Articles 
WEDNESDAY 14 NOV 2018
PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
HUMAN SURVIVAL PROJECT
PARLIAMENTARIANS URGED TO PUT NUCLEAR WAR TOP OF PRIORITY LIST
People for Nuclear Disarmament (PND) and the Human Survival Project (A joint project of PND and the Council for Peace and Justice) have urged Australian parliamentarians to put the risk of global nuclear war right at the top of their list of concerns.
According to PND's UN Nuclear weapons campaigner, who is also co-convener of Abolition 2000's working group on nuclear risks:
“It's been said over and over again over the last five years or so that the risk of nuclear war not only never ever went away, but that right now it is as great as its ever been. Back in January of 2018, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock, whose iconic hands are basically moved by a committee of nobel prizewinners and nuclear weapons experts, was shifted to two minutes to 'midnight', where 'midnight' represents a civilization-ending exchange of nuclear weapons. Prior to this its closest had been 3 mins to midnight in 1983, when the world nearly ended twice. And all this was before the incident in which the US ambassador to NATO said the US would 'take out' non-INF compliant Russian nuclear weapons (thereby initiating WW-III), and before the US decided to trash the INF treaty.”
''A large-scale use of nuclear weapons would indeed be the end of what we call 'civilization', and might put a question-mark over human survival itself.”
“Yet – apart from some welcome thoughtful remarks by Senator Penny Wong, and some remarks from time to time by Greens or one or two brave souls in the ALP – the issue of the risk of nuclear war hardly registers in the Parliament. Most ALP Parliamentarians have 'taken the pledge' of ICAN, and committed to support the Ban Treaty. Full credit to them and to ICAN for having done that. But it has to be said that on the whole, and apart from the occasional blip, the issue of the risk of nuclear war hardly registers in the national parliament or in the national consciousness.”
“Yet when the world nearly ended twice in one year back in Sept-Nov 1983, though we weren't conscious of the specific events at the time, there was a widespread consciousness that it could, and there was considerable Parliamentary attention paid to the issue throughout the 80s including a lengthy Senate committee report.”
I don't expect Parliamentarians to spend 100% of their time on nuclear weapons, though in the '80s there were one or two who nearly did just that. It would be reasonable to expect however a level of debate considerably in excess of what we now have, and at least dozens of questions with and without notice. It would be reasonable to expect the potential end of everything we are familiar with to command a level of attention similar to the economy, taxation, healthcare, and other matters that are now considered 'important' but which will be made irrelevant in seconds if missiles ever start to fly.”
PND and the Human Survival Project have written to every member of the Senate and the House that has an email, urging them to prioritize the nuclear weapons issue.
http://www.pndnsw.org.au/articles/features/396-this-should-be-at-the-top-of-your-political-agenda.html
John Hallam
UN Nuclear Weapons Campaigner
Co-Convener Human Survival Project
Co-Convener, Abolition 2000 Working Group on Nuclear Risk
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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0411-854-612
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