Weapons proliferation

Will Australia join the treaty to ban Nuclear weapons?

roman June 15, 2022

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a long-term champion of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, inspired by his late mentor Tom Uren, a former Labor Minister who witnessed the atomic bombing of Nagasaki as a prisoner of war. In proposing the resolution committing to the treaty in 2018, he said the new policy is “Labor at its best” and that “nuclear disarmament is core business for any Labor government worth its name”. In 2016 Albanese launched the Tom Uren Memorial Fund with ICAN, and has spoken out in support of the treaty in parliament, at public events and demonstrations since its negotiation in 2017.

A majority of the new government members have signed the ICAN Parliamentary Pledge to work for Australia to sign and ratify the Treaty. It has been backed by two dozen unions, including the national peak body, the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The Victorian, Tasmanian, Australian Capital Territory, South Australian, Northern Territory and Western Australian Labor branches, as well as over 50 local branches have passed motions declaring their support and calling upon Australia to join the ban without delay. Many have called for signature and ratification to be completed in the first term of the new government.
— “New Prime Minister backs the ban”, ICAN

Old_Notes, Weapons proliferation

ICAN: UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

roman June 15, 2022

FIRST MEETING OF STATES PARTIES

The world is gathering in Vienna for the landmark first meeting of states parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the fourth Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons and the ICAN Civil Society Forum.

Experts and activists on the ground in Vienna will cross live to four Australian hubs over four nights to discuss, analyse and celebrate the nuclear ban events and the movement to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Join the hybrid events in person in Port Augusta, Fremantle, Brisbane and Melbourne, or tune in via zoom from anywhere around the world.

More details and registration at the ICAN website

SUNDAY 19 JUNE: PORT AUGUSTA

MONDAY 20 JUNE: FREMANTLE

WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE: MEANJIN / BRISBANE

FRIDAY 24 JUNE: NAARM / MELBOURNE

AND ONLINE, ALL FOUR NIGHTS

Nuclear, Old_Notes, Weapons proliferation

Pine Gap’s role in China–US arms race makes Australia a target

roman April 23, 2022

Some idea of the growing importance of Pine Gap to the US is given by its extraordinary growth. Initially, it was a ground station for a single satellite to gather what’s called signals intelligence while orbiting 36,000 kilometres above Earth. There are now at least four much more powerful satellites connected to the base. Their antennas automatically intercept everything transmitted within their frequency range. This includes a huge array of electronic signals for intelligence analysis, including text messages, emails, phone calls and much more. In addition, ground-based antennas at Pine Gap and other Australian sites intercept a vast volume of information transmitted via commercial satellites.

Pine Gap’s own satellites also intercept signals from radars and weapon systems, such as surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft artillery, fighter planes, drones and space vehicles, along with other military and civilian communications. From Pine Gap, a vast volume of military data is fed into the US war fighting machine in real time.

Pine Gap operates in conjunction with similar intercept satellites linked to a base at Menwith Hill in England. Their use in directing botched drone strikes that have killed a large number of civilians has been highly contentious in England. The combined coverage of the two bases includes the former Soviet Union, China, South-East Asia, east Asia, the Middle East, eastern Europe and the Atlantic landmass.

[…] Together, this access to signals and infrared intelligence, and its location in relation to China, gives Pine Gap a crucial role in US plans for fighting wars in space. This capability will be improved by a new space-based detection and tracking system called Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR).

On April 6 the AUKUS pact leaders – Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison and Joe Biden – announced they would develop hypersonic missiles and subsurface robots after earlier promising to provide Australia with nuclear attack submarines starting from about 2040.

Making Waves in Adelaide: Jan 29th

roman January 26, 2018

Making Waves features the powerful tales of nuclear survivors from Japan and Australia, travelling aboard Peace Boat’s voyage to Australia from 24 January – 6 February 2018.

The Governments of both countries have not yet signed the new nuclear weapons ban treaty. Inspiring civil society movements are demanding their leaders reject these weapons of mass destruction and abide by the new international legal norm.

Join the discussion.

Speakers include:

Miyake Nobuo, survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Hasegawa Hanako and Hasegawa Kenichi, former dairy farmers evacuated from Itate village, Fukushima
Karina Lester, Yankunytjatjara-Anangu second-generation nuclear test survivor
Scott Ludlam, former federal Senator and ICAN Ambassador

Hosted by Peace Boat, the Conservation Council of South Australia and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

On Monday 29 January 2018 at 6:00pm

LOCATION

Gallery Yampu
1 Jenkins St, Birkenhead, Port Adelaide, SA

BOOK NOW

Adelaide FoE Notes, Weapons proliferation

ICAN wins Nobel peace Prize

roman October 20, 2017

Congratulations to ICAN, the group behind the recent treaty to ban nuclear weapons, for winning this year’s nobel peace prize.

ICAN Asia-Pacific director Tim Wright said the group was elated by the honour and hoped it would mount pressure on countries to join the movement to end the human destruction caused by nuclear weapons.

“We hope this will only boost our campaign and put pressure on countries who haven’t signed the treaty yet, including Australia,” he said.

“The Australian government, not only failed to participate in negotiations, but it actually tried very hard to stop the talks from taking place. We’re calling on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to change Australia’s opposition to the treaty and sign just as our neighbours in south-east Asia and the Pacific have done.”

“If there is any time to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons, the time is surely now. This is a very dangerous moment in time and there is a very real risk that the situation could spiral out of control. We need to act now before these weapons are ever used again.”

— comments by Tim Wright in The Age

Nuclear, Old_Notes, Weapons proliferation