Melissa Parke, executive director of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), will be visiting Parliament House in Canberra this week to urge the Albanese Labor government to sign and ratify the United Nation’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), also known as the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. Continue reading When will Australia join the TPNW?
On 7th July 2017 an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations adopted a global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW or Treaty).
The TPNW entered into force on 22nd January 2021. As a result, the third anniversary of this landmark Treaty will be marked on 22nd January 2024.
The TPNW has become a key component of international law on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It is effectively the only international agreement with the potential to rid the world of nuclear weapons and the catastrophic threat they pose to humanity and the environment. Continue reading ICAN & ACF sponsor nuclear ban treaty petition – still open
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
It is estimated that the two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. For months afterward, many people continued to perish from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. As well, the loss of life from radiation-induced cancer occurred for decades afterwards. Continue reading Hiroshima Day Rally – Sydney 6th August 2022
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed yesterday that a nuclear powered submarine base, purported to cost $10 billion, would be built on Australia’s east coast as part of the AUKUS partnership with the US and the UK.
Port Kembla, Newcastle and Brisbane have been cited as possible locations for the base.
In a statement released yesterday, Mick Cross, Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia’s Southern NSW Branch, opposed any nuclear proliferation in the Illawarra.1 Continue reading Planned Nuclear Submarine Base at Port Kembla Opposed
On the 6th and 9th of August, community groups around the world will commemorate the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In 1945, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (6th August) and Nagasaki (9th August). Over the following two to four months, the effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima and between 39,000 and 80,000 people in Nagasaki. Roughly half of these deaths occurred within 24 hours of these bombings. For months afterwards, large numbers of people continued to die from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. Most of the victims were civilians. Continue reading 76th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 6th and 9th August 2021