Hutchison Paul: Motions — Nuclear Disarmament—Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference 
Hutchison Paul: Motions — Nuclear Disarmament—Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference 
[Volume:662;Page:10807] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Hunua) 
: 
 As a foundation member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and a member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament it gives me great pleasure to speak on this motion. This National Government remains totally committed to the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. As we speak the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control the Hon Georgina te Heuheu and New Zealand officials are heavily engaged in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference being held in New York. As Minister Georgina te Heuheu said earlier today to the 189 non-proliferation treaty States parties assembled in New York these are issues that New Zealanders feel passionately about. That passion has been borne out over many years and through the contribution of many members of this House and the broader community. 
The nuclear non-proliferation treaty is often described as the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. It is the only multilateral treaty that contains a commitment to nuclear disarmament. New Zealand was one of the first countries to sign the non-proliferation treaty in 1968. The vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world has been adopted by all New Zealanders and is one that this Government proudly supports. As the Minister said in her statement at the UN this morning the issues at the heart of the treaty are of a global nature. We are all impacted by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and we would all suffer the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war. 
President Obama’s leadership on nuclear issues has been largely responsible for reinvigorating the debate. When he spoke in Prague in April of this year he expressed America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. More recently the US and Russia signed a new treaty on nuclear weapons reduction and the US released its own Nuclear Posture Review which marked a significant break from the past. Yesterday the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US would be taking the important step of working to ratify the protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. The UN Secretary-General’s Five-Point Plan on Nuclear Disarmament is also lending momentum to global nuclear disarmament efforts as the Minister acknowledged in her statement to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference today. The New Zealand Government welcomes these initiatives as concrete steps towards nuclear disarmament but our delegation at the conference will be working for real disarmament commitments from all nuclear-weapon States. 
Central to New Zealand’s nuclear disarmament engagement at the conference is our membership of the New Agenda Coalition which will be pressing the review conference to adopt a number of practical recommendations that would significantly advance the world towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. New Zealand is also coordinating a group of States calling for action to address the significant number of nuclear weapons that still exist today on high alert and to bring an end to a Cold War legacy. We will also be working closely with Australia on promoting greater transparency from nuclear-weapon States as an essential confidence-building measure and supporting a Canadian initiative to address the non-proliferation treaty’s need for better working methods. 
The motion put to the House today supports the development of a nuclear weapons convention that would outlaw the possession and use of nuclear weapons. This Government firmly believes that a legally binding instrument or framework of instruments governing the elimination of nuclear weapons will one day be required as we progress towards a world without those weapons. For that reason New Zealand regularly supports a resolution at the UN General Assembly that calls for negotiation leading to a convention. As the Prime Minister stated in the House in April last year our support for those negotiations is conditional upon the time being right. We need to deploy our resources where they will have the most effect. New Zealand’s approach has therefore been to support a nuclear weapons convention as a long-term goal but in the meantime to focus on practical measures that will lessen the importance and number of nuclear weapons and further diminish their threat. Our engagement at the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference is focused on just those measures.