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World Peace Day

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The Hon Kathy Sullivan MP, Parliamentary Secretary 
to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Speech delivered at Cowra, 15 September 
1998.

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Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, 
this evening as we are gathered here to celebrate World Peace Day, I 
want to talk to you about what Australia has been doing to further the 
cause of peace around the world.

As I outlined briefly 
this afternoon at the Peace Bell Pavilion, Australia makes a very energetic 
and very substantial contribution to creating greater harmony on our 
troubled planet, both in terms of promoting international arms control 
and disarmament measures and through our aid program. Tonight I should 
like to begin by telling you a little more about the current issues 
Australia faces on the agenda of international disarmament and arms 
control. Then I’d like to talk about how Australia’s aid program 
helps promote peace as part of its fight against poverty.

Let me tell you first 
about current developments on the arms control front. I know that these 
are of great concern to many of you.

Arms Control and Disarmament Issues

There is little doubt 
that the most potent threat to world peace today is the risk of proliferation 
of weapons of mass destruction - a term usually taken to encompass nuclear, 
chemical and biological weapons - and their means of delivery - ballistic 
missiles.

The recent outbreak 
of nuclear and missile testing by India and Pakistan, Iran's and North 
Korea's missile tests, reports of renewed covert nuclear activity by 
North Korea, the earlier discovery that Iraq had been bent on assembling 
an arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles 
- all these are extremely worrying developments. These signs indicate 
that we cannot take for granted the hedges against weapons of mass destruction 
which Australia and many other countries have sought to put in place 
since their horrific destructive potential was revealed at the end of 
the Second World War.

If the price of liberty 
is eternal vigilance, as the Americans would have it, it is also the 
price of peace. It is important not only to negotiate arms control and 
disarmament treaties but to have in place - and be willing to pay for 
- effective mechanisms to ensure that they are being fully and effectively 
implemented.

This is a lesson the 
world has learnt - painfully - after the high-minded but ultimately 
ineffectual attempts to ban inhumane weapons such as mustard gas after 
the First World War. The Geneva protocols of the inter-war period were 
devoid of verification and compliance provisions. Indeed, as late as 
the 1970s, when the convention banning biological weapons was negotiated, 
there was not thought to be a need to address the verification question 
or to prevent cheating.

This is why in attempting 
to make contemporary arms control agreements effective there is an absolute 
necessity to ensure that, as we work towards a world free of weapons 
of mass destruction, every step along the road is genuine and irreversible.

This was the case in 
putting in place the Chemical Weapons Convention and Comprehensive Nuclear 
Test Ban Treaty with their ground-breaking, intrusive verification and 
compliance mechanisms. It has also recently been the case with the International 
Atomic Energy's safeguards system for nuclear materials which has had 
to be made much tougher since the discovery of Iraq's covert nuclear 
weapons program.

I am pleased to say 
that Australia is at the forefront of global disarmament efforts. As 
I indicated earlier today, Australia played a decisive role in securing 
UN General Assembly adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 
or CTBT and earlier in brokering agreement on the Chemical Weapons Convention, 
or CWC.

Australia also responded 
swiftly and firmly to the outbreak of nuclear testing in May in South 
Asia. Australia is working to defend the integrity of theinternational 
nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime in the face of the 
challenge posed by India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear tests. Australia 
is seeking to do so through consolidating the anti-testing norm established 
by the CTBT and by focusing international attention on the need for 
an urgent start to negotiations on a treaty banning the production of 
fissile material for nuclear explosivce purposes.

And Australia has played an active role in the Conference on Disarmament 
or "CD" - the institution in Geneva where most modern arms 
control negotiations have been negotiated. In addition to pushing for 
the negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty t his year 
Australia has been energetically pushing for the conference to undertake 
substantive work on the issue of anti-personnel landmines. And on 11 
August the CD agree to commence negotiations on a fissile material cut-off 
treaty.

The CD is an institution 
with, as they say colloquially these days, a "bad rap." To 
an outsider, it can seem arcane, slow-moving, forever groping towards 
the lowest common denominator among the competing national interests 
of its member states. One can, at a certain level, understand the frustration 
of the sponsors of the "Ottawa process" which produced - outside 
the CD - a landmines ban treaty faster than it would have taken the 
august Ambassadors in the Conference on Disarmament to agree on a joint 
order for lunch.

But there is a price 
to be paid in going outside the CD, as the final product of the Ottawa 
Process shows. The Ottawa landmines ban Convention is a very worthwhile 
achievement - which is why Australia has signed it. But it is light 
on verification and compliance provisions - not as light, certainly, 
as the "hand on heart" school of arms control of the 1920's, 
but not nearly as rigorous as other contemporary treaties. Also, the 
Ottawa Convention, with its impressive tally of 130-odd signatories 
and imminent entry into force, nevertheless failed to capture some very 
major landmines users, producers and traders - China, Russia, India, 
Pakistan, the two Koreas, the United States, to name the most salient.

In fact, as a means 
of addressing effectively and comprehensively the terrible humanitarian 
problem of landmines, the Ottawa Convention needs more work - needs 
supplementation to be precise, supplementation which can probably only 
happen in the CD.

The fact that, with 
the requisite political will mustered, the CD can be energised to produce 
treaties of lasting global value is attested to by the existence of 
the CWC and CTBT. Australia is committed to a similar lasting and comprehensive 
outcome on landmines.

As I have indicated 
Australia is very committed to strengthening the international arms 
control and non-proliferation regimes. Australia has pressed for meaningful 
improvements to those regimes over a number of years and has had considerable 
success in doing so.

Australia’s Contribution to Peace Building through the Overseas 
Aid Program

I now want to turn to 
the other important area I flagged at the outset tonight. And that is 
the contribution of Australia’s aid program to promoting peace.

Australia’s aid program 
has, since last year, been directed towards the following objective:   "to advance Australia’s national interest by assisting developing 
countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development."  
This has provided a clarity of purpose in a period which has seen major 
new demands placed on the program. Many of the activities in the aid 
program contribute to promoting peace in the receiving countries as, 
to a large extent, peace is a necessary precondition for achieving poverty 
reduction and sustainable development.

First the aid program 
is   helping people 
and their communities, who have suffered conflict, to return to normal 
life.

For example, there are 
now real grounds for optimism in relation to the situation in   Bougainville.  After eight years of civil 
war, there has been significant progress in laying the foundations for 
lasting peace.

Australia has been totally 
committed to supporting the peace process in Bougainville. The aid program 
has been a key element in Australia’s support for the PNG Government’s 
efforts to achieve a lasting peace on the island. In August last year 
a five year $100 million reconstruction and rehabilitation program was 
added to the ongoing program and in April this year the cease-fire came 
into effect. Australia has supported the peace talks and the participation 
of Australian civilians in the Truce and Peace Monitoring Groups. One 
of the first projects was to deliver construction materials to enable 
rebuilding of schools, health posts, roads and bridges - representing 
an immediate peace dividend.

Restoring civilian authority is critical to sustained peace and an 
Australian civilian police training project has recently trained a night 
police patrol comprised of civilians, Bougainville Revolutionary Army 
and resistance combatants in conflict resoluti on, communication 
and mediation skills.

In July 1998 a further 
project to distribute urgently needed clothing; to install water supply 
and sanitation works; to train small holders in cocoa rehabilitation 
and to establish adult literacy projects was announced. This project 
will be managed by the Adventist Development Relief Agency, which has 
been involved in Bougainville for a number of years. This project is 
a good example of the valuable role that NGOs play in the Australian 
aid program.

Another example in our 
region was Australia’s commitment, in late 1997, of $2 million to 
the UNDP peace-building program in   Mindanao  in the Philippines, where until 
recently separatist elements had been engaged in ongoing struggle for 
many years. This funding will support a number of quick-impact projects 
designed to give communities a greater stake in the peace process.

The second important 
area where our aid contributes to the cause of peace is in   helping to free people from the threat of landmines and other hazards 
leftover after conflict.

The aid program augments 
Australia’s discussions in international forums to build a solution 
to the worldwide   landmine  problem.

Landmines have been 
used in internal and external wars around the world. They are cheap 
and in the heat of battle it is rare for people to record where they 
have been placed making them very difficult to locate once fighting 
has ceased.

The tragic effects of 
landmines continue for many years after military conflict has ended. 
These weapons kill or maim thousands of victims every year - almost 
half of them children.

Australia has therefore 
sought to reduce the impact of these terrible weapons which inevitably 
have a very substantial impact on the world’s poor and dispossessed. 
In fact, Australia is a long-standing contributor to international efforts 
to help mine-affected countries. Most assistance goes to Cambodia, Laos, 
Angola, Mozambique and Afghanistan, areas where the affects of landmines 
are particularly severe.

And Australia has committed 
itself to assisting with the rehabilitation of post-conflict societies 
by pledging to provide up to $100 million for de-mining and related 
activities over the period 1995-2005.

Australian de-mining 
expertise and technology is world-renowned. Australian personnel are 
involved in training local people in most of the major landmine clearance 
projects around the world.

Also, through projects 
coordinated by the United Nations, the International Committee for the 
Red Cross and other non-government organisations, Australian aid helps 
rebuild the lives of landmine victims, providing them with prosthetic 
limbs, rehabilitation and retraining.

Australian aid also helps fund mine awareness education for farmers 
and their families. Special attention is paid to teaching children about 
th e danger of landmines, many of which can easily be mistaken 
for toys. In fact AusAID is presently finalising a video on de-mining 
for use in school curricula.

A third way in which 
Australia’s aid program contributes to peace is by   helping to avoid and reduce the effects of economic and political 
crises, which can fuel social tensions and ultimately violent conflict.

A key example here is 
the $50 million for humanitarian assistance which Australia has provided 
to   Indonesia  
to moderate the dual impact of the economic collapse and severe drought.

Finally, Australia’s 
aid program   helps 
to build the basis for economic, social and political stability and 
security  which is essential both to peace-building and to broad-based 
poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Weak institutional structures 
and democratic processes can severely undermine development efforts. 
Disillusionment when benefits are not equitably or efficiently distributed 
heightens tensions within fragile communities. The aid program therefore 
places great emphasis on support for capacity-building programs that 
will enhance the prospects for good governance, thus helping to avoid 
tensions which can boil over into open conflict. Support through the 
enlarged Human Rights Fund and the creation of the Centre for Democratic 
Institutions underlines Australia’s commitment to this area.

The Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI), for example, will provide 
training programs to politicians, officials, and representatives of 
civil society in areas such as judicial administration, electoral processes 
and parliamentary procedures.

This audie nce will be very aware that   Non Government Organisations  (NGOs) are 
involved in a number of peace-building activities which are part of 
Australia’s official aid program. Working through NGOs means the aid 
program can effectively support small-scale community-level activities 
that promote participatory approaches.

NGOs are able to lay 
the groundwork for long term social and political stability and security. 
Their long-established working partnerships with community groups in 
developing countries and their independence allows them to contribute 
towards stronger civil societies. Today it is particularly appropriate 
to acknowledge the efforts of groups like the World Peace Bell Association 
and other citizens’ associations to which no doubt many of you generously 
give your time. It is a pleasure to be able to say that the self-sacrifice 
of many Australians in their work for aid organisations is now being 
recognised with the presentation of Volunteer Certificates.

Conclusion

Today I have covered 
a good deal of ground in addressing you about Australia’s efforts 
to make possible a more peaceful globe both through arms control efforts 
and through its aid program.

I also wish you well 
in your endeavours on behalf of peace.

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