Australia’s Approach to Arms Control Issues in the United Nations

Abstract

Australia enjoys a long-standing and firm commitment to arms control, and especially to United Nations (UN) arms control forums. A founding member of the UN, Australia has had a firm commitment to the primary objective of the UN, as laid down in its Charter, ‘to maintain peace and security in the world’. Ever since Australia’s Dr Herbert Evatt, President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1948, called on the UN to bring ‘peace, justice and a decent standard of living’, support for the objectives of the UN has formed a fundamental element of the platforms of the major Australian political parties — and of Australian foreign and security policy. Australia’s commitment to the UN ideal is based on the belief that only through such a body can there be concerted international efforts towards the maintenance of a stable international environment. This has, and continues to be, the shared view of all Australian governments, irrespective of political persuasion. As such, Australia’s aims focus particularly on: i) strengthening the operation of existing arms control instruments, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and BiologicalWeapons Convention (BWC); ii) the negotiation and implementation of new agreements, including the conclusion of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).