Antinuclear

In 2007, I was proud when the newly elected Federal Labor government reinvigorated Australia’s commitment to nuclear disarmament, reversing the Howard government’s neglect of an important issue. Our concern about the poor state of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons motivated us to support the establishment and work of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

Furthermore, the Australian Parliament’s own (international) treaties committee – of which I was a member – argued in its report on nuclear non-proliferation that “it was time for concrete, demonstrable action to break down the current international stalemate and achieve a world without nuclear weapons”.

A key part of Australia’s demonstrable action towards nuclear disarmament was our reversal of the Howard government’s support for uranium exports to India. This is a position we must maintain if we are serious about our international commitment to nuclear disarmament.

The non-proliferation treaty is the only international treaty that prohibits the proliferation of nuclear weapons and commits the 190 signatory countries to disarmament. It also contains safeguards applied by the International Atomic Energy Agency and designed to prevent the diversion of nuclear material from reactors to weapons development.

Israel, Pakistan and India all stand outside the scrutiny of the non-proliferation treaty. Consequently, they do not have adequate safeguards and do not report the number of nuclear weapons in their arsenals……..

On the very day Julia Gillard announced it was time for the ALP to debate the issue of Australian uranium sales to India, India tested a long-range missile capable of carrying one of its nuclear warheads into China.

The United Nations Security Council has previously condemned such testing. In response to a round of nuclear testing by India and Pakistan in 1998, resolution 1172 encouraged “all States to prevent the export of equipment, materials or technology that could in any way assist programs in India or Pakistan for nuclear weapons or for ballistic missiles capable of delivering such weapons, and welcomes national policies adopted and declared in this respect”.

Selling uranium to India violates this resolution as well as the non-proliferation treaty, which requires full safeguards as a condition of supplying uranium. It is also illegal under Article IV of the Treaty of Raratonga, which endorses a South Pacific nuclear weapons free zone, and thus would, I believe, undermine the credibility of our bid for a Security Council seat.

The ICNND notes that nuclear proliferation in the region already represents unacceptable risks because of the activity of non-State actors and extremist groups in the region which have the intent and capacity to create massive nuclear destruction.

It is therefore imperative a strong rather than a weak approach to nuclear proliferation in this region be a priority…..

or a nation like India that is outside the non-proliferation treaty to be able to negotiate its own tailored safeguards with Australia is unacceptable and undermines the very notion of proper international standards.

It also undermines our strong history of being a good advocate for nuclear disarmament.

Louise Pratt is a Labor senator for WA

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/opinion/post/-/blog/theburningissue/post/1906/comment/1