Australia is taking the floor as a country committed to the work of peacebuilding. Some of the most difficult but important work that we can do today is centred around peacebuilding and the work of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). We appreciated our term of office as a member of the Organizationa…
I thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to address the Council today. Given the hour, I will somewhat reduce the length of my printed statement.
However, I would like to begin, as other have done, by extending the condolences of my delegation to the delegation, Government and people of Japan. They ar…
I thank you, Madame President, for convening this important debate and for inviting us to participate. It has been a busy year for the Council, but nothing more important than the subject of this debate has been discussed. We thank everyone very much for their contributions.
I should also like to t…
Like others who have spoken before me, Australia remains committed to ending the scourge of conflict-related sexual violence. Besides the outrageous breach of women’s rights that rape and other forms of sexual violence entail, its impact on families and communities is particularly devastating and ha…
We thank the Security Council for the submission of its annual report (A/65/2) and the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, for his introduction of the report to the General Assembly.
I take to heart the suggestion of Ambassador Parham earlier that we should not obs…
Thank you, Sir, for convening this open discussion by the Security Council on Afghanistan. We welcome the regular briefings provided by Special Representative Staffan de Mistura and we are very pleased to welcome the Foreign Minister, Mr. Rassoul, back to New York.
These discussions highlight the r…
Access to water and sanitation is fundamental to the realization of a
range of human rights. Globally, some two thirds of those without reliable access to clean water live in the Asia-Pacific region, and of our region’s 3.8 billion people, over half do not have access to sanitation. Australia also …
I am privileged to speak today on behalf of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In the light of the long list of speakers, I
shall deliver a slightly abbreviated version of my speech.
We gather together today as the global economy is emerging — too slowly — from the most significant and widespread …
Australia has the honour this afternoon to co-sponsor both of the draft resolutions before us today (A/64/L.18 and A/64/L.29). These drafts resolutions continue to raise issues of key importance to Australia, including bottom fisheries, high seas governance and the workload of the Commission on the …
I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for the opportunity to speak today on this important topic.
Post-conflict peacebuilding is one of the fundamental challenges of our time. Collectively, we need to help prevent post-conflict societies from slipping once again into conflict.…
The advantage of speaking so late in this debate is that most things have already been said, so I will at least try to keep my comments brief.
First, we thank the Security Council for the submission of its annual report (A/64/2) and the Permanent Representative of Austria, Ambassador Mayr-Harting, …
Australia welcomes this opportunity to endorse and to be a sponsor of the General Assembly’s draft resolution on Afghanistan (A/64/L.8) and to reaffirm our commitment to international efforts to build a more stable and more secure Afghan State.
We would like first to take this opportunity to record…
Australia was proud to co-sponsor resolution 63/281 on the link between climate change and security, and we are pleased that the Secretary-General's report (A/64/350)
is being considered today. It is a small but important step forward in addressing this serious global challenge.
We are now all dee…
Australia appreciates and strongly supports the work of the Committees established pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1373 (2001) and 1540 (2004). We also acknowledge the able assistance provided by their respective expert bodies. A global effort is needed to oppose terrorism effectively, and the …
Australia is grateful for the opportunity to participate in this debate. In the interests of time, I will skip some parts of my distributed statement. We agree with the Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/135), and with other speakers that have referenced it, that 2009 will be a critical year in Afgh…
Thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to speak today on Australia’s assessment of the current threats to international security from terrorism.
First, I would like to join others in expressing our condemnation and disgust at the recent attacks in Mumbai. Australia reiterates its sympathy an…
Australia has the honour of sponsoring both of the draft resolutions before us today (A/63/L.42 and A/63/L.43). We wish to thank the coordinators of those draft resolutions, Ambassador Henrique Valle of Brazil and Ms. Holly Koehler of the United States respectively, both of whom did excellent work. …
This is quite a historic day for the General Assembly and it has been a very long time coming. I recall when negotiations on resolution 63/281 commenced last summer. At that time, there was a lot of discussion among us on what
the resolution was really about — whether it was really about climate ch…
Australia recognizes the right of every State to raise matters before the General Assembly for consideration by the Assembly. In particular, we respect the right of Serbia to bring this request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice to the Assembly. Australia is a strong sup…
I would like to thank you very much, Mr. President, for convening this debate. Given the lateness of the hour, I promise the interpreters and others that I will be as brief as possible. I would also like to thank those who have spoken before me. Every intervention I have heard contained good and val…
