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Seventy-five years after the destruction of Hiroshima with one nuclear weapon, religious groups across Australia are raising the call for Australia to sign and ratify the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

An interfaith open letter endorsed by 61 faith organisations calls for the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition to ensure Australia joins the Treaty. It notes;

To: the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition, August 2020

We, the undersigned leaders of religious organisations and faith groups, express our grave concern with the persistent global threat posed by nuclear weapons.

In each of our faith communities, we believe we are called to pursue peace and to love and care for all humanity and all creation. Collectively, our faith leads us to reject weapons designed to cause mass death and destruction and instil terror and fear. It is this faith that compels us to act for the eradication of weapons of mass destruction.

Seventy-five years on from the horrific atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the whole earth remains under the threat of nuclear weapons. Well-intentioned efforts over the decades have failed to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons or to achieve total nuclear disarmament.

We believe nuclear weapons are illegitimate, inhumane and indiscriminate. They have the power to extinguish in minutes everyone and everything that humankind holds dear.

We continue to witness massive investment in existing and new nuclear weaponry and are deeply concerned that nine heads-of-state hold such power over the global community.

Nuclear arms control agreements are expiring, languishing or collapsing.

We are heartened by the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Negotiated by a majority of nations, the new treaty champions collective security beyond nuclear weapons. It sets the new highest standard for nations seeking nuclear abolition, to ensure these weapons are never used again. It is a treaty that cannot be bent to suit the wishes of the nuclear-armed.

Australia claims to support nuclear disarmament yet, to our deep disappointment, our nation remains outside the TPNW.

As people of faith across Australia we join together in one voice to urge the Australian Government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Our future depends on the successful implementation of this treaty.

To download the Open Letter, to see the organisations supporting the letter and to view the signatories, please click here.