LAURIE BRERETON MP SHADOW MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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82/01 17 October 2001

HELPING MAKE A SAFER WORLD:  LABOR’S NON-PROLIFERATION POLICY

“Combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction will be a key foreign policy priority for a Beazley Labor Government”, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Laurie Brereton, said today.

“The  proliferation  of  weapons  of  mass  destruction  -  nuclear,  chemical  and  biological weapons  -  is  one  of  the  most  serious  threats  to  international  security  and  to  Australian national security.”

“The 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States and evidence of bio-terrorism have dramatically  highlighted  the  danger  of  terrorist  groups  acquiring  nuclear,  chemical  or biological weapons and launching attacks with the potential to kill millions of people.”

“Earlier  this  month  United  Nations  Secretary-General  Kofi  Annan  urged  the  full implementation of treaties against weapons of mass destruction and called for much greater international cooperation to prevent terrorists from acquiring these weapons.”

“Strong  non-proliferation  regimes  make  direct  contributions  to  combating  international terrorism.   They  make  it  much  more  difficult  for  terrorists  to  obtain  weapons  of  mass destruction.”

“It is of serious concern that global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts have faltered in recent years.  The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has not entered into force. Negotiations  for  a  convention  to  ban  the  production  of  fissile  material  for  use  in  nuclear weapons have failed to proceed.  Work to develop a compliance regime for the Biological Weapons Convention has also stalled.”

“International  efforts  to  prevent  weapons  of  mass  destruction  proliferation  must  be revitalised.   The  international  coalition  against  terrorism  must  be  matched  by a  concerted effort to move the global non-proliferation and disarmament agenda forward.”

“Australian  Labor  has  a  strong  record  in  non-proliferation  and  disarmament  diplomacy including negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone  Treaty,  adoption  of  the  Comprehensive  Test  Ban  Treaty,  indefinite  extension  of  the Nuclear  Non-Proliferation  Treaty,  and  establishment  of  the  Canberra  Commission  on  the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.”

“A Beazley Labor Government will return Australia to the forefront of international efforts to advance  non-proliferation  and  disarmament,  a  role  seriously  neglected  by  the  Howard Government.  As a middle power with considerable expertise in non-proliferation diplomacy, Australia can contribute a great deal to strengthening international security.”

“As  a  first  step,  Labor  will  commission  a  new  and  independent  assessment  of  non-proliferation and disarmament strategies.  This will follow up the work of the 1995 Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.”

“This  new  international  commission  will  undertake  a  comprehensive  re-evaluation  of  the threats arising from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation.  It will develop

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strategies  for  sustained  international  cooperation  to  address  these  challenges  and  reduce existing  nuclear  arsenals.   This  will  be  a  major  initiative  involving  a  wide-range  of  expert contributors.  It will help rejuvenate global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.”

Mr Richard Butler has agreed to serve as convener of the new commission.  Mr Butler was convener  of  the  Canberra  Commission.   He  has  served  in  numerous  diplomatic  roles including  as  Australia’s  Ambassador  for  Disarmament,  Australia’s  Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and from 1997 to 1999 as Executive Chairman of the United  Nations  Special  Commission  charged  with  eliminating  Iraq’s  weapons  of  mass destruction  capabilities.   He  is  presently  Diplomat  in  Residence  at  the  Council  of  Foreign Relations in New York.

“I am very pleased that Mr Butler has agreed to take up this challenge”, Mr Brereton said. “His  expertise  and  determination  will  be  invaluable  in  rebuilding  momentum  for  non-proliferation  and  disarmament  in  the  new  international  environment  following  the  11 September terrorist attacks.”

"Strengthening  non-proliferation  and  advancing  disarmament  are  vital  national  security interests as well as humanitarian imperatives.  Labor is determined to push the envelope to  make  the  world  a  safer  place.   This  will  be  a  key  foreign  policy  priority  for  a  Beazley Labor Government."

Contact: Philip Dorling (Mr Brereton’s Office) 02 6277 4717 or 0418 861 602

Richard Butler 0011 1 212 434 9682 (Council on Foreign Relations) or 0011 1 917 514 0892 (Mobile)

(Note:  Time difference with New York is -14 hours.)

LABOR’S PLAN FOR COMBATING WEAPONS PROLIFERATION AND PROMOTING DISARMAMENT

A Labor Government will ensure Australia returns to the forefront of international efforts to advance non-proliferation and disarmament.

New International Commission on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

As  a  first  step,  Labor  will  commission  a  new  and  independent  assessment  of  non-proliferation and disarmament strategies.  This will follow up the work of the 1995 Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

This  new  international  commission  will  undertake  a  comprehensive  re-evaluation  of  the threats arising from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation.  It will develop strategies  for  sustained  international  cooperation  to  address  these  challenges  and  reduce existing nuclear arsenals.

The  commission  will  be  asked  to  advise  on  the  issue  of  the  establishment  of  new international  mechanisms  to  ensure  compliance  with  weapons  of  mass  destruction  non-compliance treaties.

This will be a major international initiative involving a wide-range of expert contributors.  It will  be  an  important  Australian  contribution  to  rebuild  momentum  for  multilateral  non-proliferation  and  disarmament  in  the  new  international  environment  following  the  11 September terrorist attacks.

The  report  of  the  commission  should  be  produced  in  time  to  allow  its  presentation  to  the United Nations and the international community in the second half of 2002.  Australia would promote the report through active non-proliferation and disarmament diplomacy.

Cost:   A  new  international  commission  on  non-proliferation  and  disarmament  will  cost  $1 million in 2001-2002.

Strengthening Nuclear Non-proliferation regimes

Labor will give strong support to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear  Test  Ban  Treaty,  strengthening  International  Atomic  Energy  Agency  safeguards against further nuclear proliferation, and negotiating a convention banning the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons.

A Labor Government will work closely with like-minded countries, including the members of the New Agenda Coalition, to rebuild momentum for strengthening non-proliferation regimes and eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

Labor  will  give  our  strong  support  to  the  de-alerting  of  existing  nuclear  arsenals  and verifiable  measures  to  reduce  the  risk  of  an  accidental  or  unauthorised  launch  or  theft  of nuclear weapons.

Labor will continue our support for regional nuclear weapon free zones in the South Pacific, Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.  We will actively pursue linkage of these zones to consolidate a Southern Hemisphere free of nuclear weapons.

Labor considers it important to support the integrity of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that has long served as a keystone of nuclear arms control.  We have expressed concern about

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US  proposals  to  deploy  a  National  Missile  Defence  system  and  in  government  we  will advance efforts to reduce the risk of this defence program fuelling a new nuclear arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.

A Labor Government will continue Australia’s strong support for nuclear export controls, as they  serve  the  dual  purpose  of  preventing  nuclear  proliferation  while  at  the  same  time allowing nuclear trade and cooperation for peaceful purposes.

Strengthening Chemical, Biological and Missile Non-proliferation regimes

Nuclear  non-proliferation  and  disarmament  must  be  accompanied  by  further  progress  in eliminating other weapons of mass destruction.

Chemical and biological weapons pose very serious threats to international security.

A  significant  number  of  countries  retain  or  are  pursuing  the  development  of  extremely lethal chemical weapons.  Biological weapons pose threats of equal magnitude to nuclear weapons.  These weapons have considerable potential as instruments of mass terrorism.

Labor will reinforce Australia’s strong support for the Chemical Weapons Convention and the  Organisation  for  the  Prevention  of  Chemical  Weapons.   We  will  actively  pursue  an effective  compliance  protocol  for  the  Biological  Weapons  Convention.   Such  a  protocol would  establish  verification  machinery  and  make  it  much  harder  for  terrorists  to  acquire these sorts of devastating weapons.

Labor  will  explore  opportunities  to  support  accelerated  chemical  and  biological disarmament in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union and halt the transfer of chemical  and  biological  weapons  technology and  expertise  to  proliferators.  We will  also explore  making  direct  contributions  to  securing  the  elimination  of  North  Korea's  ballistic missile and chemical and biological weapons capabilities.

Recognising  the  threat  of  ballistic  missile  proliferation,  Labor  will  work  to  strengthen  the Missile Technology Control Regime and pursue more effective multilateral constraints on ballistic  missiles.   Missile  proliferation  is  better  addressed  through  a  range  of  multilateral approaches than narrow reliance on unilateral defence measures.

More focussed sanctions on Iraq

Recognising  the  threat  to  security  in  the  Middle  East  posed  by  weapons  of  mass destruction, a Labor Government will continue support for United Nations efforts to achieve the verified elimination of Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons capabilities.

A  Labor  Government  will  support  international  efforts  to  develop  and  implement  a  more focused  approach  than  the  present  broad  economic  sanctions  on  Iraq,  thereby  more effectively  targeting  the  weapons  of  mass  destruction  programs  of  the  Iraqi  regime. Effective  measures  that  constrain  Iraq’s  military  capabilities  are  essential,  as  is  the alleviation of the burden of sanctions on the Iraqi people.

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Additional Intelligence and Non-Proliferation Verification Resources

For  Australia  to  play an  effective  role  in  combating  weapons  proliferation,  we  must  invest additional  resources  to  retain  and  develop  the  intelligence  capabilities  and  scientific expertise essential to support our non-proliferation diplomacy.

As announced in Labor’s National Security policy on 6 October, Labor will commit additional resources to enhance national intelligence collection and assessment relating to the threat of  terrorism  and  the  proliferation  of  weapons  of  mass destruction.   The  details  will  not  be disclosed on the grounds of national security.

Cost:  Previously announced.

Labor  will  also  commit  additional  resources  for  the  Australian  Safeguards  and  Non-Proliferation  Office  (ASNO),  a  specialist  organisation  within  Australia's  Department  of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A key element of Australia’s non-proliferation strategy, ASNO’s responsibilities have grown considerably  over  the  past  decade  and  now  include  implementation  and  development  of technical measures to verify compliance with international non-proliferation commitments in the  fields  of  nuclear,  chemical  and  biological  weapons.   ASNO’s  expanded  role  has  not been  matched  with  sufficient  resources.   Labor  will  remedy  this.   Increased  funding  will support  the  recruitment  and  retention  of  expert  staff  and  new  research  on  verification technologies.

Cost:  Increased funding for the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office will be $3 million over 4 years.

Strengthened non-proliferation legislation

Labor  will  strengthen  Australia’s  legislative  prohibitions  against  activities  relating  to  the acquisition or development of nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapons.

As announced on 6 October, Labor Government will introduce amendments to the Weapons of Mass Destruction (Prevention of Proliferation) Act 1994 to impose increased sentences of up to 25 years imprisonment for persons who supply materials or otherwise assist activities they  believe  or  may  reasonably  suspect  relate  to  the  development  of  weapons  of  mass destruction.

Labor will further enhance the powers of law enforcement agencies to search premises and seize  materials  or  things  reasonably  suspected  to  provide  evidence  of  planning  or preparations to develop a weapon of mass destruction or otherwise commit an act of mass destruction.

A  Labor  Government  will  pursue  with  Australian  chemical  and  biotechnology  industries enhanced physical security and accounting practices for chemical and biological materials which could be stolen or otherwise diverted for terrorist use.

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Combating Inhumane Weapons and Illicit Small Arms Trade

A  Labor  Government  will  campaign  to  encourage  universal  adherence  to  the  Ottawa Convention that prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines.  Labor will continue to give high priority in Australia’s overseas aid programs to de-mining activities and assistance to landmine victims in afflicted countries.

A Labor Government will work to further strengthen and expand prohibitions on inhumane weapons including new weapons such as advanced fuel-air explosives.

Labor is deeply concerned about the illegal proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons.  Uncontrolled trade in small arms has contributed to the breakdown of societies with horrendous humanitarian and human rights consequences.  The illegal trade in small arms in the South Pacific has already resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

Labor strongly supports international efforts to address the proliferation and misuse of small arms  and  light  weapons  across the  globe.   We  will  work  in  global  and  regional  forums  to stop illegal trafficking and limit destabilising accumulations and transfers of small arms.

A  Labor  Government  will  pursue  the  negotiation  of  a  new  international  protocol  on  illegal manufacturing  of  and  trafficking  in  small  arms.   Such  an  instrument  should  provide  a valuable international law enforcement mechanism for crime prevention and prosecution of traffickers.

COSTING

01-02

02-03

03-04

04-05

Total

International Commission on Non-proliferation and Disarmament strategies 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Increased Intelligence fundingÃ¢ÂÂ 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Additional funding for ASNO and verification research  0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.0

TOTAL (millions) 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 4.0



Ã¢ÂÂ  Funding announced in Labor’s National Security Policy.  Increased intelligence funding will be $7 million over 4 years.

