Need for Tighter Nuclear Arms Control

Need for Tighter Nuclear Arms Control

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, will be in Brisbane this Friday to deliver a keynote address on the need for tighter nuclear arms control throughout the world at the Nuclear Arms Control: Australian and Regional Perspectives Towards 2000 conference.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the International Relations and Asian Politics Research Unit within the University of Queensland's Department of Government, the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Australian Institute of International Affairs, and will be held 29-30 October at the Marriott Hotel, Queen Street, Brisbane. The minister will be speaking on Friday at 9.10am.

According to one of the organisers of the conference, Dr Marianne Hanson, nuclear war remains a possibility despite the ending of the Cold War.

Dr Hanson said the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in May 1998 had dashed global hopes for a nuclear arms-free future.

Another key speaker will be Professor Ramesh Thakur from the United Nations University in Tokyo who will stress the importance of a United Nations conference scheduled next year to review nuclear proliferation.

Dr Hanson said her presentation would urge the resurrection of the 1996 Canberra Commission report arguing for a phased elimination of nuclear arms.

"This highly respected report, an Australian initiative, could be revived and used to spearhead a fresh effort to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction," Dr Hanson said.

For more information, contact Dr Marianne Hanson (telephone 07 3365 3112).