Remarks made at the International Parliamentary Union Conference at Bern, Switzerland 17 October in the capacity of joint President of the PNND
By Senator Coltart
Nuclear weapons are a hold-over from the Cold War political and security environments, and have no rationale in today’s world. The key threats to national security, including the possibility of terrorist attacks, cannot be addressed or prevented by nuclear weapons. To address conflicts between States we need to use international law and international mechanisms like the United Nations – not the threat or use of force. To address the risks from terrorism, we need greater collaboration between nations to ensure adequate policing and prevention of cross-border support for terrorist organisations, not the threat to destroy other nations with nuclear weapons.
We also need to address the conditions which give rise to terrorism; the increasing gap between rich and poor, the suppression of human rights and democratic processes, the lack of progress in achieving basic standards of living guaranteed in human rights treaties and promised in the Millennium Development Goals.
Nuclear weapons, their threat to human life and the environment, and the resources devoted to them, prevent rather than help meet the security needs of States and their citizens. The $100 billion spent annually on nuclear weapons is nearly 75% of the funding required to meet UN Millennium Development Goals. The production and testing of nuclear weapons generates radioactive pollution that is dangerous to human health and the environment for generations. Any actual use would create catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would be uncontrollable in time and space. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to current and future generations to act for nuclear abolition. Parliamentarians working in collaboration regionally and globally have a capacity to make a real difference in achieving a nuclear weapons free world.