Successful NPT Review Conference
(Joint Statement by Stephen Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia and Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan)

June 2, 2010

The Foreign Ministers of Australia and Japan, Stephen Smith and Katsuya Okada, today jointly welcomed the successful 2010 Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons which concluded in New York last weekend.

In stark contrast to the failed 2005 Conference, the 2010 Conference unanimously adopted a comprehensive and forward-looking final document which is a strong global commitment to the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

The Conference reaffirmed the Treaty as the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regimes. It agreed, unprecedentedly, on 64 follow-on actions in a balanced manner to reinforce the core principles of the Treaty -- on disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

We particularly welcome the commitment by Nuclear-Weapon States to reduce and eventually to eliminate all nuclear weapons.

We also welcome the many detailed and specific actions agreed by the participants as concrete and practical steps towards a safer and more secure world without nuclear weapons, including the reporting by Nuclear-Weapons States of their undertakings to the 2014 Preparatory Committee, which will be followed by the consideration of the next steps by the 2015 Review Conference.

We note also the commitment made on the hosting of a Conference in 2012 on the establishment of a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East as an important outcome of the conference. This commitment was crucial to achieving a consensus outcome.

Australia and Japan cooperated closely and played particularly active and constructive role leading up to and throughout the Review Conference. These joint efforts, including the package of measures tabled jointly, were reflected in the final outcome.

In the final days of the Review Conference we both associated ourselves with a Ministerial statement, initiated by Japan, calling on the States Parties to the Review Conference to renew their efforts and show greater flexibility in order to ensure the success of the Review Conference.

We also note that the report of the independent International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, initiated and Co-Chaired by Australia and Japan, received significant attention and was universally praised as a thoughtful and practical contribution to the Review.

Australia and Japan have a long and proud record of activism and achievement on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. We are determined to keep this positive momentum and to build on this record and the successful NPT Review Conference outcome in the period ahead.