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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Daniel Hurst in Rarotonga

A four-decade-old Pacific treaty was meant to preserve the ‘peaceful region’. Now experts say it’s being exploited

Australia Anthony Albanese Bob Hawke United States AUKUS Nuclear Weapons Donald Rothwell Rarotonga the Cook Islands Tonga
Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the 2030s, before Australian-build boats enter into service from the 2040s
Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the 2030s, before Australian-build boats enter into service from the 2040s. Photograph: Ashley Cowan/US navy

Three months before Bob Hawke joined with Pacific leaders in the Cook Islands to sign a landmark new anti-nuclear treaty, the local newspaper carried an arresting headline.

“PACIFIC – A REGION OF ‘PEACE’ – AND BOMBS FOR FRANCE,” thundered the Cook Islands News on Saturday 11 May 1985.

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