PM Transcripts

Transcripts from the Prime Ministers of Australia

Hawke, Robert

Period of Service: 11/03/1983 - 20/12/1991
Release Date:
28/09/1991
Release Type:
Media Release
Transcript ID:
8341
Document:
00008341.pdf 1 Page(s)
Released by:
  • Hawke, Robert James Lee
Change in STRUCTURE OF US nuclear forces

RIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA 28 SEPTEMBER 1991
President Bush has taken the single most decisive step for
world peace since the nuclear age began nearly fifty years
ago. The decisions he has announced this morning on the structure
of US nuclear forces constitute the most sweeping act of
unilateral disarmament in modern history. And the proposals
he has made for further arms reductions promise to reshape
fundamentally the nature of global relationships.
In an act of great imagination, vision and courage, George
Bush has moved the world a giant step back from the brink of
nuclear annihilation. He has shown us how the nuclear
anguish can end.
Those actions confirm his place among that handful of
statesmen who change the world immeasurably for the better.
And they confirm the greatness of the country he leads.
This morning I have sent a message to President Bush
congratulating him on his achievement.
We now look to the Soviet Union. I have also sent messages
to Presidents Gorbachev and Yeltsin urging them to respond
in the same spirit; a spirit worthy of George Bush's
proposals, and of their own achievements.
I hope other nuclear powers will also, in turn, respond in
similar spirit.

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