53 Letter from Barwick¹ to U Thant²

Canberra, 15 March 1962

Joint Statement

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 2 January, 1962,³ concerning Resolution 1664 (XVI) adopted by the General Assembly at its 1070th meeting on 4 December, 1961.⁴ In this letter, you seek the views of the Australian Government as to 'the conditions under which countries not possessing nuclear weapons might be willing to enter into specific undertakings to refrain from manufacturing or otherwise acquiring such weapons and to refuse to receive in the future nuclear weapons on their territories on behalf of other countries'.

[matter omitted]

In formulating this national defence policy, the Australian Government, by reason of Australia's geographical position and political beliefs, must take into account the emergence in the area of East Asia and the Western Pacific of a military power of great dimension and some ambition. This power is convinced of the inevitability of war and consciously working for the elimination of the type of society of which Australia is a part. It already has massive conventional forces, which it has used against the forces of the United Nations, and has nuclear weapons potentialities which may be close to fulfilment. It has indicated that the production of nuclear weapons is indeed its aim. Furthermore, with the prodigious developments of military science and technology during recent years, no power which is concerned with its security can ignore developments in any part of the world, however distant. In determining its defence policy Australia must at all times take into account all relevant factors.

The Australian Government therefore seriously doubts the effectiveness of regional agreements for the limitation of nuclear weapons in any area of the world. It may be that there are groups of countries whose past and present associations, geographical position, and general security situation enable them to envisage associating in regional 'non-nuclear clubs'. For its part, Australia does not see that this can be the case in the region of which it forms a part.

In addition to these considerations, it is Australia's conviction that specific undertakings of the kind envisaged in Resolution 1664 could neither be formulated nor ratified, by countries not possessing nuclear weapons, in isolation from the wider issues of controlled disarmament since, in the strategic calculation of military deterrence, nuclear weapons and conventional forces are inextricably bound together. In any case, such specific undertakings could not at present be contemplated by Australia without the participation of the nuclear powers themselves, without the certainly that all militarily significant States would be covered, and without some assurance that adequate verification procedures could be initiated.

[matter omitted]

[NAA: A1838, TS919/10/5 part 1]

• 1 Garfield Barwick, Minister for External Affairs.
• 2 Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• 3 On file NAA: A1838, TS919/10/5 part 3.
• 4 A draft resolution was submitted by Sweden and five other countries requesting that the United Nations Secretariat survey the conditions under which states would be prepared to enter into an agreement not to manufacture, acquire or receive, on behalf of other countries, nuclear weapons. The draft was adopted as resolution 1664 (XVI) by the Sixteenth Session of the UN General Assembly on 4 December 1961 by 58 votes to 10 with 23 abstentions (including Australia). On 4 December 1961, the General Assembly unanimously adopted a draft resolution submitted by Ireland that called upon all states to use their best endeavours to conclude an international agreement under which nuclear states would not relinquish control of nuclear weapons and non-nuclear states would not seek to manufacture or acquire them. Australia had little option but to support this resolution, which was carried unanimously in resolution 1665 (XVI), but did so on the understanding that it would need to bind all militarily significant states, including China. The letter to Australia sought a response to the resolution. See NAA: A1838, 919/10/5 part 3. See also documents 36 and 50.