UN General Assembly
1983

38. The majority of South Pacific countries do not have standing military forces. Those forces that do exist are small. Disarmament, therefore, is less of an issue for island Governments and peoples than is the prevention of armament. We are trying to bring basic services and development to our peoples. We wish to avoid the extraordinary costs and dangers of arms spending. As I said earlier, approximately $800 billion is spent annually on armaments. That spending, given the poverty of most of the people in the world, is obscene.