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Aukus does not lead to greater proliferation of nuclear material: Wong
Wong is asked about whether Australia will sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and says that she wants to stress that “No, Aukus does not lead to greater proliferation of nuclear material. I want to say that really clearly”.
We will work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to make sure it is consistent because we have quite frankly gold standards when it comes to nuclear none proliferation and we will protect that.
We’ve set out the principles by which we would consider it, but I again want to say – I know the TPNW is a very important articulation, particularly from civil society about why people rightly want a world without nuclear weapons. The way you deliver that best, the way you deliver outcomes best is through the non-proliferation treaty.
I don’t recall that ever being part of our procurement processes, but my point is I think the unions are a very important part of the tripartite approach to making sure we improve our national capability which is what Aukus is about and what the Defence Strategic Review is about.
It is one of the consequences of going down this path that we will have to deal with and we know that, which is why we are already starting the process of working through how this will happen. Obviously we are talking decades away, given the time-frame, we are talking – we don’t get the first Aukus submarine for a number of decades.
So, the reality is this is some decades off, but it is right that people are raising it. We know this is a challenge and we will make sure there is a process in place to address it.
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