirms:

(a) its support for the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons; and

(b) its support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as the essential foundation for the achievement of nuclear disarmament and the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime;

(2) Notes:

(a) ratification by the United States and Russia of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) on 5 February 2011;

(b) unilateral nuclear arsenal reductions announced by France and the United Kingdom;

(c) the strong working relationship between Australia and Japan on issues of non-proliferation and disarmament, including more recently by establishing the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative to take forward the 2010 NPT Review Conference outcomes; and

(d) the unanimous views presented by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in Report 106 on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

(3) Calls for:

(a) further cuts in all categories of nuclear weapons and a continuing reduction of their roles in national security policies;

(b) states outside the NPT to join the Treaty as non nuclear weapon states;

(c) ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by all states yet to do so;

(d) the immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations for a verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for weapons purposes;

(e) stronger international measures to address serious NPT non-compliance issues;

(f) Iran, Syria and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions;

(g) political and financial support for a strengthened IAEA safeguards regime, including universalisation of the Additional Protocol;

(h) further investigation of the merits and risks of nuclear fuel cycle multilateralisation;

(i) exploration of legal frameworks for the abolition of nuclear weapons, including the possibility of a nuclear weapons convention, as prospects for multilateral disarmament improve;

(j) efforts to establish a Middle East zone free from weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, freely arrived at by all regional states; and

(k) efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism within the framework of the IAEA and the Nuclear Security Summits.