In the light of the results just announced for the last ballot, and in the interests of having a conclusion to this balloting today, I should like to announce the withdrawal of the Australian candidate, Ms. Jane Mathews. I would like to thank colleagues who have given us their support, and I hope th…
Thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open meeting and giving us the opportunity to participate in the Council’s latest consideration of East Timor.
Frankly, the level of interest in today’s open meeting, both among Council members and non- members, is welcome and reassuring. It is very natu…
Australia would like to reconfirm its strong support for the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We would emphasize that our agreement to a procedural resolution this year does not detract from our continuing support for the Agency’s important work. We would like to register our r…
Thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this open debate, as well as for the gesture of having non-Council members speak before members. As the saying goes, one swallow does not a summer make. But, as we have now had at least two swallows, perhaps, if summer is not with us, then spring in the form …
Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. Australia looks forward to working closely with Singapore and, indeed, with the other new
members of the Council that have begun their terms this month.
We welcome in particular the opportunity to contribute to…
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the delegations of New Zealand and of my own country in explanation of position following the adoption of resolution 55/5 B, on the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations.
Our delegations welcome the adoption of this …
The Australian Government strongly supports international efforts to bring the long-running conflict in Afghanistan to an early and lasting resolution. We continue to urge all factions involved in the conflict to halt violence, conclude a durable ceasefire and form a viable Government that represent…
In response to growing international concerns about the illicit trade in rough diamonds, the Australian Government is pleased to join in sponsoring the draft resolution introduced by my colleague the Ambassador of South Africa under item 175. We strongly support industry and intergovernmental effort…
For Australia, the developments in the Middle East over the past year have produced both hope and deep frustration.
The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and the second Camp David summit raised our hopes. But during these last two months, cycles of provocation, violence and retribution have gravely d…
Today I would like to outline the actions that the Australian Government has taken since signing the Ottawa Convention in December 1997 to play our part in ensuring that a world free of landmines is realized.
In 1998, the Australian Parliament enacted the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Act, which …
It is sometimes easy over the course of long and sensitive negotiations to lose sight of the fundamental objectives and the common interests that we are striving to achieve. Parochial interests can become entrenched and negotiating dynamics can assume a life and a rationale of their own, to the detr…
Australia welcomes the Secretary-General’s report evaluating the outcome of the steps taken in the United Nations system and by Member States to resolve the problems of the year 2000 date conversion for computers. My delegation would also like to acknowledge and applaud the efforts of the Permanent …
As one of two parliamentary advisers to the Australian delegation to the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly, I am pleased to participate in this debate on cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Australia keenly supports efforts by the United Nation…
Australia strongly supports the draft resolution under the item entitled “Peace, security and reunification on the Korean peninsula” and is happy to co-sponsor it.
We are delighted at the success of the North- South leaders’ summit of June 2000. The Australian Prime Minister made a public statement…
When this item was considered in the General Assembly two years ago, Australia abstained in the vote on the draft resolution because of concern that it did not adequately differentiate between unilateral extraterritorial measures, about which we have long-standing concerns, and sanctions promulgated…
Ambassador Mahbubani is always a hard act to follow and I think he has made a particularly interesting intervention today. I thank him for that. My delegation would also like to thank Ambassador Andjaba of Namibia for presenting the report of the Security Council to the General Assembly
today in it…
Thank you, Mr. President, for arranging this open meeting of the Council, which has given non-Council members and others whose interests are vitally and directly engaged in these matters, such as the very welcome José Ramos-Horta, the opportunity not only to hear directly from the Secretary-General’…
One of the worthwhile results of the Millennium Summit is that the Declaration has given us an agenda to work on. This features a number of goals for tasks that ought to be quite central to the way the United Nations develops as an Organization in this new century. Some of these goals have been put …
I join my colleagues in congratulating the President on his election as President of the General Assembly for its fifty-fifth session and you, Madam Vice-President, on your election to your position.
I am also delighted to welcome Tuvalu as the 189th Member of the United Nations. Australia has long…
The ideals a nation holds for itself, and for others, are often found more in the everyday speech of its people than in the rhetoric of either politics or diplomacy. Thus, in Australia it is said that all men and women, and by extension all nations, are entitled to a “fair go”. For Australians, thos…
