Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (NZ)
Encyclopedia
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND(NZ)) was co-founded in Christchurch
New Zealand
in 1959 with the help of Elsie Locke
and Mary Woodward. Mabel Hetherington, who belonged to an earlier generation of peace activists from England, was largely responsible for setting up CND(NZ) in Auckland
when she moved to New Zealand after the second world war. With Alison Duff and Pat Denby, Hetherington carried CND(NZ) in Auckland through the 1960s. It was largely from CND(NZ) and the Peace Media that Greenpeace New Zealand
evolved.
In 1959, responding to rising public concern following the British H-Bomb tests in Australia
, New Zealand voted in the UN to condemn nuclear testing while the United Kingdom
, United States
and France
voted against, and Australia
abstained. In the early 1960s CND(NZ) New Zealand organised marches and speeches throughout the country to highlight the concerns about French atmospheric nuclear tests
at Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia
. In 1961, CND(NZ) with the support of other peace groups urged the New Zealand government to declare it ‘will not acquire or use nuclear weapons' and to withdraw from nuclear alliances such as ANZUS
. In 1963 CND(NZ) Auckland presented the ‘No Bombs South of the Line' petition with 80,238 signatures to the New Zealand Parliament calling on the government to sponsor an international conference to discuss establishing a nuclear-free-zone in the southern hemisphere. It was the biggest New Zealand petition since the one in 1893 demanding votes for women
.
In 1972, in a joint Greenpeace
and CND(NZ) campaign, the yacht Vega was re-named "Greenpeace III", and it sailed in a defiant protest into the atomic exclusion zone at Mururoa Atoll. The Vega was rammed by a French military warship
and David McTaggart
(co-founder of Greenpeace International) was severely beaten by French military police in a second voyage in 1973. The international publicity which surrounded the incident marked the beginning of a 3 decade protest against nuclear testing at Mururoa with an eventual test ban implemented by the French in 1996. In 1987 the New Zealand parliament adopted the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987
declaring the country and its territorial waters a nuclear-free zone
.
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1959 with the help of Elsie Locke
Elsie Locke
Elsie Violet Locke was a New Zealand writer, feminist and social activist. She was born Elsie Violet Farrelly in Waiuku.- Life :...
and Mary Woodward. Mabel Hetherington, who belonged to an earlier generation of peace activists from England, was largely responsible for setting up CND(NZ) in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
when she moved to New Zealand after the second world war. With Alison Duff and Pat Denby, Hetherington carried CND(NZ) in Auckland through the 1960s. It was largely from CND(NZ) and the Peace Media that Greenpeace New Zealand
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand is one of New Zealand's largest environmental organisations, and is a national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace.-History:...
evolved.
In 1959, responding to rising public concern following the British H-Bomb tests in Australia
British nuclear tests at Maralinga
British nuclear tests at Maralinga occurred between 1955 and 1963 at the Maralinga site, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area, in South Australia. A total of seven major nuclear tests were performed, with approximate yields ranging from 1 to 27 kilotons of TNT equivalent...
, New Zealand voted in the UN to condemn nuclear testing while the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
voted against, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
abstained. In the early 1960s CND(NZ) New Zealand organised marches and speeches throughout the country to highlight the concerns about French atmospheric nuclear tests
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
at Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
. In 1961, CND(NZ) with the support of other peace groups urged the New Zealand government to declare it ‘will not acquire or use nuclear weapons' and to withdraw from nuclear alliances such as ANZUS
ANZUS
The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is the military alliance which binds Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks...
. In 1963 CND(NZ) Auckland presented the ‘No Bombs South of the Line' petition with 80,238 signatures to the New Zealand Parliament calling on the government to sponsor an international conference to discuss establishing a nuclear-free-zone in the southern hemisphere. It was the biggest New Zealand petition since the one in 1893 demanding votes for women
Women's suffrage in New Zealand
Women's suffrage in New Zealand was an important political issue in the late 19th century. Of countries presently independent, New Zealand was the first to give women the vote in modern times....
.
In 1972, in a joint Greenpeace
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand
Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand is one of New Zealand's largest environmental organisations, and is a national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace.-History:...
and CND(NZ) campaign, the yacht Vega was re-named "Greenpeace III", and it sailed in a defiant protest into the atomic exclusion zone at Mururoa Atoll. The Vega was rammed by a French military warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
and David McTaggart
David McTaggart
David Fraser McTaggart was a Canadian-born environmentalist who played a central part in the foundation of Greenpeace International....
(co-founder of Greenpeace International) was severely beaten by French military police in a second voyage in 1973. The international publicity which surrounded the incident marked the beginning of a 3 decade protest against nuclear testing at Mururoa with an eventual test ban implemented by the French in 1996. In 1987 the New Zealand parliament adopted the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987
New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987
The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act is a New Zealand law passed by the Fourth Labour Government in 1987 "to establish in New Zealand a Nuclear Free Zone, to promote and encourage an active and effective contribution by New Zealand to the essential process of...
declaring the country and its territorial waters a nuclear-free zone
Nuclear-free zone
A nuclear-free zone is an area where nuclear weapons and nuclear power are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question....
.
See also
- New Zealand's nuclear-free zoneNew Zealand's nuclear-free zoneIn 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, land and airspace of New Zealand became nuclear-free zones...
- Fri (yacht)Fri (yacht)Fri is a yacht that spearheaded an international protest of a flotilla of yachts in a voyage against atmospheric nuclear tests at Moruroa in French Polynesia in 1973...
- Greenpeace Aotearoa New ZealandGreenpeace Aotearoa New ZealandGreenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand is one of New Zealand's largest environmental organisations, and is a national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace.-History:...
- Nuclear-free zoneNuclear-free zoneA nuclear-free zone is an area where nuclear weapons and nuclear power are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question....
- ANZUS - New Zealand bans nuclear ships
- Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear DisarmamentThe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
- Sinking of the Rainbow WarriorSinking of the Rainbow WarriorThe sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure , carried out on July 10, 1985...
- Nuclear-Weapon-Free ZoneNuclear-Weapon-Free ZoneA nuclear-weapons-free zone, or NWFZ is defined by the United Nations as an agreement which a group of states has freely established by treaty or convention, that bans the use, development, or deployment of nuclear weapons in a given area, that has mechanisms of verification and control to enforce...
- Treaty of RarotongaTreaty of RarotongaThe Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalizes a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific...
- Antarctic Treaty SystemAntarctic Treaty SystemThe Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land...
- Mongolian Nuclear-Weapons-Free StatusMongolian Nuclear-Weapons-Free StatusIn 1992, Mongolian President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat announced that his country would seek to become a one-state Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone...
- Treaty of TlatelolcoTreaty of TlatelolcoThe Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
- African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone TreatyAfrican Nuclear Weapons Free Zone TreatyThe African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba, establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Africa.The treaty was signed in 1996 and came into effect with the 28th ratification on 15 July 2009.-Treaty Outline:...
- France and weapons of mass destructionFrance and weapons of mass destructionFrance is known to have an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently...
- Comprehensive Test Ban TreatyComprehensive Test Ban TreatyThe Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force.-Status:...