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2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on theNon-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
4 May 2010

General DebateStatement by Mr Stephen Smith
Foreign Minister of Australia
on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum(Check against delivery)

Mr President
As the current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, I have the honour to speak on behalf ofForum members with Permanent Missions in New York, namely Australia, the Federated
States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic ofMarshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Pacific Islands Forum members view nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament with aparticular perspective. We have faced, first-hand, the devastating short-term and longterm adverse effects of nuclear testing.
Out of this harsh experience we were proud to establish the South Pacific Nuclear
Weapons Free Zone in 1985, the second such zone to be established in a populated
region. The Parties to the Treaty of Rarotonga are proud to be part of a network ofnuclear weapon-free zones across the Southern Hemisphere - the treaties of Tlatelolco,
Bangkok and Pelindaba, supported by the Antarctic Treaty and the Seabed Treaty.
The NPT is the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regimes.
Members of the Pacific Islands Forum will be working hard over the next four weeks toensure our discussions at this Review Conference bear fruit and that the NPT's core
principles are strongly reaffirmed. We cannot accept a repeat of 2005. We have ashared responsibility to affirm and reinforce the regime which for forty years has
provided clear global security benefits.
This will require commitment and effort from all of us. We must work together. We
must achieve balanced progress on all three of the treaty's pillars - disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful use.

- 2.-The members of Pacific Islands Forum are grateful to the International Commission on
Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and the Co-Chairs Yoriko Kawaguchi andGareth Evans in particular, for the comprehensive report, "Eliminating Nuclear Threats",released in December 2009. The Commission's substantive and concrete proposals
deserve the serious consideration of this Review Conference.
Mr President
In 2000, the Pacific Islands Forum leaders called for active pursuit by the .nuclearweapons-states of the steps leading to disarmament agreed at the 2000 Review
Conference. They welcomed the Conference's identification of measures to maintain andfurther strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. In 2005, Forum members
encouraged nuclear-weapons states to provide updates on their practical, systematic andprogressive steps towards nuclear disarmament.
We are pleased by the efforts made by some nuclear-weapons states to make real
progress on their Article VI obligations and those commitments given at previous Review
Conferences. We encourage them all to make further progress in order to achieve ourultimate aim of a world free of nuclear weapons.
hi our own region we welcome the long-standing ratification of the United Kingdom,France, China and the former USSR of those protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear Free
Zone Treaty which are relevant to them. We warmly welcome the announcement madeby Secretary Clinton yesterday that the United States intends to proceed with ratificationof the Treaty's Protocols.
Given the history of nuclear testing, Forum members attach great importance to the entry
into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Since the last NPT Review
Conference several additional Forum members the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, the MarshallIslands and Palau have all ratified the Treaty.
We encourage ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, particularly byAnnex 2 states, to enable entry into force as soon as possible. And we welcome thecommitment by some states to do so, including our good friend and neighbour Indonesia.
Every ratification is a step towards universalisation and further strengthens theinternational norm against nuclear testing.
Mr President
The safe and secure shipment of radioactive material is of concern to our region. We
continue to give priority to nuclear safety issues, including the application ofInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety requirements and guidelines;
cooperation to ensure effective and coherent national and global nuclear liability
mechanisms; adherence to relevant international liability instruments; and measures toimprove communication between shipping and coastal states regarding transport safety,security and emergency preparedness.
The 2000 NPT Review Conference underlined the importance of effective national andinternational regulations and standards for the protection of States concerned from therisks of transportation of radioactive materials. The Conference also took note of theconcerns of Small Island Developing States and other coastal States with regard to thetransportation of radioactive material by sea. The Conference called on States parties tocontinue to work bilaterally and through the relevant international organisations toexamine and further improve measures and international regulations to this end. We

-3-welcome the progress that has been made over the past decade in these areas, andencourage further efforts to improve communication between shipping and coastal stateson transport safety, security and emergency preparedness. We urge all relevant parties tomaintain vigilance and ensure that the current excellent safety record of such shipments ispreserved.
Mr President
Forum members fully support the rights of non-nuclear-weapon states to enjoy thebenefits of peaceful nuclear energy within a framework that reduces proliferation risk andadheres to the highest international standards of safeguards, security and safety.
We endorse the principles set out in the objectives of the IAEA's Technical Cooperation
Programme and commend this programme to states.
Strengthened non-proliferation measures, including safeguards and compliance, help
foster an environment conducive to sharing and enhancing the benefits of peaceful
nuclear energy. These measures thereby facilitate rather than inhibit the development ofpeaceful nuclear energy.
Mr President
Forum members stand ready to assist you, and to provide our own regional experience, inorder to contribute to a successful Review Conference. We are committed to achieving
real and practical outcomes across the entire non-proliferation and disarmament agenda.
We are committed to a world free of nuclear weapons. We are committed to strong
measures to ensure non-proliferation. And we are committed to the inalienable right of
all Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy forpeaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with all treaty obligations.
What we need, Mr President, is the political will and the spirit of cooperation to work
towards these noble aims.
For its own part the Pacific Islands Forum stands ready to do so.