Ever since the Labor Party’s election victory on 21 May 2022, members of the nuclear disarmament movement, led by ICAN and supported by MPG, have been urging the government to attend the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW or Treaty) in Vienna from 21 to 23 June 2022.

The Australian government has now confirmed that it will attend the first Meeting of States Parties as an observer. The government has also indicated that it will participate in the fourth Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons on 20 June 2022, hosted by Austria.

MPG welcomes the government’s decision to attend the first Meeting of States Parties. This is a positive step towards honouring the Labor Party’s pre-election commitment to signing and ratifying the TPNW.

The Australian delegation will be led by Susan Templeman MP, member for the federal seat of Macquarie NSW which encompasses the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury regions. Susan Templeman has been a long term supporter of the TPNW and the nuclear disarmament movement more broadly.

A majority of the elected members of the new government have signed ICAN’s Parliamentary Pledge which commits them to actively encouraging the Australian government to join the TPNW.

More information on support for the TPNW among parliamentarians and organisations across Australia can be found here.