Conference President, Vice-minister Patricia Olamendi, Ministers and Vice-ministers, excellencies and distinguished conference participants, I wish to commend Mexico for its initiative in organising this conference of States Parties and Signatories to Treaties that establish Nuclear Weapons Free Zones.

I am delighted to be in Mexico, at this conference, and it is a great pleasure to be among distinguished invitees and representatives of the Nuclear Weapons Free Zones.

In particular, I would like to acknowledge the presence of His Excellency Ali’ioaiga Feturi Elisaia of Samoa, representing the Pacific region as Pacific Forum chair, and Pacific colleagues from Fiji and Marshall Islands.

We are very proud of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty – the Rarotonga Treaty.

Ali’ioaiga in his statement touched on the Treaty’s roots in the Pacific’s experience of nuclear testing in the Pacific. New Zealand shares that concern.

In 1958, at the United Nations, we called for the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear testing. By the 1970s New Zealand was speaking out strongly against nuclear testing in the Pacific and a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel was sent to the vicinity of the test zone in French Polynesia in 1973, and again in 1995. New Zealand took a case to the International Court of Justice in 1973 to seek an end to atmospheric nuclear testing. We also strongly welcomed the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the legality of nuclear weapons in 1996. The strong concern about nuclear testing also led to New Zealand’s passing legislation in 1987 declaring our country nuclear free. This act of parliament implemented in New Zealand the Treaty of Rarotonga.

New Zealand passed that legislation because of our strong belief that nuclear weapons are both immoral and a threat to the very existence of life on earth as we know it. Our nuclear free status enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, a very high level of public support.

The support for a nuclear free New Zealand, and for the Rarotonga Treaty, shows how countries can countries can further nuclear disarmament, and contribute to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

One of the issues this conference is to address is how to build up contacts and links between nuclear free zones.

The Nuclear Weapon Free Southern Hemisphere initiative is one possibility for progress. Last year at the United Nations General Assembly New Zealand again had the pleasure of working with Brazil to promote the resolution “Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas”.

It is disappointing that this resolution did not achieve consensus, but it does have a very wide support base among the United Nations membership. The negative votes came from countries that are concerned that a nuclear weapon free southern hemisphere would affect their rights to free passage on the high seas.

New Zealand has been and remains a strong supporter of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We fully respect the rights that all states parties enjoy under that convention, including the freedom of navigation on the high seas.

Next week I and many others here will be in New York for the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Indeed this conference proposes to feed its views in to the review conference.

I believe this NPT review conference presents an important opportunity for all of us.

There have been increasing concerns about the lack of compliance and implementation of the commitments of signatories to the NPT.

There are concerns about the lack of progress on disarmament, and about the further development and spread of nuclear weapons. There are concerns that the rules are being circumvented, abrogated or ignored.

In New Zealand’s view the 2005 review conference should address these issues in a comprehensive manner. Any solution needs to take into account all three pillars of the treaty - nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

New Zealand’s position has always been that this delicate NPT Treaty must treat all 3 pillars equally. Given that, we have some difficulty with para 24 of the proposed declaration. Up front I apologise that our serious concerns were made apparent only in the last few weeks. We are strong believers in multilateralism, and so are pleased our proposed declaration recognises multilateralism as the core principle of disarmament negotiations and nuclear non-proliferation efforts, and reaffirms both the NPT as an essential instrument of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and the importance of achieving the universality of the NPT. And on that basis, we do see reference to articles I and II in para 24 as extremely important. Para 24 already paraphrases part of article IV of the NPT, and so our proposed changes merely seek to include the other elements of Article IV.

If other parties have serious concerns about our wish to include these references, I would like to understand that position.

We see nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as mutually reinforcing processes. In New York I will be working hard for progress on nuclear disarmament by the nuclear weapon states and supporting the need for progress against the spread and development of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, and this conference taking place with a large attendance by Non-Aligned States, have a valuable contribution to make to this. Such zones represent a fundamental reaffirmation of regional solidarity against nuclear weapons. By their very prohibition of nuclear testing, stationing, or development, they constitute an effective measure for both nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and yet allow for nuclear energy for those who want it.

It is my hope that over these two days we will be able to agree on a series of steps for enhancing cooperation between the nuclear weapon free zones. Step by step, region by region, we must work together to increase the coverage of nuclear free areas in our world.