Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called on the Morrison government to reject United States strategic military ambitions in Northern Australia.
Senator Steele-John said the strategic ambitions of the United States would clearly put Australia on a pathway to hosting nuclear-capable weapons that is at odds with our commitments to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty of Raratonga (SPNFZ) and article 6 of the United Nations Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“This is a very serious escalation by the United States and Australia must not be drawn into it,” Senator Steele-John said.
“Over the last decade we’ve seen a significant build up of United States military in the Northern Territory starting with the Marine Rotational Force in 2011, followed in late 2019 by commitments to store fuel reserves and extend the runway at RAAF Base Tindall in Darwin to accept B-52 Bombers.
“Now we are seeing the next phase of this build up with the United States announcing their wish to build and store precision-guided missiles here in Australia’s top end.
“The Northern Territory community has very clearly said that they do not accept the ongoing rotation of US troops through the top end, nor the build up of US military equipment at RAAF Base Tindall.
“The aspirations of the US government, announced last night by Ambassador Goldman, clearly contravene not only Australia’s nuclear non-proliferation treaty commitments but also the wishes of the Australian public.
“The ball is now in court of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to state clearly that Australia will not be the Un
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