Australia
Australia dropped its opposition to the TPNW when in October 2022 it abstained on the annual UN General Assembly resolution on the Treaty, after five years of voting against it. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said through a spokesperson that Australia had “a long and proud commitment to the global non-proliferation and disarmament regime” and that the government supported the TPNW's “ambition of a world without nuclear weapons”.[1]
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Not compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| 2021 UNGA resolution on TPNW | |
| 2020 UNGA resolution on TPNW | |
| 2019 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| 2018 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations | No |
| Share of women in TPNW negotiations | N/A |
| Vote on adoption of treaty text | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards Agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Fissile material production facilities | No |
| Highly enriched uranium stocks | 1–10 kg |
| Plutonium stocks (mil/civ) | No/No |
| Related treaties and regimes | |
|---|---|
| Party to the BWC | Yes |
| Party to the CWC | Yes |
| Party to the PTBT | Yes |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes |
| Party to a NWFZ | Yes (Rarotonga) |
| Member of the CD | Yes |
Latest developments
Australia participated as an observer at the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in June 2022. In the May 2022 elections, the Australian Labor Party achieved majority government for the first time since 2007. In 2018 the opposition Labor Party made a formal commitment to 'sign and ratify the Ban treaty' when in government, after taking into account the need to ensure complementarity with the NPT and an effective verification and enforcement architecture.2 It reaffirmed this commitment in 2021. More than 90 federal parliamentarians in Australia (around 40% of the parliament) have signed ICAN's Parliamentary Pledge. Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney are among close to 40 cities in Australia that have committed to ICAN’s Cities Appeal.
Recommendations
- Australia should ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its national defence plans and security policies. It should renounce the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, for instance through a declaratory statement, and refrain from endorsing future statements in support of weapons of mass destruction.
- Australia should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.