| Long Name: | South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty |
| Treaty of Rarotonga | |
| Type: | Nuclear disarmament |
| Date Signed: | 6 August 1985 |
| Location Signed: | Rarotonga, Cook Islands |
| Date Effective: | 11 December 1986 |
| Parties: | 13 |
The Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalises a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific. The treaty bans the use, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons within the borders of the zone.[1] [2]
It was signed by the South Pacific nations of Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu on the island of Rarotonga (where the capital of the Cook Islands is located) on 6 August 1985, came into force on 11 December 1986 with the 8th ratification, and has since been ratified by all of those states.
The Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau are not party to the treaties but are eligible to become parties should they decide to join the treaty in the future.
There are three protocols to the treaty, which have been signed by the five declared nuclear states, with the exception of Protocol 1 for China and Russia who have no territory in the Zone.
In 1996 France and the United Kingdom signed and ratified the three protocols. The United States signed them the same year but has not ratified them. China signed and ratified protocols 2 and 3 in 1987. Russia has also ratified protocols 2 and 3 with reservations.[3]
The treaty's different provisions apply variously to the Zone, to the territories within the Zone, or globally.
"South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone" means the area :
plus three projections north of the Equator to include the territory and territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, Nauru, and Kiribati,but minus the northwest corner beyond Australian territorial waters and near Indonesia (and the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone).
Several islands in the Indian Ocean also belong to Australia and are therefore part of the zone.
"Territory" means internal waters, territorial sea and archipelagic waters, the seabed and subsoil beneath, the land territory and the airspace above them.It does not include international waters.Article 2 says "Nothing in this Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to freedom of the seas."
The Treaty is an agreement between nation-states and as such of course cannot apply to those who have not signed the treaty or protocols, for example, the four countries not signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, who are all nuclear powers.
| State | Signed | Deposited | |
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| Territory | State | |
| Ashmore and Cartier Islands | | |
| Christmas Island | | |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | | |
| Coral Sea Islands | | |
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | | |
| Norfolk Island | | |
| French Polynesia |  | |
| New Caledonia | | |
| Wallis and Futuna | | |
| Tokelau | New Zealand | |
| Pitcairn Islands | United Kingdom |
U.S. bomber aircraft have been visiting Australia since the early 1980s, and nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2s operate regularly out of northern Australia. When U.S. bombers visit Australia, the U.S. government does not tell the Australian government whether the aircraft are carrying nuclear weapons. In 2023, the Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Australian Government "understand[s] and respect[s] the longstanding US policy of neither confirming or denying".[5]
