The announcement by the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, of his intention to establish a Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Commission follows on from the work of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commission chaired by Hans Blix. The proposed co-chair of the new commission, Gareth Evans, was the architect of the Canberra Commission and a member of the Blix WMD Commission. Mr Rudd has stated that the intention is to revive the flagging disarmament process and generate new proposals to be put to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review in 2010. Australia has made two public reports to date on its compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) which imposes binding obligations on all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and their means of delivery. In May 2008 the United States House of Representatives established a Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
Rudd Heralds New Nuclear Disarmament Body, ABC News, 2008-06-09
Building a Better World Together, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Speech at Kyoto University, 2008-06-09
Gareth Evans Weighs New Nuclear Accord, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2008-06-11
Report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, August 1996
The Canberra Commission: Lessons Learned for a Future Commission, Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, 2002-05-18
The Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Subsequent International Developments, Paper Presented by Hon Gareth Evans QC, President of the International Crisis Group and Former Foreign Minister of Australia, to the NIRA Roundtable, Tokyo, 6-7 October 2000 [61.3 KB, PDF]
Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, Chair, Hans Blix.
Preventing Nuclear Next Use, Global Problem Solving, Nautilus Institute
2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations.
National Reports, Australia, UNSC Resolution 1540 Committee, United Nations
Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1540: A Risk-Based Approach, Peter Crail, Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 13, No 2, July 2006.
Congressional Leadership Announces Appointments To Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, News from Congressional Leaders Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, 2008-05-16 [22.3 KB, PDF]