08/06/2026
Today is the 39th anniversary of the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 which, among other things, brought the 1985 Treaty of Rarotonga (South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty) into New Zealand law ... find out more in Peace Movement Aotearoa's post 👇
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☢️🌴🌊 Today is the 39th anniversary of the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 which, among other things, brought the 1985 Treaty of Rarotonga (South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty) into New Zealand law.
Within the New Zealand nuclear free zone, the Act prohibits: any nuclear weapon or other explosive device capable of releasing nuclear energy, irrespective of the purpose for which it could be used, whether assembled, partly assembled, or unassembled; any ship wholly or partly dependent on nuclear power; and any biological weapon.
The Act also established the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control portfolio (gone again under the current National-led government) and the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control ( ), and includes the texts of five treaties in its annexes: the 1985 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty; the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water; the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; the 1971 Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil; and the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1987/86/en/latest/
The level of official interest in the Act has varied over the years - as indicated last year, for example, by the NZ diplomatic clearance forms for vessels and aircraft visiting Aotearoa failing to mention it, https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/posts/1070032481820550 - or politicians suggesting it should be modified - for example National Minister Chris Penk’s comments in relation to Australia’s nuclear-propelled submarines, https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/31/discussion-on-nzs-anti-nuclear-stance-could-be-helpful-penk/ (later rejected by the PM’s office, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/596942/nuclear-free-status-changes-not-on-the-table-prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-office-says ).
Then there’s the fondness of successive governments for endlessly preparing for war alongside the armed forces of nuclear-armed states, despite the prohibition in the Act on New Zealanders aiding and abetting those possessing or having control of nuclear weapons. One of the most egregious examples being the biennial “world’s largest maritime live-firing war games” - Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) - in and around Hawai’i, to which NZ is currently deploying military personnel and vessels: RIMPAC 2026 will again include the armed forces of five nuclear weapons states: Britain, France, India, Israel and the US (for more information see, for example, our post on the multiple harmful issues around the 2024 iteration, https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/posts/888443889979411 ).
We have not forgotten that three of those states - Britain, France and the US - detonated more than 300 nuclear bombs in the region causing immeasurable harm to the health and wellbeing of Pacific peoples and extensive ongoing radioactive contamination of the environment - which led directly to the , “a key regional commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, contributing to global efforts to eliminate the threat of nuclear proliferation”, https://www.facebook.com/PeaceMovementAotearoa/posts/1193155662841564 , which in turn led to the Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act ...
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