2022-11-02
In a world where nuclear threats are increasing, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides a pathway towards abolition and nuclear justice
By Jemila Rushton, Campaigner at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Australia
Almost a year has passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the subsequent exchanges of nuclear threats from those armed with the world’s worst weapons continue to remind us of the urgency of meaningful action on disarmament.
With these heightened tensions among nuclear-armed states and their allies, Australia, having joined all other international agreements on nuclear disarmament, is at last signaling moves towards progress.
In October 2022, with a vote at the United Nations during its annual Disarmament Week, Australia officially dropped its opposition to the only treaty banning nuclear weapons, bringing an end to five years of hostility to this crucial agreement. Australia abstained from voting on a resolution in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly that welcomes the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is the first international agreement to comprehensively outlaw the possession, stockpiling, hosting, transfer, use, threat of use and assistance with nuclear weapons. It is the only treaty which provides this pathway towards total elimination of these weapons, answering the call of generations of survivors of nuclear attacks and testing for an end to the nuclear threat of mass destruction. With 91 signatories and 68 states parties so far, and pressure on the rise for more nations to join the ban, the legitimacy of nuclear weapons is shrinking.
While an abstention may not be the resounding ‘yes’ that is needed, it is worth remembering that under the previous government, Australia had consistently voted against the resolution and spoke out against the treaty. Importantly, it is the first time a state that claims protection from an ally’s nuclear weapons has taken this step.
So while a decision to join the treaty is still pending, this is a small but important step forward.
With nuclear threats escalating, the time is ripe for Australia to join the global majority who support this new benchmark in the disarmament architecture. Indeed, the treaty enjoys more support than ever before within the Australian Parliament; with 103 sitting members who have pledged to work towards the signature and ratification, the overwhelming majority of Australians support joining it, and a commitment in place to join[1], there is no reason why Australia cannot do so within this government's first term.
Australia has a nuclear legacy of its own which continues to unfold. Beginning 70 years ago, on October 3, 1952 the British government, with agreement from the Australian government of the day, began a regime of nuclear weapons testing in Western Australia's Monte Bello Islands. Between 1953 and 1957, further testing took place at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia without the consent of the local Anangu Peoples. Two further atomic tests took place again on Monte Bello islands in 1956.
These tests saw fallout over much of the Australian mainland and further into the Pacific. The impacts of these tests have disproportionately affected many First Nations groups, who have cared for this country for many thousands of years.
These shared stories of nuclear colonialism, histories of nuclear weapons testing, and most importantly shared hopes for a world free of nuclear weapons are what unites survivors across our region.
The urgency of addressing nucle
ar harm, and meaningful steps on disarmament were key in discussions from civil society and member states alike during the First Meeting of States Parties to Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, held in Vienna earlier this year.
Three generations of First Nations survivors of historic British nuclear tests sent a message that Australia must do more to address the devastating impact the tests continue to have on their families, lives, and futures during a special event in the lead up to this inaugural meeting.
Like many others who have experienced the impacts of nuclear weapons firsthand, Aunty Sue Coleman Haseldine, Karina Lester and Mia Haseldine explained the intergenerational health impacts of successive generations of Aboriginal families from the region: illnesses including cancers, skin conditions, autoimmune conditions, reproductive and birth anomalies and other chronic health conditions.
They told of the trauma that endures with a prolonged fear of the unknown for future generations and identified that much more is needed to support the next generation of survivors; calling for commitments to greater research and education with Aboriginal communities on the impact of the testing.
They called for the sharing of this research in languages spoken in impacted communities, and resources to enable communities to share their expertise on their lived experiences of nuclear harm.
As survivors they asserted that those with lived experience of nuclear harms in Australia expect our government to invite survivors to the table to work on the solutions and called on the Australian government to sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
If our government is committed to Voice, Treaty, Truth, and moving Australia into a new era of truth-telling about our nation’s history, and the injustices faced by First Nations people since colonisation, then they must face up to nuclear colonialism as part of this history and make good on their commitment to join the TPNW.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an instrument of truth telling, promising not only abolition, but providing a pathway for delivering assistance to impacted communities and remediating environments though the positive obligations of Victim Assistance and Environmental Remediation (in articles 6&7 of the TPNW) a roadmap towards accountability, reparations and justice.
As Australia looks to the future, with disarmament more urgent than ever in an international landscape dominated by nuclear threats, our solidarity and support is needed in lifting up the voices of communities impacted the use and testing of nuclear weapons; their histories, inherited nuclear legacies and their assertions of what is needed for a future where abolition is realised and nuclear justice is finally served.
A full statement from this event has been made available on the ICAN Australia website.
Header and text photos: At the First Meeting of the States Parties for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Vienna, June 2022. Credit: Alexander Papis, ICAN
[Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens WA]
[1] Labor committed to sign and ratify the TPNW in government in 2018