Maryan
STREET
Disarmament and Arms Control Spokesperson

6 August 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
Hiroshima Day remembered with visit of international activist
The cross-party group, New Zealand Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (NZPNND), today commemorated the two occasions on which nuclear weapons have been used in war 68 years ago.

NZPNND Chair and Labour’s spokesperson on Disarmament and Arms Control, Maryan Street, and Vice Chair, National’s Dr Paul Hutchison, today hosted a visit by Jakob von Uexkull, founder of the World Future Council and of the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the alternative Nobel Prize.

Mr von Uexkull, a former member of the European Parliament, highlighted a number of significant global issues - including nuclear disarmament, action on climate change and the building of democratic participation by engaging young people in contemporary global issues - as the way forward for successful multilateral engagement.

"His address was an appropriate inspiration on this 68th anniversary when we reflect on the human harm caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and again on Nagasaki on 9 August of that year," Maryan Street said.

"New Zealand's record on anti-nuclear matters is well known and respected internationally. We should be working actively to promote further de-nuclearisation with other like-minded countries.

“US President Barack Obama's refreshing of this agenda should be taken up actively by governments and civil society alike.

"We owe it to future generations to ensure that this greatest threat of all is dismantled and resources put into nuclear weaponry are diverted into climate change solutions," said Maryan Street.

ENDS

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