Disarmament and Arms Control

It is a pleasure to be with you today and to have the opportunity to talk to you about New Zealand’s disarmament efforts, in particular our advocacy against nuclear weapons.

It’s a pleasure to join you today – and I extend a particular welcome to Marty Donoghue and Athena Li-Watts who are also joining me today.

77 years ago today, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Three days earlier, on the 6th of August 1945, the same fate had befallen the people of Hiroshima.

In spite of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the nuclear disarmament obligation enshrined in Article VI, we seem as far as ever from a world without nuclear weapons, and in real danger of moving backwards.

Thank you, Mr President. I extend my warm congratulations to you on the assumption of the Presidency of this inaugural meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Let me start by acknowledging the nuclear survivors, the people who lost their lives to nuclear war or testing, and all the peoples driven off their lands by nuclear testing, whose lands and waters were poisoned, and who suffer the inter-generational health effects of radiation exposure.

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Kia ora tatou

Good evening and thanks so much for the introduction.

76 years ago today, during World War II, the unthinkable happened. As the people of Hiroshima were starting their day, an atomic bomb was detonated above their heads.

Some of you may have been surprised when you received an invitation from the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, and I would forgive you if you were.

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Launch of Parliamentary Handbook on Disarmament for Security & Sustainable Development - virtual event 

I’d like to start with a thank you to the AI Forum Executive for getting this event off the ground and for all their work and support to date.

Thank you for joining me here this evening for what is part of an ongoing conversation about New Zealand’s work on disarmament, and how that intersects with New Zealand’s broader approach to peace and security, and to our foreign policy.

It is such a pleasure to be here in Dunedin, and to have this chance to talk with you about key issues within my disarmament and arms control portfolio.

I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on the issue of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

I’m thrilled to be standing here as a dedicated Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, which I hope reinforces for you all – and for our friends and partners offshore – how serious this Government is about pursuing New Zealand’s objectives in this portfolio.

It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.