New Zealand to join new nuclear disarmament treaty

Disarmament Minister Winston Peters has announced that New Zealand will join a new international treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.

“Cabinet agreed today that New Zealand will ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” Mr Peters said.

“The treaty is the first international treaty formally outlawing nuclear weapons and leading towards their total elimination.”

New Zealand signed the treaty in September 2017, two months after it was concluded at a meeting of over 120 nations in New York. 

The treaty will now go before a parliamentary select committee before the New Zealand Government ratifies it.

“Joining the treaty is a logical step for New Zealand given our long-standing policy opposing nuclear weapons,” Mr Peters said.

“New Zealand’s ratification of the treaty expresses New Zealand’s abiding commitment to a nuclear weapon-free world.”

Contact: Alex Masters
M: 021 809 186
E: alexandra.masters@parliament.govt.nz