Ministry Statements & Speeches:
This year marks a half-century since the adoption of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). For the 50 year period since the day in 1968 when New Zealand joined 94 other countries at the UN General Assembly in voting ‘yes’ on the Treaty, my country has been a stalwart supporter of it. We retain our full support for the NPT and for the ‘Grand Bargain’ (non-proliferation in return for disarmament and technical assistance with nuclear energy) which lies at its heart.
The Treaty’s anniversary is cause for celebration since, over these 50 years, the NPT has been the blueprint for significant gains both on nuclear non-proliferation as well as on disarmament. However, not all the news is good.
In the last several years, progress on nuclear disarmament has slowed. Today, the commitment of the Nuclear Weapon States to meeting their Article VI obligation and continuing on the path towards the elimination of nuclear weapons is much less apparent. Combined with other tensions regarding compliance with non-proliferation obligations, there are suggestions now that the Treaty is in jeopardy.
Secretary-General Guterres has emphasised that the total elimination of nuclear weapons remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations. We are grateful for the recent efforts of Secretary-General (in his “Agenda” for “Securing our Common Future”) to draw attention to the unacceptability of the increased nuclear risks which we now face and to call for a “new political commitment to accelerate the implementation of past commitments”.
New Zealand endorses the Secretary-General’s appeal. Our own recent efforts to underscore the unacceptability of the risks our planet runs from these weapons; to reinforce the fundamental tenets of International Humanitarian Law; and to highlight the urgency of the elimination of nuclear weapons; have centred on the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and the welcome reinforcement this Treaty gives to the fundamental object and purpose of the NPT.
The Prohibition Treaty has now provided us with the legal framing for a nuclear-free world. New Zealand’s ratification of this important Treaty was deposited at the end of July and, accordingly, we are proud now to have joined the TPNW’s membership.
My Delegation takes the opportunity of this International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to join with many others here and reiterate our call for the realisation of the NPT’s 50-year vision of a world without nuclear weapons. There could be no better cause for celebration.