Quakers sign Open Letter in Support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

On 6 August, Hiroshima Day, Quakers Australia have joined with other faith-based groups to sign an Open Letter in Support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, calling the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition to progress Australia's ratification of the nuclear weapon ban treaty. Australia has not yet joined the ban.

August 6 and 9 mark the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an important time to renew efforts for disarmament amidst fluctuating nuclear tensions.

Signing the Open Letter on behalf of Australian Quakers. Presiding Clerk Ann Zubrick said:

     In March 2017 Quakers Australia joined 50 other groups to endorse an Interfaith Appeal urging Australia to participate in the negotiating conference for the treaty.

     Quakers (who were awarded the Nobel peace Prize in 1947) believe that nuclear weapons still pose one of the greatest threats to peace in the world.

     We are concerned that Australia has not done its part to support the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. It has taken a position of opposition during the development of treaty and refused to sign or ratify so far, apparently convinced of the need to remain under the US nuclear umbrella for security, in spite of a survey in November 2018 showing that 79 % of Australians want the government to sign the treaty.

     As the risk of a nuclear arms race rises, we must commit ourselves to the task of reversing the trend towards global disaster.

The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the first global treaty to ban nuclear weapons and all activities related to them. It makes nuclear weapons illegal alongside landmines, cluster munitions, chemical and biological weapons.

ICAN has been the main civil society actor working alongside governments to achieve a strong and effective ban treaty.

The Open Letter, an initiative of ICAN (winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize) and numerous other faith-based groups around Australia, can read in its entirety here.