Today we hear little about that threat, yet in January this year the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists kept the ‘Doomsday Clock’ at three minutes to midnight, citing the growing threat of terrorism and climate change, as we’d expect these days, but nuclear weapons are still cited as the core reason for the threat rating, despite the rhetoric we hear of attempts to guard against the dangers of terrorists getting hold of nuclear weapons. The Doomsday Clock was at three minutes to midnight at the height of the Cold War. Regrettably, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Indeed, there are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons, now belonging to nine countries. Thankfully, some people are aware of the danger. For example, in December 2015 the UN General Assembly voted on a Humanitarian Pledge for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. 138 countries voted in favour, 29 voted against and 17 abstained.  Predictably, but sadly, Australia voted against the motion.

Nonetheless, the campaign goes on. In 2016 there will be three meetings of the UN Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament, where there will be a push to develop a global treaty banning nuclear weapons

Locally, last week the International Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons launched the Black Mist White Rain tour with Aboriginal women from South Australia and the Marshall Islands to discussing the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.

Not all our politicians are foolish enough to be blind to the danger. One of the Greens four core principles is Peace, Non-Violence and Disarmament. The world should be free of nuclear weapons and the nuclear fuel chain. It is clear that there is a strong link between the mining and export of uranium and nuclear weapons proliferation.

The use of nuclear weapons, nuclear accidents or attacks on reactors pose unacceptable risk of catastrophic consequences.

Furthermore, Australia's reliance on the United States nuclear weapons 'umbrella' lends our bases, ports and infrastructure to the US nuclear war fighting apparatus, and is in conflict with our national sovereignty.

Specifically the Australian Greens last week launched a campaign calling for Julie Bishop to support a global treaty to ban nuclear weapons. They are calling for Australia to join the 138 countries in the UN General Assembly who have already done so to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.

Greens co-deputy leader and nuclear spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said “nuclear weapons are the most destructive on earth”.

In 1972 the world banned biological weapons, in 1993 we banned chemical weapons, in 1997 we banned land mines, and in 2008 we banned cluster munitions. So we can do the right thing, even with the Liberal/Nationals in power, as the 1997 vote to ban land mines shows.

The risks are real and the consequences are catastrophic. The best protection against nuclear war is eliminating nuclear weapons.

So it’s time for Julie Bishop to show that her steely stare isn’t only directed against those who shoot down airliners. At this year’s UN Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament, Australia has an opportunity to stand with the majority of other countries and call for a global treaty banning nuclear weapons. Time to act, Ms Bishop.