NZ sculpture for Nagasaki Peace Park

The government is contributing $20,000 towards the gift of a sculpture to Japan's Nagasaki Peace Park, Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Marian Hobbs said today.

"The contribution is part of our commitment to the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Marian Hobbs said. "The government's contribution will supplement $34,500 from the cities of Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Auckland and Waitakere and I have appealed to all mayors to support the project.

"Nagasaki is remembered as the last place to be bombed by an atomic weapon. Sadly, 60 years later, nuclear weapons are still a major threat to life on this planet. New Zealand will continue to push hard internationally for complete nuclear disarmament."

The Nagasaki project is being co-ordinated by the Christchurch City Council in close association with the Peace Foundation Disarmament and Security Centre. Christchurch, in 1982, became the first New Zealand city to declare itself nuclear free.

"New Zealanders at all levels are committed to disarmament," Marian Hobbs added. "New Zealand citizens hold their politicians to this goal.

"We see this in strong international work by our peace studies students, Peace Foundation, mayors and councillors, disarmament diplomats and ambassador and by our ministers. We work together for a world at peace, for a society that does not forget the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

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