Marles denies treaty fallout
BARWON Heads’ own Nobel Laureate has laid down a challenge to his federal MP to back a UN treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.
The challenge comes from former Bellarine Secondary College school captain Tim Wright, who is the Asia Pacific director of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
“We’re deeply disappointed that (Corio federal Labor MP) Richard Marles is refusing to support the new UN treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons,” Mr Wright said this week.
“Nuclear weapons are not a legitimate or effective source of defence. They violate international law. And that’s why we’re calling on him to change his position.
“If he refuses to do so, he doesn’t deserve your vote at the next election.”
Mr Wright said three-quar- ters of all federal Labor parliamentarians (69 out of 95) had signed ICAN’s pledge to get Australia to join the treaty.
“Sadly, Mr Marles is the leader of a small faction working within Labor to stop the party from joining this historic disarmament treaty when it next forms government. Why? Because he believes US nuclear weapons are necessary for our security. This is both absurd and immoral,” he said.
Mr Marles hit back at the comments, claiming they were wrong.
“Tim has done great work contributing to the International Campaign Against Nu- clear Weapons, campaigning for the elimination of nuclear weapons. His aspiration for a nuclear weapons-free world is one that I share. He’s wrong about my views, though,” Mr Marles said.
“Labor has a strong history of advancing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. We pushed for and ratified the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is seeing the number of nuclear weapons in the world fall dramatically.
“I am committed to being part of that Labor tradition of making the world safer through nuclear disarmament.”
ICAN was launched in Melbourne in 2007, days before a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons conference in Vienna.
The group was the driving force behind a global agreement to ban nuclear weapons adopted by more than 120 nations in July last year.
The treaty was not signed by the US, Britain, Russia, China or Australia.