I learned a long time ago that it was a very dangerous thing to come between Security Council members and their lunch, so I will be very brief.
This meeting gives us a valuable opportunity to highlight the importance of the three Committees operating in a coordinated manner, given the interconnecte…
At the outset, let me affirm our full support for the statement delivered by my friend the representative of Samoa on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum.
We are distributing to delegations the full text of our remarks, which is significantly longer than the text that I will deliver in the interest…
Mr. President, let me also immediately associate ourselves with the expressions of condolences to the Government and people of Bangladesh and to the families of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed while serving with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Th…
Let me begin by reiterating the Australian Government’s deepest condolences to all those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis that struck the Indian Ocean region on 26 December.
I would also like to express our appreciation to the States members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASE…
The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 endorsed the view that human rights education was essential to the promotion and achievement of stable, harmonious relations among communities and to fostering understanding, tolerance and peace. There is now broad consensus that human rights educa…
Australia fully supports the comments made by the delegations of Norway, Switzerland and Canada, and we wish to dissociate ourselves from the consensus on this resolution.
Last year when Australia spoke under this item, we had many grave concerns over the situation in the Middle East. One year later we deeply regret we have not seen the changes we had hoped for. As the grim Israeli- Palestinian dispute grinds on, the Middle East continues to experience the evils of te…
I have the honour to speak today on behalf of Canada and New Zealand, as well as Australia.
First, we want to thank the Secretary-General for his useful reports under these items. They will be a significant resource for delegations to draw on, along
with other inputs, over the next year in the lea…
Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity to address the Council on the situation in the Sudan. It is my honour to speak on behalf of New Zealand and my own country, Australia.
The Governments of New Zealand and Australia continue to be gravely concerned about the ongoing conflicts in the Suda…
As we reflect today on what has happened in the law of the sea since the entry into force exactly ten years ago of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, who can fail to be surprised at how far we’ve come since 1994? Anxiety about whether the Convention would ever gain wider participat…
I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for having convened this open meeting of the Security Council on Timor-Leste, a country that, like my colleague from Indonesia, I can describe as a neighbour, a close partner and a friend. We are proud of what we have done to assist Timor-Leste in building a…
Today, in too many places around the world, communities are affected by crises, natural disasters and conflict. This has a very human cost, but it also sets back development and undermines efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. Australia continues to provide rapid and generou…
Australia shares concerns about the state of human rights and political freedoms in Cuba, but we do not consider that isolating Cuba through economic sanctions is an effective means of achieving human rights and political reform.
Australia has consistently expressed its opposition, as a matter of p…
Mr. President, I wish to thank you for having convened this meeting. I wish also to thank Under-Secretary-General Guéhenno, High Commissioner Louise Arbour and Executive Director Thoraya Obaid for their presentations. I should like to say to Ms. Arbour that Australia is delighted to have her here in…
It is my privilege to speak on behalf of Canada, New Zealand and Australia in this joint debate on agenda item 52, “Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly”, and agenda item 54, “Strengthening of the United Nations system”. In that
context, I would like on behalf of Canada, New Zealand a…
Sir, let me begin by congratulating you on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session, and let me
say how honoured I am to be one of your Vice- Presidents.
I want to say also how delighted Australia is to welcome Iraq back to the General Assembly.
We, the nation…
I would like to thank you very much, Mr. President, for having convened this meeting. I, like others, would like to begin by thanking our friend and colleague, Heraldo Muñoz, for his very comprehensive briefing this morning. As always, it was a typically professional effort from him and his colleagu…
I appreciate the fact that these days we try to limit courtesies, as a way of making the Security Council more efficient. But it would be wrong of me on this first occasion that I am speaking before the Council since your arrival, Sir, not to warmly welcome you to New York and to congratulate you on…
You will know, Sir, what a personal pleasure it is always for me to address the Council during your presidency.
I want to begin like others, however, by associating Australia with the expressions of condolences extended to our friends in the Russian Federation following the appalling attack in Groz…
I am honoured to be addressing the Assembly today and I am particularly glad, I have to say, to have the occasion to do so on the important topic of global road safety. I will be brief, as I know we are trying to get through a number of speakers before lunch. These few comments by Australia are in a…
