The report of the Secretary- General before us today is a reminder that, in the five years since the Assembly gathered to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have not been idle in further elaborating and codifying the principles enshr…
This is a very important debate. It is a product of the fact that the United Nations is in transit. We have a "new world" on our hands, but it is not yet an "order". Since the cold war ended, four years ago, the United Nations has embarked on more new peace- keeping, peacemaking, peace-enforcing and…
It is a sad reality that the global need for humanitarian emergency assistance is more urgent today than it has ever been.
During 1993 the number of people affected by new and ongoing emergencies was more than 58.6 million. That figure includes 18 million people who faced the threat of starvation i…
Australia supports what we see as the major objective of the Papua New Guinea economic initiative, which is to mobilize untapped domestic resources and create economic opportunities for local people. The need to improve economic opportunities for, and the participation of, people in developing count…
It is a sorry fact that in the last decade of the twentieth century virtually all nations are threatened by the use of and trade in illicit narcotic drugs. This threatens the lives of human beings, the fabric of societies and, in some cases, the very security of the State itself. We are all affected…
We welcome the very comprehensive and focused report (A/48/1) which the Secretary-General has presented on the work of the United Nations over the past 12 months.
We share the Secretary-General’s view that the pattern of the past 12 months displays three realities: the comprehensive nature of the g…
The Australian delegation wishes to thank the distinguished President of the International Court of Justice for his excellent report and enlightening statement. The role of the Court, as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is today more important than ever, as so much more is expecte…
I warmly congratulate Ambassador Insanally, on his election as President of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly. As a fellow Commonwealth member with Guyana, Australia is very pleased to serve in the Assembly under his presidency.
This session of the General Assembly will deal with a p…
We are witnessing profound changes in the
international arena. The ending of the cold war and the transition from
super-Power rivalry to new degrees of cooperation have fundamentally altered
the world in which we live.
In the Middle East, the new environment of international rapprochement
has e…
My delegation has just voted in favour of
the draft resolutions contained in documents A/47/L.17 and A/47/L.18 on the
implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries and Peoples, and on the dissemination of information on
decolonization.
These positive vo…
The Australian Government is committed to
social justice for all Australians. We aim to enable Australians with a
disability to participate fully in the economic, social, and political
spheres, and so determine the direction of their own lives.
Australia has participated actively in the United N…
In his first annual report to the General
Assembly on the work of the Organization, the Secretary-General identified
clearly the opportunities and challenges facing the United Nations in the
post-cold-war era.
We have in this new era new opportunities for enhanced global
cooperation to tackle t…
Atomic energy pre- sents possibly the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced. The peaceful use of atomic energy has within it the capacity to solve many ofthe fundamen- tal problems faced ~y humankind. I am speaki~g. of its capacity to provIde the decent standard of IIvmg so dearly sou~t by all…
I would first like to recognize and associate myself with the statement by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum group of countries represented at the United Nations in New York.
This year, as others have said, marks an important m…
Australia has the honour to co-sponsor both of the draft resolutions before us today. We are pleased with the attention given in those drafts to issues of key importance for Australia, including the governance regime for areas beyond national jurisdiction, maritime security, the work of the
Commiss…
As we made clear in our statement during the debate on this item [68th meeting], Australia remains resolutely opposed to apartheid and is ready to lend its support to inter- nationally agreed measures which will exert effective pressure on the South African regime to change its policies.
32. When w…
The problem of Kampuchea touches upon the essence of the Charter of the United Nations. It involves the principle of the inadmissibility of the threat of or the use of force. It involves the rights of p~oples to determine their own national Governments and it involves non-interference in the interna…
The purpose in meeting here today is both clear and urgent. It is te uphold the right of the Afghan people to rr .,tore Afghanistan's sovereignty and national independence.
22. It is nearly three years since the Soviet Union intervened against an unaligned and unoffending neighbour> in breach of 'i…
The pur meeting here today is both clear and urgent. uphold the right of the Afghan people to Afghanistan's sovereignty and national indepe
22. It is nearly three years since the Sovie intervened against an unaligned and unof neighbour> in breach of ~its obligation~ un United Nations Charter. But s…
The Australian Gov- ernment deplores Israel's decision to enforce IsraeJi law on the Golan Heights. As the Australian Foreign Minister
360. Had draft resolution A/36/L.60 and Add.1 not in- cluded operative paragraph 6, Australia would have voted for it. For reasons which are well known, however, Au…
