GENEVA 30 APRIL 2008. ICANi'S TIM WRIGHT REPORTS:Australia today delivered a statement on nuclear disarmament to the Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting in Geneva. It was much different from statements made in previous years.

It even included a reference to the need for a nuclear weapons convention (NWC) for the first time ever. This is something which disarmament experts have described as quite significant. The reference is a cautious one, but using those words in this forum is rare. The only other countries so far to have mentioned an NWC at the meeting have been Costa Rica, Malaysia and Iran.

The statement from Caroline Miller, Ambassador for Disarmament, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, read: “Australia under a new Government is fully committed to realizing a world free from nuclear weapons … A world free of nuclear weapons will require carefully calibrated steps that buttress international peace and security.

Every state, whether holding nuclear weapons or not, must play a part in realizing that world. And at an appropriate time, the international community will likely need to consider complementary legal frameworks, including a possible nuclear weapons convention, for the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons . . . .”

MAPW Vice-President Dr Tilman Ruff is a NGOi representative on the official Australian delegation. ICAN's Tim Wright is also at the meeting.

Read the rest of the statement in Tim's latest report, at icanw.blogspot.com/