PRIME MINISTER
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
OPENING DINNER
GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
AGAINST CHEMICAL WEAPONS
CANBERRA 18 SEPTEMBER 1989
Excellencies Distinguished guests
Parliamentary Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Three quarters of a century ago, the nations of the world
were plunged into the first truly global conflict.
The trauma, brutality and horror of that war are still
scorched into the collective memory of us all.
Not least among the barbarisms that man inflicted on his
fellow man in that first world war was the widespread use of
poison gas a weapon so destructive and indiscriminate in
its effect that those who used it could not prevent troops
of their own side let alone civilians being caught in
the poisonous clouds.
Australia, then a very young nation, contributed its men and
money unstintingly to the battles being fought, for the most
part, on the other side of the globe.
Thousands of Australian soldiers died due to the effects of
poison gas. Thousands more returned home with damaged lungs
to endure, and not to enjoy, the peace for which they had
fought.
The horrors of the chemical battlefields of World War 1 led
the world community to express its outright rejection of
chemical warfare in the 1925 Geneva protocol. That treaty
recently reaffirmed by 149 nations earlier this year in
Paris remains today the fundamental embodiment of the
world's norms and restraints against chemical warfare.
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But in recent years the world community has been appalled by
the fact that despite the Geneva protocol, the unthinkable
has again happened: large scale use of chemical weapons has
recurred in our own time.
So it is essential that we complete the work of our
forebears. We must ban not merely the use but also the very
existence of chemical weapons.
That, delegates and friends, is what has brought you all
this way to Canberra: the desire for a permanent and secure
remedy in the form of a chemical weapons convention.
This gathering is an historic one a world first.
It represents an effort to give new impetus in this long
saga. It represents a genuine endeavour to eliminate for the first
time on a multilateral basis an entire class of existing
weapons. And in recognition of the sweeping nature of that effort, it
is the first time that a major industrial group has been
called on in its entirety to participate in the disarmament
process. Let me take this opportunity formally to welcome the
representatives of the nearly 70 Governments present for
this conference, and to welcome with equal warmth the
representatives of the chemical industry, whose involvement
will be so vital to the proper design and implementation of
a completed Chemical Weapons Convention.
Together, the participation of governments and industry is a
tremendous encouragement that the work our negotiators are
undertaking in Geneva can and will be brought to a
successful resolution.
Let me say at the outset that Australia is a proud host of
this conference and an unashamedly enthusiastic supporter
of the proposed convention.
Nor do we come as recent converts to the cause.
We have, we say with pride, been active in the forums of the
world not least in the Conference on Disarmament on this
and other disarmament issues.
we have of course forsworn any recourse to chemical weapons
and encourage others to do likewise.
Only last month, here in Canberra, officials from 22 nations
of the Asia-Pacific region attended, a seminar to discuss the
details of the proposed convention and its ramifications and
strategic benefits for our region. 1879
That seminar emerged from a proposal I launched last year to
develop a regional initiative on chemical weapons to
support at the regional level the efforts being made at
Geneva. The Australian Government has also worked closely with our
own chemical industry for many years, in the knowledge that
drawing industry into the processes of formulating and
implementing policy is the only effective way towards a
chemical weapons ban.
Our experience of conducting trial inspections of chemical
plants is one practical example of how cooperation with
industry can jointly advance understanding of the technical
issues awaiting resolution in the Convention.
So we host this conference thoroughly cognisant of the
complexities involved in this issue but let me hasten to
add, realistically optimistic that these complexities can be
resolved.
Delegates and friends
The prospect of a complete and lasting ban on chemical
weapons is indeed a compelling one.
we have before us the chance to terminate this grotesque
misapplication of the fruits of chemical science.
This would not only have inestimable value as a milestone in
its own right; it would also be a tremendous demonstration,
in the worldwide search for more comprehensive arms control
and disarmament, of what can be achieved with goodwill,
energy and patience.
Let each disarmament task be undertaken with the appropriate
tools; let the nexus between this conference and the forums
of nuclear disarmament be the bridge of greater confidence
and trust that we can provide by the successful achievement
of complete and verified chemical disarmament.
It would be a tragedy if any nation stood back from this
convention through misunderstanding of its aims and
requirements, or if any nation withheld adherence because it
wrongly felt the convention was in some way inimical to its
interests. Delegates No industry can operate in a moral vacuum, nor can its
activities be insulated from the broader concerns of the
society it serves and in which it finds its markets.
There is increasingly a feeling tha ' t industries must be held
to account for the effects of their, operations most
clearly evident of course in rising community concern about
the environment.
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The presence of so many distinguished leaders of the
chemical industry at this conference amply demonstrates that
in this vital industry you are taking your responsibilities
seriously and acting upon them.
Because of course the chemical industry has nothing to fear,
and much to gain, from the successful conclusion of a
chemicals weapons convention.
A chemical weapons convention,' will not be inimical to the
interests of the industry. It will not hamper legitimate
trade in chemicals or the flow of chemical technology.
Exactly the opposite is true: a convention with credible
verification will provide a vital safeguard, allowing the
industry to manufacture and trade freely and confidently for
any legitimate civil purpose.
In the absence of a convention, the chances of legitimate
activities being placed under clouds of suspicion of
unreasoning fears being experienced about chemical
technology of honest traders being discriminated against
are much higher. I
Central to the idea of a chemical weapons convention is true
and visible even-handedness. So in this conference, we must
act on the understanding that a solution that does not draw
on a consensus of all interested parties, and that is not
carefully crafted with all their concerns in mind, is, in
the long term, no solution at all.
The challenge and the inspiration of this issue is that we
must all work together. The nature of the task is that as
equal partners, we will work towards a goal which will make
us all equal beneficiaries.
The progress in Geneva gives us great hope and confidence
that there is at hand an effective and comprehensive
solution to the abhorrent threat posed by chemical weapons.
The Australian Government is convinced that the
international community has before it a real opportunity to
rid the world entirely of these weapons.
We are determined to do what we can to capture that
opportunity. My friends, when we look from this parliamentary building
across the lake we see on the other shore the Australian War
memorial, wherein are inscribed the names of all those who
gave their lives in battle for this nation.
Among them are those thousands of names of the victims of
chemical weapons of the First World. War.
many other nations have suffered even more grievously than
we, and more recently than we, from the scourge of this
repellent form of weaponry. 1881
We must ensure there are no more victims of chemical
warfare. We must ensure there are no more chemical weapons.
In conclusion, may I thank you all again, representatives of
industry and government, for your presence and for your
commitment to this important task and process on behalf of
all mankind.
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