The 2000 NPT Review
Conference (RevCon)
14 April - 19 May 2000, New York
NEW
ZEALAND MISSION to the UNITED NATIONS
2000
REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE TREATY ON THE
NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
STATEMENT
BY THE RONOURABLE MATT ROBSON
MINISTER
FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OF NEW ZEALAND
MONDAY
24 APRIL 2000
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
These
are words of the Maori, the first people of New Zealand, and they mean
simply: greetings to you all from Aotearoa/New Zealand.
We bring good
wishes for you, Mr President, and our congratulations, as you lead us
through this important review of a vital and significant Treaty We
want to work with you, and with all distinguished delegates, to
strengthen the contribution it makes to global security and to the
security of each of its members.
We
find it very appropriate that we the States Parties to the NPT should
meet here at United Nations Headquarters to review our Treaty.
International peace and security is fundamental to the Charter of the
United Nations We listened carefully to the counsel of our Secretary
General when he opened our Conference.
The
Secretary General was an honoured guest in our country earlier this
year. At that time, on 23 February, the Parliament of New Zealand
turned to the question of nuclear disarmament, at the beginning of
this new millennium. The Parliament resolved, without dissent, and I
quote:
as
a mark of the dawning of the year 2000, to appeal to all fellow member
states of the United Nations, and especially the nuclear weapon
states, to join with New Zealand in fulfilling the obligation to
pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to
nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective
international control.
The
Government has conveyed this appeal widely. The Parliament resolved
too,
that the Government of New Zealand would work for the fulfillment of the
obligation in all
appropriate international forums.
In
introducing the motion, the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark,
commented that the nuclear disarmament process had held much promise,
but it was faltering. Progress would not be easy. But New Zealand
would not step back from our longstanding place in the vanguard of the
nuclear disarmament movement.
We
renew this our Parliament's appeal, today.
It
is a telling moment for us, Mr. President and distinguished delegates,
for we begin our Conference at the time when, each year, New
Zealanders and Australians pause. On 25 April we pause to remember the
men and women of our countries who served in war. It is a day on which
we think about our history, our experience of war, our identity and
our place in the world This year the Prime Ministers of Australia and
New Zealand will join with the President of Turkey in the
commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli -
the day that became ANZAC Day. Our day of remembrance.
This
too is the international Year of the Culture of Peace in New Zealand a
generation has grown up now without the direct knowledge of war which
our parents and grandparents had. We have instead been very active
participants in the international efforts to help bring or reinforce
the peace, usually operating under United Nations auspices. Other
peoples have been less fortunate. Our world has suffered a plague of
smaller wars, and the threat Prom weapons of mass destruction hangs
over us We in New Zealand have been proud to take our place among the
peacemakers, hut we too can see the risks of conflict still.
Can
we at this Conference continue the movement from a history of war
towards a global culture of peace? We are bound by our Treaty, the Non-Proliferation
Treaty, to try.
At
the Conference on Disarmament last month, I suggested that we must
take up the opportunities that are available to prevent a new nuclear
arms race, to work for disarmament and to secure the peace. I offered
a vision of a southern hemisphere free of nuclear weapons,
consolidating the achievements of members in the existing regional
zones and building on initiatives of other governments. I paid tribute
to those states which have turned back along the nuclear way and have
chosen the path to national and regional security as non-nuclear
weapons states. I spoke plainly of our concern that the Conference in
Geneva had achieved so little in recent years, and I was hopeful that
this Review Conference might help us move forwards.
Mr.
President, distinguished delegates, I am Minister for Disarmament and
Arms Control in a new government of New Zealand, formed after general
elections in December 1999 Our new government will pursue an active
diplomacy for disarmament. We see this Review Conference as a time for
careful consideration together of our progress since the 1995 Review
and Extension Conference. And to develop together an updated and
suitably ambitious set of responses to our present challenges.
When
we look back over the past 5 years we do see positive steps in the
right direction.
We
applaud the very solid progress with nuclear free zones, for South-east
Asia and Africa, and with the Protocols to the Treaty of Rarotonga in
the South Pacific, and the work underway in Central Asia. We welcome
the new members to the NPT: 187 of us have now committed ourselves to
the same NPT bargain We are close, so close to universality, but still
not close enough.
The
CTBT was a huge achievement for multilateral disarmament, though it is
not yet in force. The decision last week by the Russian Parliament to
ratify the CTBT is a very positive step. I am delighted that we m New
Zealand can give very practical support to the CTBT through the
stations we contribute to the international monitoring system. We are
pleased to be working closely with some of our neighbours in the South
Pacific on building the network too.
We
acknowledge efforts by some nuclear weapons States to make our world
safer I was very pleased last week to welcome the decision by Russian
Duma to ratify START II Other positives include the trilateral
initiative on fissile material between the United States, Russia and
the IAEA; the British Government s reductions to its nuclear arsenal,
France's dismantling of its nuclear test facilities in the South
Pacific, China's continued policy of no first use.
Tougher
IAEA safeguards through the Additional Protocol have keen agreed since
1995.
They
offer a new benchmark tar verifying that we non-nuclear weapon States
are keeping our part of the NPT bargain.
But
there are many gaps in some of these achievements, and many negatives
as well:
nothing
to report on a Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty;
no
advance with negative security assurances;
continuing
concerns that a few non-nuclear weapons States parties are not meeting
their obligations under the Treaty;
nuclear
doctrines still embedded among the nuclear weapons States, even
gaining new currency with the so-called "re-rationalisation"
of nuclear weapons;
the
very obvious failure of the US Senate to ratify the CTBT - over the
very positive commitments by the President and his Administration -
and the fact that some other countries are still to sign and many
still to ratify;
concerns
arising from the aging of nuclear stockpiles and, as well, concerns at
the modernization programmer underway.
We
cannot ignore the fact of nuclear testing by India and Pakistan Their
tests in 1998 flew in the face of the commitments made by all of us.
We acknowledge that they did not breach our Treaty. For New Zealand,
and we think for many here, it has been a surprise to hear proposals
that suggest the NPT should adjust to these so-called new realities
That is not New Zealand's view. We should not organise the
international non-proliferation regime around those who challenge its
norms.
It
is also a matter of real concern that another state not party to the
NPT, Israel, operates unsafeguarded facilities New Zealand supports
the 1995 OPT Resolution on the Middle East and will be looking for
this Conference to give a clear message that this Resolution be fully
implemented.
Those
who have taken up the nuclear option will discover that it has harmed
their security and that they are set on a road to great danger Others
have seen and understood this, and have turned hack along the road.
We
must tackle such challenges in a positive way The NPT - our NPT - is
fundamental to non-proliferation, and to disarmament. Certainly at
this Conference we shall call on the few outsiders to join US, and to
join the wider efforts around the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
and a Fissile Materials Cut-oft Treaty (FMCT).
We
have made commitments to each other in our own vital interests,
national and collective.
We
can advance those same interests by completing work in progress
reinforcing the CTBT norm; adopting the Additional Protocol to IAEA
safeguards; getting the FMCT negotiation underway, encouraging those
who stand outside our Treaty to join with us, confident that our
purpose is a safer and more secure world and that we are all committed
fully to the deal we have done, in all its parts.
We
in New Zealand are ready to do all that. We think almost all of us
here today are in the same position. Yet we hear unceasing talk of
failure.
In
our view, the spectre of failure indicates the distance still to cover
from our history of war to the culture of peace.
And
in the context of our Treaty, the gap is mostly not in the performance
of the 182 nonnuclear weapon States. Almost all of us are meeting
our commitments in full. Nor is it explained by the actions and
ambiguities of the few left outside, though they try to challenge the
foundations of our success We worry about failure because, under
challenge, we cannot see enough evidence of success in the key,
disarmament, part of the NPT deal. This is our core concern.
We
worry too that the nuclear weapons States who are obliged to eliminate
their arsenals yet sound too tentative when describing it as an
"ultimate" goal We worry that nuclear weapons are claimed to
be required for security into the "indefinite" future. That
new pressures are loaded onto the machinery for the management of
nuclear weapons and nuclear materials. That new measures to underpin
collective security find it harder and harder to gain wide support,
and that breaches of the treaty can not be stopped.
And
if we focus on what only Jive of us might do to make our Treaty
stronger, that is not to overlook or diminish what they have dune. But
it is to be practical about what is still to be done and what can be
done.
We
are a small country and only one voice in our community of nations But
none of us stands alone. Here New Zealand stands squarely with our
partners on the middle path, with the New Agenda for nuclear
disarmament. We stand with Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, South
Africa and Sweden. Many others have lent their weight to our efforts,
as cosponsors of resolutions at the UN General Assembly, and in
support of this Coalition and the calls we make.
On
the occasion of this Review Conference, we ask that we all renew our
determination to meet NPT commitments.
The
indefinite extension that States parties supported in 1995 was not a
permit for indefinite possession of nuclear weapons. In order to
finish the job, we ask the five nuclear weapons States to make at this
Conference a new unequivocal undertaking for the total elimination of
their nuclear arsenals We are not questioning the commitment they made
when they signed up to the NOT. They are legally bound to fulfil that,
just as we are all bound by our commitments. But, the nuclear weapon
States can guarantee success at this Review Conference with fresh
energy, and through the practical steps laid out in the New Agenda.
Let
the bilateral START process now move ahead, with all five nuclear
weapons States joining a process leading to the total elimination of
these weapons. Let these States adapt their policies, take all nuclear
forces - including tactical forces - off deployment, show
transparency, and apply measures to ensure that progress towards
disarmament is irreversible. Let us all agree to build on 30 years of
experience, positive and negative, to move forwards.
At
our time of remembrance, Mr. President and distinguished delegates,
let us take those next steps away from war, towards peace.
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