Dialogue for parliamentarians and civil society

Australia and the Doomsday Clock: Preventing nuclear war through NoFirstUse and other policies

A discussion with parliamentarians, policy experts and civil society representatives on proposals for NoFirstUse policies, and the roles these could play in nuclear risk reduction and disarmament.

The event is being held in preparation for the 2026 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference taking place at the UN from April 27 - May 22, 2026.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 | Online

Tuesday April 7.  4:00-5:30pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time (8:00-9:30am Central Europe Time)

Registration

Speakers:

  • Hon Gareth Evans. Former Foreign Minister of Australia. Founder, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament.
  • Senator David Shoebridge. Member, Australian Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Member, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND).
  • Zali Steggall OAM, MP. Co-Chair of the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action and the arliamentary Friends of Women in Sport. Olympic Bronze Medalist, (Slalom, 1998 Winter Olympic Games, Nagano). Member, International Court of Arbitration for Sport. 
  • Manpreet Sethi. Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi. Senior Research Adviser at APLN.
  • John Hallam. Director, People for Nuclear Disarmament. Co-founder, NoFirstUse Global. Coordinator, PNND Australia.

Moderator:

  • Alyn Ware. Global Coordinator of PNND. Program Director, World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy

Event Outline:

On January 27, 2026, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the hands of the Doomsday Clock to 85 Seconds to Midnight, indicating how close humanity is coming to a civilizational catastrophe from climate change, nuclear war, biological threats, misuse of AI or a global war triggered by rising authoritarianism, militarism and acts of aggression.

Countries in nuclear alliances – such as Australia – have an important role to encourage the United States, Russia and other nuclear-armed and allied States to adopt policies and practices to prevent nuclear war.

Adoption of No-First-Use (NFU) policies would be one important step. The upcoming Review Conference of the States Parties to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (April 27 – May 22, 2026) provides an opportunity for Australia to join like-minded countries and civil society in advancing such nuclear risk reduction measures.

The call for adoption of NFU policies received significant support at the 2023 Preparatory Meeting for the NPT Review Conference. This included presentation of Nuclear Taboo From Norm to Law, endorsed by over 1100 notables – former Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers and parliamentarians, academics, scientists, religious leaders, youth and representatives of civil society organizations – including many from Australia. This has helped put NFU on the NPT Review Conference agenda.

This event is being held in conjunction with the UN International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.