- by foxnews
- 16 Nov 2024
Penny Wong overruled her department and insisted on sending an observer to the first meeting of countries that support a landmark United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons, new documents reveal.
It now has 92 signatories, 68 of which have formally ratified it, and is strongly backed by neighbours such as Indonesia and New Zealand.
Australia has not yet taken steps to join the treaty, and continues to consider its position. The Labor party committed to sign and ratify the treaty after considering a range of factors that appear to be high hurdles to pass.
But anti-nuclear weapons campaigners were heartened by the decision to send government backbencher Susan Templeman to the Vienna meeting in June.
The newly released documents show Dfat formally recommended against sending an observer to the first meeting of TPNW members.
The documents also reveal Dfat officials warned in August against uniting with other countries to sign a statement of concern about the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons.
Australian officials continue to emphasise the importance of the longstanding Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
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