DISARMAMENT: ‘Negotiations to ban nuclear weapons begin, but Australia joins US boycott’, The Guardian, 28 March 2017

At least 113 countries are part of the negotiations begun at UN headquarters aiming to negotiate a "legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination". Of the non-nuclear states opposing the ban treaty, Australia has been one of the most outspoken. Political sentiment in Australia appears to support the ban treaty negotiations; polling shows nearly three-quarters of Australians want Australia to be part of negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban treaty. The Senate on Monday passed a motion urging the Australian government to "participate constructively" in the ban treaty talks. The motion, moved by Labor Senator Lisa Singh, argued Australia had a moral and legal obligation to participate in efforts to ban nuclear weapons, the only weapon of mass destruction not outlawed under international law. 'Negotiations to ban nuclear weapons begin, but Australia joins US boycott', The Guardian, 28 March 2017