MINISTER FOR j&k

FOREIGN AFFAIRS Â« Â«

AND TRADE NEWS RELEASE

No.

M133 . 6 AUGUST 1990

HIROSHIMA DAY

The Attorney-General and Acting Minister for Foreign  Affairs and Trade, Michael Duffy, today outlined  Australia's strong commitment to disarmament and arms  control on the occasion of Hiroshima Day, 6 A ugust. Today

is the 45th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the  Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Mr Duffy said that recent dramatic developments in  relations between the superpowers and in Eastern Europe  have changed the strategic environment in a way in which we -   all hope will contribute to global peace and stability. '

"Hiroshima Day is an opportunity, each year, to remind  ourselves of the massive and indiscriminate destructive  capacity of nuclear weapons and to reflect on the  proposition that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never  be fought," Mr Duffy said. Â·  .

"It is an opportunity to re-commit ourselves to the  imperatives of preventing nuclear war and to working  towards the complete elimination of nuclear we a p o n s " .

"The Australian Government attaches the highest priority to  these objectives and vigorously pursues a range of policies  to achieve them. These include efforts in the United  Nations to achieve an early comprehensive test ban treaty  and the successful conclusion of the Treaty of Rarotonga  which established a nuclear free zone in the South Pacific".

"We remain strongly committed to the Treaty on the  Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and work actively to  widen-j.-ts.membership. We look forward to participating in  the Fourth-Review Conference of the Treaty on the  Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons later this month. The  Review Conference will contribute to strengthening of the  Treaty which is the foundation of the international  non-proliferation regime. As in the past Australia will   aim to play a leading role at the Conference".

"Australia strongly supports the efforts to achieve an  early Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and our approach is  securing growing support. At the UN General Assembly last  year the Australia/New Zealand sponsored Comprehensive Test

Ban Resolution attracted 145 votes. At the General  Assembly this year we will be contiuing our efforts to  maintain and attract support for the resolution."

2 .

"The re-establishment in the Conference on Disarmament of  an AD-Hpe -Committee on a Nuclear Test ban is an important  move towards having the nuclear test ban issue considered  productively within the Conference on Disarmament" Mr Duffy

said.

"Australia is also active on other fronts - notably working  for the comprehensive abolition of chemical weapons - to  expand the role of arms control and disarmament  arrangements in enhancing security, which in turn can  contribute to the objective of nuclear disarmament".

"Developments in the last year and prospects in the period  ahead give rise to optimism about international efforts to  arrest and reverse the global arms race and, in particular,  the nuclear arms race. The historic Washington Summit  between Presidents Bush and Gorbachev cleared the way for

the conclusion of a Strategic Arms Limitation (START)  agreement this year and an agreement on the Reduction of  Conventional Forces in Europe. The aim of START is to

increase strategic stability by decreasing the incentive to  launch a first nuclear attack".

"The Government is determined that Australia will continue  to play its full part in maintaining and accelerating these  favourable tren d s " .

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CANBERRA

