Nuclear nightmare needs real leadership
Jill Singer
The Herald Sun
Cate Blanchett told us so when Russia started getting antsy about her portrayal of a Cold War spy in the latest Indiana Jones film.
It seems in Blanchett's elegantly blurred world of art and reality, humanity faces far greater dangers than nuclear war, such as the prospect of white, middle-aged men being prevented from taking photographs of slim and attractive naked children.
But as lesser mortals are aware, the nuclear conversation, as Cate Blanchett dismissively calls it, is far from over.
Even Blanchett's erstwhile friend, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, knows it.
Rudd now plans a new commission to help end the arms race and rid the world of nuclear weapons. It is a laudable goal. But good ideas are worthless if they're not acted upon.
Rudd's proposed commission echoes that of Paul Keating's Canberra Commission from the mid-'90s. It tried - and failed - to do something about reducing the threat.
As a result, the world remains at high risk of nuclear destruction because hundreds of nuclear warheads are still kept on high alert, ready to launch at the press of a button, accidental or otherwise.
The US and Russia are meant to be taking a lead on this issue. They're not.
Meanwhile, the Rudd Government is refusing to back away from the Howard Government's disgraceful deal to sell uranium to Russia.
The reassurances being given about safety are dangerously flimsy. Russia has promised that our uranium will be used only in facilities subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and will not be on-sold to Iran.
Yet even the Australian Government acknowledges that Russia has limited IAEA inspections and is yet to complete the reforms needed to separate its civil and military nuclear programs.
It is absurd to say we can't sell uranium to India because it is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but we can sell it to Russia because it has signed up, when the current inspection systems are so obviously flawed.
If Rudd and others want to be taken seriously in their quest to abolish nuclear weapons, they need to stop being so selective about the many shortcomings of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Iran, for example, is rightly condemned for not giving unfettered access to IAEA inspectors, and for threatening Israel with destruction. But why the silence about Israel's behaviour?
It is an open secret that Israel has been busy fighting and winning its own nuclear arms race, totally unfettered by IAEA inspectors.
Meanwhile, Israel's Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush, both lame-duck leaders, are singing from the same song sheet about taking on evil Iran and its nuclear weapons program that might or might not exist.
If Australia is going to play a meaningful role in global nuclear disarmament, we need to avoid such double standards and hypocrisy.
As the world's biggest single holder of uranium reserves, we could hold enormous international sway regarding nuclear disarmament, if only we had the guts.
Imagine this - Kevin Rudd standing up and telling the world that Australia's uranium is up for sale conditional on countries that want it demonstrating their commitment to being free of nuclear weapons.
Ban the bomb - and we'll consider supplying you with uranium for the peaceful production of energy.
Now that, Mr Rudd, would be taking a real leadership role in the quest for global safety: action rather than talk.
It seems in Blanchett's elegantly blurred world of art and reality, humanity faces far greater dangers than nuclear war, such as the prospect of white, middle-aged men being prevented from taking photographs of slim and attractive naked children.
But as lesser mortals are aware, the nuclear conversation, as Cate Blanchett dismissively calls it, is far from over.
Even Blanchett's erstwhile friend, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, knows it.
Rudd now plans a new commission to help end the arms race and rid the world of nuclear weapons. It is a laudable goal. But good ideas are worthless if they're not acted upon.
Rudd's proposed commission echoes that of Paul Keating's Canberra Commission from the mid-'90s. It tried - and failed - to do something about reducing the threat.
As a result, the world remains at high risk of nuclear destruction because hundreds of nuclear warheads are still kept on high alert, ready to launch at the press of a button, accidental or otherwise.
The US and Russia are meant to be taking a lead on this issue. They're not.
Meanwhile, the Rudd Government is refusing to back away from the Howard Government's disgraceful deal to sell uranium to Russia.
The reassurances being given about safety are dangerously flimsy. Russia has promised that our uranium will be used only in facilities subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and will not be on-sold to Iran.
Yet even the Australian Government acknowledges that Russia has limited IAEA inspections and is yet to complete the reforms needed to separate its civil and military nuclear programs.
It is absurd to say we can't sell uranium to India because it is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but we can sell it to Russia because it has signed up, when the current inspection systems are so obviously flawed.
If Rudd and others want to be taken seriously in their quest to abolish nuclear weapons, they need to stop being so selective about the many shortcomings of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Iran, for example, is rightly condemned for not giving unfettered access to IAEA inspectors, and for threatening Israel with destruction. But why the silence about Israel's behaviour?
It is an open secret that Israel has been busy fighting and winning its own nuclear arms race, totally unfettered by IAEA inspectors.
Meanwhile, Israel's Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush, both lame-duck leaders, are singing from the same song sheet about taking on evil Iran and its nuclear weapons program that might or might not exist.
If Australia is going to play a meaningful role in global nuclear disarmament, we need to avoid such double standards and hypocrisy.
As the world's biggest single holder of uranium reserves, we could hold enormous international sway regarding nuclear disarmament, if only we had the guts.
Imagine this - Kevin Rudd standing up and telling the world that Australia's uranium is up for sale conditional on countries that want it demonstrating their commitment to being free of nuclear weapons.
Ban the bomb - and we'll consider supplying you with uranium for the peaceful production of energy.
Now that, Mr Rudd, would be taking a real leadership role in the quest for global safety: action rather than talk.