PM says nuclear powers should be aiming to get rid of weapons

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday that nuclear weapon states should not lose sight of a commitment to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

And she implied that growing emphasis on non-proliferation should only be advanced if the old weapons states stuck by their side of the bargain to disarm.

She was speaking to a meeting of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament in the Beehive yesterday - about 60 MPs from around the world who were in Wellington for a larger meeting of Parliamentarians for Global Action.

National MP Nick Smith chaired the conference and paid tribute to Helen Clark's "leadership" in the disarmament area.

She said that despite there no longer being "the fear of imminent Armageddon which frightened young people in the 1980s", weapons were still around and still dangerous.

"The urgency of the task seems to have been surpassed by the apparent immobility of national power politics, yet the threat remains.

"The world cannot afford to be complacent about the existence and threat of nuclear weapons."

She said that the deal to eliminate weapons in the non-proliferation treaty should not be replaced merely with non-proliferation initiatives. The treaty will be reviewed next year.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, greater emphasis by global powers has been applied to non-proliferation of weapons by states such as North Korea and Iran.

But Helen Clark implied that despite that, the original deal should not be forgotten.

"First and foremost we need to keep before us the essential bargain that the [treaty] represents.

"While we will willingly contribute to non-proliferation and counter-proliferation initiatives, those initiates should be promoted alongside initiatives to secure binding commitments from those who have nuclear weapons which move us further towards the longer-term goal of nuclear disarmament."

There was a need to work hard before next year's review conference "to ensure that the central objective of disarmament remains to the fore and is implemented".

She listed some of the initiatives New Zealand supported to address concerns about non-proliferation and said New Zealand would also look at ways the strengthen export controls on strategic goods.

That was a reference to giving the Secretary of Foreign Affairs wider powers to prevent the exports of any goods believed to be destined for the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction.

At present the secretary has the statutory power to prevent the export of specific goods set out under regulation in a prescribed list under the Customs Export Prohibition order 1996.

But the Cabinet is expected to consider allowing any product believed to be used in the manufacture of weapons.

For example, aluminium sheet metal is not listed at present because it can be used in many products, but a change is being contemplated to ban such products if it seemed the eventual destination could be to do with the production of weapons of mass destruction.

NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

* The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force in 1970.

* The treaty restrains the five nuclear powers at the time - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - from transferring weapons or technology to non-nuclear states.

* Non-nuclear countries in turn agree not to develop weapons.

* India, Pakistan and Israel - all nuclear powers - did not sign.