Australia must urgently sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons now that it has become international law, with the 50th nation - Honduras - officially ratifying the treaty at a ceremony over the weekend.

The Australian Greens have welcomed the news that the Treaty will officially come into effect on the 22nd January 2021.

"This is an historic day in the ongoing campaign for peace, and one that should be celebrated," Steele-John said.

The Greens are calling on the Labor Leader in the Senate, Penny Wong to declare where her party stands on the proposed Nuclear Waste Dump in SA, after a clear division within the Labor Party was revealed in a Senate Inquiry Report released late yesterday.

NSW Labor Senator Jenny McAllister delivered a dissenting report, independent of her Labor colleagues including SA Senator Alex Gallacher who supports the majority report that SA should be a dumping ground for nuclear waste.

The Greens strongly oppose the bill to establish a nuclear waste dump at Kimba.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia said:

“The Senate Inquiry showed that this is a highly flawed bill. There are deep concerns that this bill blatantly seeks to prevent any right to judicial review of this process and sets in stone Kimba as the dump site against strong community opposition.”

Thursday 6th August 2020

Australian Greens Peace and Nuclear Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for Australian to sign the United Nation Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on the 75th Anniversary of first atomic bombing in Hiroshima.

"Today's Anniversary is a harrowing reminder of the diestructive power of these weapons, of which there are still thousands stockpiled around the world, and why we must continue to strive for peace," Steele-John said.

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for an acknowledgment of the role Australian Government's have played in the nuclear chain and a commitment to ban nuclear weapons to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test.

Since 16 July, 1945, there have been 2,121 nuclear tests around the world. 21 of these tests have taken place on Australian soil.

Senator Steele-John said these tests had a devastating impact on people and planet, particularly First Nations Peoples and their country.

South Australian Labor members have dumped on their home state today, backing the legislation to build a nuclear waste dump at Kimba on SA’s Eyre Peninsula, the Greens say.

SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“Labor has today dumped on South Australia and backed a site selection process for a nuclear waste dump that has been dodgy from the start.

“South Australians have already said no to nuclear. Today, every South Aussie should be asking why their elected representatives from the major parties have refused to listen to them.   

The Greens have referred the legislation to build a nuclear waste dump in South Australia to a Senate Inquiry for scrutiny of the laws and the process that led to this point.

“The Coalition has decided Kimba on SA’s Eyre Peninsula, home to some of the country’s best agricultural land, is the place to dump the nation’s radioactive waste,” South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Greens have condemned the Liberals’ plan to introduce nuclear power at the behest of their big corporate mining donors, in the Coalition-majority led

The Greens have called for the process to select a nuclear waste site to be halted, and an independent, expert panel to take over, amid deep concerns about the sidelining of the community and Traditional Owners.

“Today’s revelations that Kimba is the preferred site for an expanded nuclear waste dump are deeply troubling,” Greens nuclear spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The entire process has been badly botched from the start, with community concerns ignored and the Adnyamathanha and Barngarla people sidelined.

The Liberals have shown we can’t risk another term of them in Government, by approving a destructive uranium mine on the eve of an election being called, and trying to hide it.

“The Liberals are trashing the environment behind voters’ backs. They have tried to hide this destructive uranium mine decision from voters. They do not deserve another term of government,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.