9 DECEMBER 1987
The Government welcomes the agreement that has been reached on intermediate range nuclear forces.
The agreement is unique in that it provides for the
elimination of a complete class of nuclear weapons.
It will be crucial to the prospects for future arms control
agreements that this agreement can be fully and effectively
verified so that the compliance of the two sides, and their
good faith, can be unambiguously demonstrated to each other.
In this regard I feel the deepest satisfaction at the role
Australia will play in helping to verify Soviet compliance
with the terms of the agreement through the operations of
the joint defence facilities in Australia.
As I stated in the Parliament on 6 June 1984, these
facilities contribute to verification of arms limitation
arrangements between the US and USSR and are also able to
provide information about missile launches.
As the INF agreement allows the USSR to destroy some of the
missiles covered by the agreement by launching them, and
also prohibits the USSR from using those launches for
developmental or testing purposes, the ability of the US to
monitor this activity including through the joint defence
facilities in Australia will be fundamental to the successful implementation and continuing operation of the
agreement. The process of verifying the INF agreement, including the
important verification function of the joint facilities here
in Australia, will provide invaluable experience in relation
to verification of a START agreement.
The Government urges both the US and USSR to build on the
precedent established by the INF Treaty arrangemefits in
their * other arms control negotiations, especially in respct
of strategic nuclear weapons and chemical weapons. 003255