Abstract

A Nuclear-Free South Pacific

The article presents information on the signing of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone treaty (S.P.N.F.Z.). The tests of its intentions will be in how it reacts to New Zealand's ban on nuclear ships and whether it accedes to the protocols of the S.P.N.F.Z. treaty. The S.P.N.F.Z. treaty was drafted in August on Rarotonga, one of the Cook Islands, by the thirteen-country South Pacific Forum, which promotes regional cooperation on economic and political matters. The pact is the result of a ten-year effort first undertaken by the New Zealand Labor Party and recently revived by Australia's Labor government capita income exceeding $10,000. The document prohibits the testing, stationing, storage, acquisition and deployment of nuclear weapons and the disposal of nuclear wastes in the region's waters.