Countering deceptive propaganda about Australia needing nuclear weapons
Australia’s nuclear breakout would also guarantee the collapse of the NPT order and lead to a cascade of proliferation.
Australia: The Next Nuclear Weapons Power?, http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/australia-the-next-nuclear-weapons-power-24118, The National Interest, Ramesh Thakur, A heavyweight trio of Australia’s strategic and defense policy analysts has opened a debate on the possibility of Australia acquiring nuclear weapons. Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith documented the increased strategic risk to Australia based on a critical assessment of China’s capabilities, motives and intent.
Paul took that further in The Australian, canvassing the idea of investing in capabilities that would reduce the lead time for getting the bomb to give us more options for dealing with growing strategic uncertainty. North Korea’s nuclear advances and diminishing confidence in the dependability of US extended nuclear deterrence add to the sense of strategic unease.
In reply, Hugh politely, gently but firmly rejected the implication that he’s a closet supporter of Australia taking the nuclear weapon path. He neither advocates nor predicts that Australia should or will go nuclear. He professes uncertainty about the role of nuclear weapons in shaping Asia’s emerging strategic landscape, highlights the importance of getting the decisions right on conventional capabilities first, and points to the choices and trade-offs that would then have to be made between the security benefits and risks of a weaponized nuclear capability.
Who will call out the nuclear emperor for being naked? Nuclear weapons haven’t been used since 1945—Hiroshima was the first time and Nagasaki the last. Their very destructiveness makes them qualitatively different in political and moral terms, to the point of rendering them unusable. A calculated use of the bomb is less likely than one resulting from system malfunction, faulty information or rogue launch.
On the other hand, the non-trivial risks of inadvertent use mean that the world’s very existence is hostage to indefinite continuance of the same good fortune that has ensured no use since 1945.
Curiously, Hugh, Paul and Andrew don’t explore the roles that nuclear weapons might play, the functions they would perform, and the circumstances and conditions in which those roles and functions would prove effective. This is a crucial omission. The arguments I canvassed in a review of the illusory gains and lasting insecurities of India’s nuclear weapon acquisition apply with equal force to Australia, albeit with appropriate modifications for our circumstances.
In short, the nuclear equation just does not compute for Australia.
Consistent with the moral taint associated with the bomb, the most common justification for getting or keeping nuclear weapons isn’t that we’d want to use them against anyone else. We’d only want them either to avert nuclear blackmail or to deter an attack. Neither of those arguments holds up against the historical record or in logic.
The belief in the coercive utility of nuclear weapons is widely internalised, owing in no small measure to Japan’s surrender immediately after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet the evidence is surprisingly clear that the close chronology is a coincidence. In Japanese decision-makers’ minds, the decisive factor in their unconditional surrender was the entry of the Soviet Union into the Pacific war against Japan’s essentially undefended northern approaches, and the fear that the Soviets would be the occupying power unless Japan surrendered to the US first. Hiroshima was bombed on 6 August 1945, Nagasaki on 9 August. Moscow broke its neutrality pact to attack Japan on 9 August and Tokyo announced the surrender on 15 August.
There’s been no clear-cut instance since then of a non-nuclear state having been bullied into changing its behaviour by the overt or implicit threat of being bombed by nuclear weapons.
The normative taboo against the most indiscriminately inhumane weapon ever invented is so comprehensive and robust that under no conceivable circumstances will its use against a non-nuclear state compensate for the political costs. That’s why nuclear powers have accepted defeat at the hands of non-nuclear states (for example, Vietnam and Afghanistan) rather than escalate armed conflict to the nuclear level. Non-nuclear Argentina even invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 despite Britain’s nuclear arsenal.
Defence analysts suggesting that Australia might need nuclear weapons?
Why Australia might be forced to consider nuclear weapons, Brisbane Times, By Tony WalkerRussian military patrols in South Pacific prompt Australian defence alert
Australian Defence Force on heightened alert during Russian military exercise in Indonesia ABC News Defence reporter Andrew Greene, 30 Dec 17, Defence personnel in Darwin were operating at “increased readiness” earlier this month as Russian strategic bombers conducted navigation exercises close to Australia, flying out of an Indonesian military base.
Key points:
- RAAF Base Darwin placed on a “short period” of heightened alert
- Russian Ministry of Defence claims it “carried out air alert mission over neutral waters of south Pacific Ocean”
- Defence Department would have been concerned about Russian intelligence collection, defence expert says
The ABC can reveal RAAF Base Darwin was placed on a “short period” of heightened alert, while over 100 Russian personnel and several aircraft were stationed at the Biak Airbase in Indonesia’s eastern Papua province.
During the five-day stopover two nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers flew their first ever patrol mission over the South Pacific, prompting concerns they may have been collecting valuable intelligence.
The Russian Ministry of Defence claims its strategic bombers “carried out air alert mission over neutral waters of south Pacific Ocean” in a flight lasting more than eight hours………http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-30/australia-on-alert-during-russian-military-exercise-in-indonesia/9293362
My people are still suffering from Australia’s secret nuclear testing
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/my-people-are-still-suffering-from-australias-secret-nuclear-testing-20171208-h01a3l.html Sue Coleman-Haseldine,
My name is Sue Coleman-Haseldine. I was born into poverty on the margins of Australian society on the Aboriginal mission of Koonibba in 1951. At this time my people were not allowed to vote and we had very few means to be understood, let alone be heard.
I was born into one of the oldest living cultures known on Earth and into a place that I love – a dusty, arid paradise on the edge of a rugged coastline. Our land and waters are central to our outlook and religion and provide the basis for my people’s health and happiness.
And I was born just before the desert lands to our north were bombed by the deadliest weapons on Earth in an extensive, secretive and devastating manner by the Australian and British governments.
In the 1950s, areas known as Emu Fields and Maralinga were used to test nine full-scale atomic bombs and for 600 other nuclear tests, leaving the land highly radioactive. We weren’t on ground zero, but the dust didn’t stay in one place. The winds brought the poison to us and many others.
Aboriginal people, indeed many people at that time, knew nothing about the effects of radiation. We didn’t know the invisible killer was falling amongst us. Six decades on, my small town of Ceduna is being called the Cancer Capital of Australia. There are so many deaths in our region of various cancers. My grand-daughter and I have had our thyroids removed, and there are many others in our area with thyroid problems. Fertility issues appear common.
But there has been no long-term assessment of the health impacts in the region and even those involved in the botched clean-ups of the test sites have no recourse because they cannot prove their illness is linked with exposure to nuclear weapons testing.
The impact of the Maralinga and Emu Fields testing has had far-reaching consequences that are still being felt today. Ask a young person from my area, “What do you think you will die from?” The answer is, “Cancer, everyone else is”.
I have lived my life learning about the bomb tests and also learning that the voice of my people and others won’t always be understood or heard. But I learnt from old people now gone that speaking up is important and by joining with others from many different places and backgrounds that our voices can be amplified.
Through these steps I found the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), or perhaps ICAN found me.
ICAN – as an organisation, as a collective of passionate, educated people working for a clear goal – has been so important to me. To know that my story and my voice helps bring recognition to the past and can shape the future of nuclear prohibition has strengthened my resolve.
Being involved in ICAN has been a double-edged sword. On one hand and for the first time in my life, I no longer feel alone or isolated. I have met others from many parts of the globe who have similar stories and experiences and who are passionate advocates for a nuclear-free future.
But the flip side of this is my understanding of just how widespread and just how devastating the nuclear weapons legacy is across the globe. To learn that so many weapons still exist sends fear to my heart. ICAN is a worthy winner of the Nobel Peace Prize – in a short time we have gathered support for a treaty to finally outlaw nuclear weapons and help eliminate the nuclear threat.
The vision was reached in part with so many nations adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July 2017. And we should celebrate this win and the opportunity to work together to stop the suffering and assist countries to make amends to nuclear weapons victims by acknowledging the permanent damage done to land, health and culture.
Unfortunately, the Australian government, along with other first world nations, didn’t even participate in the treaty negotiations, and they haven’t signed the treaty yet, but over time we feel confident they will.
A lot has changed since I was born. Aboriginal people now have the right to vote in Australia, but still we battle for understanding about our culture and the Australian nuclear weapons legacy. My home is still remote and most of my people still poor. But we are also no longer alone. We have the means and the will to participate – to share and to learn and to bring about lasting change.
ICAN’s work is not done, our work is not done. We will continue to work together. A world without nuclear weapons is a world we need and are creating. I stand here in hope and gratitude for the opportunity to participate. I stand here with pride and I stand here for our future and the generations to come.
Sue Coleman-Haseldine is a Kokatha woman who lives in Ceduna, South Australia. This is an extract of her speech in Oslo marking the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to ICAN.
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to receive Nobel Peace Prize on Deccember 10th
Nobel Peace Prize: Does an Australian-born anti-nuke group’s award achieve anything? ABC News By Europe correspondent James Glenday , 9 Dec 17 It has been dubbed an “ambassador boycott”, a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony snub.
When an Australian-born movement to ban nuclear weapons receives the world’s most prestigious award this weekend, Russia will be the only declared nuclear power with a top diplomat present.
Israel is sending an ambassador, though it does not confirm or deny it has nuclear warheads, while the US, the UK and France have chosen to make a statement — they will only be represented by deputies.
The prize winner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), claims the “ambassador boycott” by western countries is aimed at undermining its work.
It has fought for a global treaty banning nuclear weapons, which now has 53 signatories.
But the document remains somewhat symbolic because no nuclear powers have signed it and neither have many of their close allies.
Australia, for example, has long argued banning the bomb outright — while emotionally appealing — will not lead to any meaningful reduction in nuclear weapons and may divert attention from existing treaties aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation.
Thus far, the Turnbull Government has stopped short of congratulating ICAN, which began in Melbourne……..
There has been controversy and contradictions surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize ever since it was founded by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish businessman who invented dynamite and traded arms……..
This year the award is worth 9 million Swedish kronor, more than $AU1.411 million. “That money helps a young NGO [like ICAN], one that doesn’t have much access to funds, one that is perhaps being denied funds because of some political problems,” Dr Lewis said.
“ICAN was founded in Australia. It’s something that Australians have achieved.”……..
ICAN is, of course, hoping the prize will convince more people to back its bomb ban.
But it also wants more public debate about the pace of nuclear disarmament — many nuclear experts agree things have moved too slowly, for too long.
“I would hope [ICAN’s work] generates some momentum within existing processes for disarmament,” Mr Dall said.
“If it doesn’t, then the long-term impact could be that nothing is going to happen and that really is the worst possible long-term impact.”
Regardless, the prize, the controversy and “ambassador boycott” is all invaluable for ICAN itself.
Anything that prompts more global coverage of nuclear weapons and the destruction they can unleash, is much more useful to it than any number of diplomatic niceties in Norway this weekend. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-09/does-the-nobel-peace-prize-achieve-anything/9242626
Government rejects claim by former national servicemen involved in British nuclear tests
Former national servicemen involved in British nuclear test have gold card bids rejected ABC, 4 Dec 17, By political reporter Dan Conifer A former national serviceman involved in a 1950s nuclear test in Australia is pleading for his lifetime healthcare application to be reconsidered.
Key points:
- Operation Hurricane was the first British nuclear test in Australia and took place at the Montebello Islands
- Ken Palmer believes exposure to radiation from a nuclear blast contributed to his illnesses
- The national servicemen are now pleading to have their cases reviewed by Dan Tehan
Ken Palmer, 83, believes exposure to radiation from the blast has contributed to illnesses, including cancers.
“Please Mr Minister … you’ll still be in the job for a little while, make a clean breast of things, let your guard down a bit,” he said, referring to Veterans’ Affairs Minister Dan Tehan.
Mr Palmer was a teenager aboard HMAS Murchison in October 1952 when he saw “a big mushroom cloud” form on the horizon.
Operation Hurricane was the first British nuclear test in Australia and took place at the Montebello Islands, off Western Australia’s coast.
“It’s about five operations I could safely put down to being at Montebello,” Mr Palmer said.
He attributed having both thyroid glands removed to the nuclear test, along two hip procedures, back surgery, and having his prostate removed.
This year’s federal budget included $133 million to give nuclear veterans gold cards, providing lifelong no-gap medical care.
But Mr Palmer’s application was rejected by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs…….
Those aboard the ship have long argued they were as close as nine kilometres away, saying photographs taken moments after detonation prove their claims.
To qualify for gold cards, the national servicemen had to be within 10 kilometres.
“Was there a curtain they put up to stop the radiation heading towards our ship? I doubt it. I didn’t see it,” Mr Palmer said.
Veterans advocates estimate about 60 national servicemen were on the navy ship.
Another former ‘nasho’ aboard the HMAS Murchison, who has also been knocked back, estimated fewer than a dozen of his crewmates were still alive.
Mr Palmer, who is in hospital ahead of surgery on Tuesday, said: “This is our last stand.”…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-04/veterans-have-gold-card-bids-rejected/9221780
Uranium-to nuclear reactor- to nuclear weapons: Australia’s close involvement – theme for December 17
URANIUM. From 1944 the purpose of Australia’s uranium industry was to supply nuclear weapons. Up until 1962 Australia supplied 7,730 tonnes of uranium to the USA and UK for their nuclear weapons programs.
More recently, Australia’s uranium is supposed to go only to “peaceful” nuclear power. So – it can go to India, for example, where there’s dubious supervision anyway, and where it frees up other uranium supplies for India’s burgeoning nuclear weapons.
NUCLEAR BOMBS. The Menzies government allowed Britain to explode its nuclear bombs in South Australia, and also at Monte Bello Island, in the 1950s and 60s. So the nuclear weapons industry has had its dirty foot well into Australia.
NUCLEAR REACTOR. Lucas Heights nuclear reactor was always intended as a step towards nuclear weapons, AND IT STILL IS. In the early 1950s, politicians, scientists and Defence Department enthusiasm for Australia to get a nuclear weapon led to the 
building, in 1957, of a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights. A plan to build a nuclear reactor at Jervis Bay was pitched to the public as a commercial venture, but was always intended to provide enriched uranium for Australia’s own nuclear weapons.
Others favoured getting nuclear bombs supplied by Britain. The pro nuclear lobby always had nuclear weapons in mind, and campaigned for them strongly through the 1960s, to 1972, when Prime Minister Whitlam ended these ambitions. The campaign continued, more quietly.
ANSTO. In 1987 the Australian Atomic Energy Commission was abolished, and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) was set
up. ANSTO is very secretive about its operations, but does pursue the advanced technology that would make nuclear weapons development possible. Today’s nuclear weapons advocates talk incessantly about “medical research”, and foster the myth of the “peaceful atom”.
As the nuclear weapons establishment in UK and USA now make clear – “peaceful” nuclear power is essential for nuclear weapons – as an industry supplying resources and trained operatives for the weapons industry.
The push for Australia to house nuclear wastes, and the whole nuclear fuel chain is an intrinsic part of the global nuclear weapons industry.
Australia sells weapons to countries like Saudi Arabia, that perpetrate human rights abuses
It’s a nearly impossible task to discover exactly what Australia is selling and to whom because the federal government refuses to say, but nuggets of information make it clear that Canberra is aggressively selling weapons and defence equipment to countries involved in conflicts where human rights abuses are being perpetrated.
In his seminal 2011 book on the global arms trade The Shadow World, journalist Andrew Feinstein exposes the fallacies of a nation’s expanding defence sector. “The arms industry’s economic contribution is undermined by the frequency with which its main players around the world, Lockheed Martin, BAE, Boeing, Northrop Grumman … are implicated in grand corruption, inefficiency and wastage of public resources,” he wrote.
Feinstein concludes that the arms trade “often makes us poorer, not richer, less not more safe, and governed not in our own interests but for the benefit of a small, self-serving elite, seemingly above the law, protected by the secrecy of national security and accountable to no one”.
Murky business: Australia’s defence industry is growing, but at what cost? SMH, Antony Loewenstein , 4 Nov 17
This year’s Avalon Air Show in Geelong was the first chance for the public to see the long-delayed Joint Strike Fighter in action. At a cost of at least $100 million per aircraft, Canberra is slated to spend $17 billion on 72 F-35s in the coming years.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the world’s biggest defence contractor, has faced countless problems with the plane including cost blowouts (spending more than $US1 trillion and counting), a Pentagon report in January finding 276 deficiencies (with 20 new issues discovered per month) and consistent troubles with overheating and cybersecurity. An Australian contractor on the aircraft was recently hacked, with sensitive material stolen.
None of this dampened the mood at Avalon. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, along with Defence Minister Marise Payne, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, praised the plane and Australia’s growing defence sector. Continue reading
Australian navy joins USA and South Korea in drills to stop and search North Korean weapons ships
Australia conducts naval drills to stop and search North Korean weapons ships, SMH, David Wroe, 6 Nov 17, Australia is stepping up its role in tightening the net around North Korea, carrying out naval drills with the United States and South Korea to practise intercepting ships suspected of carrying illicit weapons to and from the rogue regime.
Two Anzac Class frigates began the two-day joint exercises on Monday in seas to the South of the Korean peninsula alongside powerful guided-missile destroyers from the other two countries as well as four smaller warships, maritime patrol planes and helicopters.
The crews are rehearsing how to stop and search a suspect ship of any country but the drills are clearly aimed at North Korea, which is not allowed to trade in arms because of several sets of United Nations sanctions.
Defence Minister Marise Payne said the drills would enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2375, concerning “the interdiction of vessels carrying suspicious cargo”……..
The training mission came as the Pentagon outlayed the grim choices facing the US and its allies in stopping North Korea, saying that a full ground invasion of the country was “the only way” to be certain it could destroy all of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons…….
The United States wanted to dramatically increase ship interdictions in the most recent round of UN sanctions aimed at reining in Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. That would have allowed the US and others to use force on the high seas to stop ships suspected of carrying any type of goods whose trade is prohibited by sanctions.
But veto-wielding Security Council members China and Russia stripped out those measures, leaving the noose of interdiction efforts only incrementally tightened, meaning that interdiction can only happen if ships are suspected of carrying arms materials, particularly anything used in the production of weapons of mass destruction and missiles to deliver them. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-conducts-naval-drills-to-stop-and-search-north-korean-weapons-ships-20171106-gzg01k.html
90 organisations join ICAN in calling for the government to sign and ratify the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
Ninety organisations have joined ICAN to call for Australia to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In an open letter addressed to Malcolm Turnbull the groups warn of the “existential threat” that nuclear weapons pose. “There are no safe hands for nuclear weapons. We face a clear choice: continue to let these weapons spread and risk their inevitable use, or eliminate them”.
The letter is signed by a range of health, union, student, Indigenous, humanitarian, environment and faith organisations from across Australia. It highlights the urgency of disarmament amidst current heightened risks of nuclear conflict.
“There is no argument – moral, ethical or rational – for the retention of weapons with the capability to end life on Earth. No person or group of people should wield that kind of power,” Stuart McMillan, President of the Uniting Church in Australia.
“The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides the necessary vehicle for nations to walk away from these unacceptable, and now illegal, weapons. Australia has signed the treaties banning chemical and biological weapons, landmines and cluster munitions. It’s time to take genuine action against these weapons by signing and ratifying the ban treaty,” said Tilman Ruff from ICAN.
The signatories to the letter include World Vision Australia, Oxfam Australia, Save the Children Australia, ChildFund Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Uniting Church in Australia.
The letter was sent to the Prime Minister on Friday and tabled in the House of Representatives by Anthony Albanese MP yesterday. It featured in this Guardian article: Nobel peace prize winners urge Australia to sign treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Remote seismic station in the Northern Territory plays critical role in monitoring North Korea’s nuclear testing
Australia’s role in monitoring North Korea’s nuclear tests
North Korea nuclear tests: How Australia is watching Kim Jong-un http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/north-korea-nuclear-tests-how-australia-is-watching-kim-jongun/news-story/0db7b03f8ebb9d99b045a6e4e9d6e23b
THE key to stopping North Korea’s nuclear technology could lie in Australian towns you’ve never even heard of. debra.killalea@news.com.au
THERE are 321 monitoring stations around the world all designed with one common goal. The International Monitoring System (IMS) uses four technologies to monitor nuclear activity in countries including North Korea.
Unsurprisingly some of these stations are located within our own borders and play a powerful role in monitoring rogue nations.
In a piece for The Conversation, Trevor Findlay, Senior Research Fellow Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne reveals the key role Australia plays.
Dr Findlay writes Australia hosts six seismic, two infrasound, and one hydroacoustic station, including a large seismic array and infrasound station at Warramunga in the Northern Territory.
DETECT AND RELAY
The Vienna-based Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) uses the IMS to detect nuclear tests around the world.
This means if Kim Jong-un decides to conduct another nuclear test there are several monitoring stations in Australia which could potentially pick up this abnormal activity.
According to Dr Findlay its monitoring system, which began construction in 1996, is “sensitive enough to detect underground nuclear tests below 1 kiloton”.
The CTBTO picked up the September 3 blast detecting a seismic magnitude of 6.1 and a blast yield of 160 kilotons.
Data such as this is picked up is transmitted to Vienna via satellite where it is analysed and distributed to member states.
The CTBTO’s International Monitoring System is basically designed to verify compliance with the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty.
POWERFUL TOOL
According to Associate Professor at Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre Dr Stephan Fruhling, the monitoring system is hugely beneficial.
“The technologies used by the monitoring system (seismic, infrasound, and radionucleides) were all used developed the Cold War to monitor other countries’ nuclear tests, and/or are also the same as used in geophysical monitoring,” he said.
However, it has a much more vital function.
“The main innovation of the CTBTO system is that it makes all raw data freely available, which means that all member states have now access to a global detection system that is meant to give confidence that the treaty is effective, whereas before only the superpowers had such capabilities,” Dr Fruhling said.
He also said the system is operating “even though the CTBTO itself isn’t actually legally in force, and probably never will be.”
Dr Fruhling said the system was very effective and expects it to become even more so over time as sensors and computing improve and the last few stations come online.
He said the system wasn’t perfect.
“There are some limits to the system in terms of very low-yield tests, especially where reduced enrichment fuels are used that do not produce a full yield but still a useful neutron flux to validate a weapons design,” he said.
“However, this is something that is of more use to the advanced nuclear powers who have a lot of experience and access to past testing data, than it is to a new proliferant like North Korea.
AUSTRALIA’S ROLE
Nuclear disarmament campaigner John Hallam said the system and Australia’s role in it was actually quite remarkable.
Mr Hallam said the system has managed to not merely detect, but diagnose every North Korea test right from their first which was just a fraction of a kiloton.
“Australia plays quite a key role, mainly with the big seismic and infrasound array at Warramunga and the Hydroacoustic station at Cape Leeuwin,” he said.
“The CTBTO manages to do amazing work not only in detection of nuclear blasts, but also in detecting earthquake and volcanic activity and a secondary role as a tsunami early warning network.”
However Mr Hallam said the current policies of the US threaten all of that as the CTBTO has been in effect “boycotted” by the Government, despite being the first to actually sign it.
CTBTO’s executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo is geophysicist who used to be the Director of the International Data Centre which processes and analyses all the data coming from the more than 300 stations around the globe.
CTBTO’s work, including the establishment and maintenance of the IMS, is mandated by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty which was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in the 1990s and endorsed by the General Assembly. It opened for signature in 1996.
ICAN urges Australia to sign nuclear weapons treaty
Nobel Peace Prize winners ICAN urge Australia to sign nuclear weapons treaty, SBS News 7 Oct 17 An Australian-born group that was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says Australia needs to join global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.A Victorian-born international group that was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says it’s a shame the Australian government has not signed the treaty banning nuclear weapons that led to its award……
Medical Association for Prevention of War – a tribute to ICAN
ICAN now has 468 partner organisations in 101 countries. It was pivotal to the UN adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on July 7 this year
A Nobel Peace Prize born in Australia http://www.smh.com.au/comment/a-nobel-peace-prize-born-in-australia-20171007-gyw93r.html, Margaret Beavis Australians can be very proud. The winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), started in Melbourne. It began when the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) recognised that nuclear weapons, the very worst of the weapons of mass destruction, were still “legitimate”. This contrasted with chemical weapons, biological weapons, cluster munitions, land mines – even dumdum bullets, which all have been made illegal by UN treaty, with impressive results. Continue reading
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): how it won the Nobel Peace Prize
“We’re calling on all countries to sign the new UN treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, which offers a powerful alternative to a world in which threats of mass destruction are allowed to prevail.
“We will work in coming months to persuade more nations to sign this landmark treaty.
“One of our priorities will be to bring the Australian government on board.
What is ICAN and how did it win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-07/who-is-ican/9026326
So how did a campaign from Melbourne make its way to the international stage?
Key points:
- Group honoured for “ground-breaking efforts” to achieve nuclear ban treaty
- ICAN also awarded for drawing “attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences” of nuclear weapons
- 215 individuals and 103 organisations were nominated for the prize
So what is ICAN?
ICAN describes itself as a coalition of non-governmental organisations in 100 countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.
That global agreement was adopted by 122 countries — but not by Australia — in New York on July 7 this year.
It has advocated at the United Nations and in parliaments around the world, bringing the stories of those impacted by nuclear testing and survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings to a world stage.
How did it form?
ICAN set up its first office in Melbourne, with disarmament campaigner Felicity Hill as the coordinator.
It officially launched in Vienna, Austria in April 2007 during the Non-Proliferation Treaty preparatory committee meeting.
ICAN campaign director Tim Wright said it was inspired by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which had played a major role in the negotiation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa treaty. Continue reading
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
21 April Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-04-21 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-04-21 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
Event Type: Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host Contact Info: australia@icanw.org
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 