Dimity Hawkins, Tim Wright and Tilman Ruff from ICAN addressing the UTLC in Melbourne
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