Cluster Munitions Prohibitions Bill just the start

The Alliance Party is delighted that the Cluster Munitions Prohibitions Bill was passed unanimously last week, says co-leader Kay Murray.

"We are proud of the role New Zealand has played in the international campaign to ban this indiscriminate vicious weapon that remains a threat to civilian lives even years after conflicts have ceased."

The Alliance fully supports the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition's call for the Government to ratify the International Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay so that the required 30 signatory countries are obtained and it becomes international law.

"We urge the government not to stop there but to turn its attention to other indiscriminate weaponry that has similar catastrophic affects on the lives of civilians caught up in warzones."

Ms Murray says the Alliance would like to see a bill banning the use of spent uranium weaponry.

"We would also like to see New Zealand taking the lead internationally in a campaign to have an international treaty banning their use, as it did in the drive against cluster munitions."

Spent uranium weaponry is used in anti tank weaponry because it is very hard. However it is still radioactive and on impact these weapons turn into fine radioactive dust capable of travelling long distances in the atmosphere. The dust can be inhaled by civilians, settle in the soil and enter the groundwater systems causing long term health issues for people who live in the area such as cancer and birth defects.

Ms Murray says there is a growing awareness internationally of the damage caused by spent uranium.

"New Zealand could play an important role in assisting with the drawing up of a International Treaty banning spent uranium weaponry by hosting international conferences, as it did very successfully with the Cluster Munitions Treaty."

The Alliance Party firmly believes that if New Zealand will gain much more credence on the international stage and have a far greater impact in preventing unnecessary human suffering by working towards these humanitarian and peace keeping efforts than mindlessly following the USA in the discredited "war against terror".