Australia and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Australia

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

Australia has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

Australia has consistently voted against an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”. According to the website of the Australian foreign ministry, joining the TPNW “would be inconsistent with our US alliance obligations”.

Australia supports the retention and potential use of US nuclear weapons on its behalf, as indicated in various policy statements, including its defence white paper of 2016 and foreign policy white paper of 2017.

ICAN campaigners protest on the roof of the Australian foreign ministry building in Canberra on 20 September 2017, the day the TPNW opened for signature. Credit: ICAN

Political developments

Although the current Liberal–National government of Australia has said that it will not support the TPNW because it “seeks to delegitimise extended deterrence”, the main opposition political party, the Australian Labor Party, adopted a resolution in 2018 committing it to sign and ratify the TPNW in government.

Anthony Albanese, who proposed the resolution and now leads the party, said: “Our commitment to sign and ratify the nuclear weapon ban treaty in government is Labor at its best.” The Labor party welcomed the entry into force of the TPNW in 2021 and reaffirmed its commitment to sign and ratify it in government.

Most Labor parliamentarians have also individually pledged to work in support of Australia’s signature and ratification of the TPNW, as have parliamentarians from the Australian Greens and other parties. A cross-party parliamentary friendship group was established in 2020 to promote adherence to the TPNW.

The councils of several Australian cities, including Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney, have called on the Australian government to sign and ratify the TPNW, as has the Australian Local Government Association.

Labor parliamentarians, including the current leader Anthony Albanese, hold a copy of the TPNW at parliament house in Canberra in 2018. Credit: Martin Ollman

Public opinion

A public opinion poll conducted by Ipsos in 2018 found that 79 per cent of Australians believe that their government should sign the TPNW, with 8 per cent opposed to signing and 13 per cent undecided.

Many organisations in Australia have voiced support for the TPNW, including Australian Red Cross, the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and more than 60 religious organisations.

TPNW negotiations

Australia did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption. On the opening day of the negotiating conference, it joined the United States and several other states in protesting the treaty-making process.

In 2016, Australia voted against the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Earlier that year, it had attempted to derail a UN working group on nuclear disarmament in Geneva, which adopted a report recommending that negotiations commence on a new treaty. Australia said that it could not accept the draft report and forced it to a vote.

ICAN campaigners protest at Australia’s diplomatic mission in Geneva during a UN working group on nuclear disarmament in 2016. Photo: ICAN

Nuclear testing in Australia

From 1952 to 1963, the British government, with the active involvement of the Australian government, conducted 12 nuclear test explosions and up to 600 so-called “minor trials” in the South Australian desert and off the Western Australian coast.

Radioactive contamination from the tests and trials was detected across much of the continent. Little was done to protect the 16,000 or so test site workers, and even less to protect nearby Aboriginal communities.

Two representatives of those communities, Sue Coleman-Haseldine and Karina Lester, testified at the TPNW negotiations in 2017 about the devastating long-term harm from the tests. In large part due to their advocacy, the preamble to the treaty recognises “the disproportionate impact of nuclear-weapon activities on indigenous peoples”.

Sue Coleman-Haseldine, a Kokatha elder and nuclear test survivor, with ICAN’s Nobel peace prize medal in 2018. Credit: Martin Ollman

Founding of ICAN

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was founded in Australia in 2007 with the goal of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons via a new international treaty. The founders assembled a broad global coalition of organisations to work together to build a groundswell of public opposition to nuclear weapons.

ICAN campaigners in Melbourne, Australia, celebrate the announcement of ICAN’s Nobel peace prize in 2017.

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

[HIGHLIGHTS]

Status

Australia has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

ICAN campaigners protest on the roof of the Australian foreign ministry building in Canberra on 20 September 2017, the day the TPNW opened for signature. Credit: ICAN

Political developments

Labor parliamentarians, including the current leader Anthony Albanese, hold a copy of the TPNW at parliament house in Canberra in 2018. Credit: Martin Ollman

Public opinion

TPNW negotiations

ICAN campaigners protest at Australia’s diplomatic mission in Geneva during a UN working group on nuclear disarmament in 2016. Photo: ICAN

Nuclear testing in Australia

Sue Coleman-Haseldine, a Kokatha elder and nuclear test survivor, with ICAN’s Nobel peace prize medal in 2018. Credit: Martin Ollman

Founding of ICAN

ICAN campaigners in Melbourne, Australia, celebrate the announcement of ICAN’s Nobel peace prize in 2017.

[PARTNERS]

Australia

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Political developments

Public opinion

TPNW negotiations

Nuclear testing in Australia

Founding of ICAN

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Political developments

Public opinion

TPNW negotiations

Nuclear testing in Australia

Founding of ICAN

Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement

Act for Peace

Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia

Anglican Diocese of Gippsland

Architects for Peace

Arid Lands Environment Centre

Association of Women Educators (AWE)

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council

Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies

The Australian Conservation Foundation

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)

Australian Democrats

Australian Education Union (Victoria)

Australia Education Union

Australian Federation of Graduate Women

Australian Greens

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (Victoria)

Australian Nuclear Free Alliance

Australian Nursing &amp; Midwifery Federation

Australian Peace Committee

Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN)

The Baptist Union of Victoria

Beyond Nuclear Initiative

Canberra Region Anti-Nuclear Campaign

Catholics in Coalition for Justice and Peace

The Campaign for International Co-operation and Disarmament

Climate Landcare Environment Action Network

Conservation Council of the South East Region and Canberra

Conservation Council of South Australia

Council of Australian Humanist Societies

Dulwich Centre Foundation

Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education

Footprints for Peace

Fremantle Anti-Nuclear Group

Friends of the Earth (Australia)

Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Householders' Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) Inc.

Human Survival Project

Hunter Peace Group

ICAN Australia

Independent and Peaceful Australia Network

International Volunteers for Peace Incorporated

Just Peace Old Inc

The Maritime Union of Australia (Victorian Branch)

Marrickville Peace Group

Medical Association for Prevention of War

The National Tertiary Education Union

Network of Immigration and Refugee Women of Australia

Newcastle Bike Ecology Centre

No Waste Alliance

Oxfam Australia

Pax Christi Australia

People for Nuclear Disarmament

Presse

Psychologists for Peace

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Union (Victoria Branch, Rail Division)

SafeGround

The Search Foundation

Social Policy Connections

Social Responsibilities Commission, Anglican Province of Western Australia

Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation