Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which is a UN International Day of Action recognised on 26 September every year. I am sure we can all agree that the global situation is utterly unpredictable. We have presidents like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin having access to a red button and an arsenal of all sorts of horrific weapons, including nuclear weapons. We have people like Putin literally pushing the boundaries of international sovereignty, flying aircraft and drones over other countries, NATO countries like Poland and Estonia. This is an alarming situation where the world is more unstable than ever. We have egoistic megalomaniac tyrants just a fraction away from nuclear war.
The United Nations established the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in 2013 but it was thinking about the issue for a lot longer than that. The very first resolution of the UN in 1946 established global nuclear disarmament as the highest disarmament priority of the UN, and it continues as a priority today. In 1946, this was a reaction to the absolute horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where 213,000 people were vaporised and killed immediately on the dropping of those weapons with an untold amount dying subsequently in horrific deaths that that took, in many cases, many years to come to fruition.
As well as the direct impact of nuclear weapons on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there are the lingering impacts on remote Pacific islands and Outback communities as well. This is an issue that is abhorrent and a weapon that needs to be reined in. We need to disarm completely.
The annual day recognises that more needs to be done. It is estimated that there are 12,241 nuclear weapons in the world today, and we all understand that is a horrific prospect to have that many in the hands of eight countries. Eight countries have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, France, UK, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Israel is also widely acknowledged as having nuclear weapons but maintains this position of so-called strategic ambiguity. It neither confirms nor denies that it has nuclear weapons, but it is well understood that it does.
International days are important. They could be seen as being tokenistic, but they give us all an opportunity to reflect on the issue that is being recognised and to stand up and say something of significance. It is important that we act on these kind of platforms.
Of course, nuclear weapons are not the only issue when it comes to nuclear. The AUKUS deal is something that has attracted a significant amount of attention in Australia. Obviously not nuclear weapons, but nuclear-powered submarines, $368 billion over 30 years that Australia will commit to those weapons, and they do deliver a high level of nuclear waste that will need to be dealt with. I note the efforts of my federal colleagues to consistently stand up against the AUKUS deal, to raise the concerns and fly the flag for peace and for disarmament.
I also acknowledge a number of different anti-war campaigners here in Tasmania over many years. I went to a meeting not that long ago of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. I acknowledge Margaret Reynolds, the former senator for Tasmania in Canberra, who is a steadfast advocate and campaigner for peace, freedom and disarmament in Tasmania and around the world, as well as the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons. A lot of us would have signed the pledge during the election campaign and at other times. It’s an international alliance that’s represented in 100 countries and does a lot of really good work in relation to promoting the abolishment of nuclear weapons.
There are individuals over the years, and I still have very fond memories of being a youngster watching Stewart Lennox and Grant Maddock drive a rubber ducky onto the bow of a submarine as it came up the Derwent River to light a flare. We have seen brave people stand for peace and disarmament over many years in this state, and may that well continue.
