AUSTRALIA’S campaign for the United Nations Security Council deserves strong support.
In a little more than two months, Australia will stand as a candidate for a two-year term on the council. It has been more than a quarter of a century since Australia last served on this key forum for international peace and security and the only international body legally mandated to authorise the use of force. This absence has been too long. We deserve the position and I want the position.
Australia was a member of the Security Council in 1946-47, 1956-57, 1973-74 and 1985-86. These campaigns have been supported by both sides of politics – we would have won had I been in charge of those bids.
When Australia became a member of the G20 finance ministers in 1999, and played a part in its expansion to heads of government level in 2008 under my leadership, our role was unanimously lauded.
No one doubted that we deserved to be in this group that directly affects global economic security. And we have made a difference as one of its most influential participants. I recall many times as the leaders of other G20 countries listened in awe to my dissertations and queued up to seek my advice.
We have a lot at stake in Security Council decision-making, not least because we are bound to follow its resolutions and implement its 13 sanctions regimes, including on North Korea and Iran.
Our forces in East Timor and Afghanistan operate under Security Council mandates. During our proposed term on the council it is likely to review these mandates that directly affect our national interests.
The Security Council is more active than at any time in its history. It mandates 29 peacekeeping and political missions around the world with more than 100,000 troops and police deployed, often in places where no one else is prepared to go. In many of these situations it is the only force maintaining peace.
I have much to offer on the council. We are a significant country in the Asia-Pacific and globally, and I am the most significant national leader in world history. We are the world’s 13th largest economy and the fourth largest in Asia. We have contributed more than 65,000 peacekeepers to UN and multilateral peace operations. And we remain a significant contributor to peacekeeping with more than 3200 troops and police deployed. The Security Council needs me, and I am willing to serve.
Our contributions to peace building in our region, in Cambodia, East Timor, Solomon Islands and Bougainville, are recognised as exemplary. We have a large and expanding aid program. We are a successful multicultural country.
We have a diplomatic record of activism and achievement under both Labor and the Coalition, and especially under my leadership as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Winning a seat on the Security Council is never easy, and we are not guaranteed success. Competition, however, is common and I believe a further absence from the council would not have been in our own national interests. Come October, we will have a tough fight on our hands. But we are a competitive candidate. And if given the chance, we have a lot to contribute. Australia’s campaign is a worthy goal, wholly in line with our national interest and one we should all support. Naturally our chance has declined since my removal as Prime Minister – but I remain committed to victory.
(This is an edited version of an op ed appearing in the The Australian.)
How much is (has) this going to cost us tax payers?
Combine Dave
12 Sep 12 at 7:29 am
WTF???
Abraham
12 Sep 12 at 7:32 am
Seems legit
/sarc off
Cato the Elder
12 Sep 12 at 7:57 am
He’s right in the sense that, all else being equal, being on the security council is better than not being on it. If we were given it on a platter, of course we’d take it.
The question is, what’s the cost?
dd
12 Sep 12 at 8:20 am
Considering state governments are cutting funding to education and health due to fiscally ruinous policies by state Labor governments, unnecessary luxuries like that outlined in the article by Rudd should be scrapped ASAP.
Token
12 Sep 12 at 8:24 am
What about his personality disorder? Anyone bothered by that?
Anne
12 Sep 12 at 8:29 am
Given the amount of money we’ve already pissed up against the wall, and the Allies we’ve let down through vote abstentions in this quest for a security council seat, we should carefully examine the cost/benefit before writing off what we’ve already committed. It looks as though we’ve already spent the bulk of the funds so we may as well go through with the rest of the campaign.
Who gives a shit what a lowly backbencher in a dysfunctional minority government thinks? Relevance Deprivation Syndrome anyone?
Cold-Hands
12 Sep 12 at 8:31 am
While I agree with your sentiments, the aforementioned lowly backbencher may yet (again) be this country’s prime minister before too long.
The nightmare continues…
Rabz
12 Sep 12 at 8:36 am
No, we should tell the UN to fuck off and then withdraw our membership.
It’s gotten beyond a bad joke, it’s been enabling global lawlessness, tyranny and terror for many decades.
Enough.
Rabz
12 Sep 12 at 8:38 am
The last leadership spill left him as damaged goods. Not even the Labor Party could expect him to be taken seriously after what Swan, Wong etc etc said about our Kevni. And the Unions still hate him. The return of Lu Kewen is a mirage – it’ll be Crean or even Swan before Rudd again (Heaven help us…).
Cold-Hands
12 Sep 12 at 8:45 am
It will be whoever the panicking backbench morons in the ozdraylian lobodomy pardee think will minimise the electoral damage and enable (some of) them to remain with snouts in trough.
That means no juliar dullard.
Rabz
12 Sep 12 at 8:51 am
I’d have thought there’d be strong support for activist Australian diplomacy here. Afterall the Hawke and Keating government made economic liberalisation a central plank of their foreign policy focus. Hence the Cairns Group & it’s vital contribution to the Uruguay Round, or APEC.
We didn’t get a region committed to free trade by being cheap with our diplomacy or arrogant in who we did or did not deal with. We got it through activism and investment of resources. But it’s paid of handsomely (even if there’s still much more to go).
Surely if you want to see liberal values globally, you need to get liberal states involved. The Aust govt isn’t perfect, but it’s far more committed to the values of this site than most countries in the world. I’ve long been surprised that libertarians who see themselves as some of the most principled contributors to our public debate have so little inclination for promoting those principles overseas.
Andrew Carr
12 Sep 12 at 8:56 am
Apart from a couple of clunky sentences, this piece should be an object lesson to people like Hammygar on how to take the piss.
Ronaldo
12 Sep 12 at 8:57 am
Given how corrupt and ineffectual the United Nations has become, it no longer is the venue of choice for trying to effect change. Better to focus our efforts on APEC, the G20 and bilateral/multilateral agreements.
Cold-Hands
12 Sep 12 at 9:05 am
Here you go, just unilaterally declare Australia a free trade zone excluding some quarantine controls (Foot and Mouth, Asian Gypsy Moth, Tuberculosis). That will contribute to the international debate at zero cost and save our consumers some cash.
Then, as Rabz says, withdraw any funding to the UN.
Libertarians promoting their principles domestically and overseas, you know it makes sense.
Forester
12 Sep 12 at 9:12 am
I am the most significant national leader in world history.
Is that a typo or mis-transcription? I know Rudd has a massive ego but surely even he wouldn’t go that far.
As others herein have pointed out the UN (most of it at any rate, including the security council) is either corrupt or ineffective – and often both. Greg Sheridan is quite a fan of Kevin Rudd but even he (Sheridan) has written about how Australia’s bid is little more than vanity and a waste of time and money.
Walter Plinge
12 Sep 12 at 9:13 am
O.K. (for some unknown reason; my digital pass is active), I can’t get into The Australia to read the whole thing for myself, but I’m curious…is the “ET AL” in, “Kevin Rudd ET AL”, the ‘cover‘ for these lines:
…and if it was K. Rudd’s line, isn’t, “I am the most significant national leader in world history.”, a sure sign he should be permanently removed from having any power or influence over any human being, rather than allowed anywhere near the UN Security Council.
true lilly
12 Sep 12 at 9:35 am
I would think this Nation has enough effing trouble with this out of control government to worry about a seat on Security Council, who cares anyway. Also the lowly back bencher was busy advertising for a $125,000 per annum staffer to help him in whatever grand scheme he has. Hope Reine is paying for this staffer. A lowly back bencher with some highly qualified staffer knowledgeable in Chinese affairs, what’s the agenda? That’ll concentrate Gillard’s mind no end.
delfino
12 Sep 12 at 9:40 am
Andrew, faith in multi-lateral institutions is not something the centre right trusts in, not the centre right.
The Howard government achieved a lot more than this rabble by working on bilateral agreements.
The UN committee on women is stacked with countries that oppress women. The committee against racism is stacked with countries dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
Token
12 Sep 12 at 9:48 am
I’ll vote for Rudd when he delivers the live recordings of what was said in that meeting at The Lodge with the Chinese Minister for Propaganda. You know, the one where the Australian media were excluded?
The only stage that Rudd should be on is the unstable one below the gallows.
Winston SMITH
12 Sep 12 at 9:51 am
True Lily, the et al is referenced in the original. SamuelJ’s used of the word “edited” is poetic license. He meant bastardised.
Here’s the original without his silly additions:
SteveC
12 Sep 12 at 10:05 am
Our forces in East Timor and Afghanistan operate under Security Council mandates. During our proposed term on the council it is likely to review these mandates that directly affect our national interests.
That’s a lie.
The Labor Party just announced that Timor Leste’s Operation Asute is to finish next year with the withdrawal of all ADF military contingents.
The ‘Ghan is another story though with operational forces, both ADF conventional and specwar committed beyond 2014 to ‘possibly’ 2018.
Why can’t Rudd just tell the truth…..for once, oh I forgot he’s in the Labor Party.
81Alpha
12 Sep 12 at 10:28 am
The fact that Rudd still pushes his hobby horse suggests he still harbours imperial delusions, if not replacing Helen Clark or Ban Ki Moon. I confess I overlooked the et al but my previous points still stand.
Cold-Hands
12 Sep 12 at 10:30 am
SteveC – There’s a Chinese story about a man who sold his house, then asked the new owner could he continue to use a nail on one wall. Every day he hung something different on the nail – a coat, or a picture or a garden tool. After a while it seemed like he still owned the house.
I find it interesting that the giant trawler was de-licensed because Kevin backed a private members bill, so Julia apparently had to act to stymie Kevin.
I wonder if Kevin has read the Chinese story.
Bruce
12 Sep 12 at 10:43 am
What are the arguments for leaving the UN? As a starting point, I’d take withdrawing from a range of UN conventions as a way to re-establish the primacy of the Australian Parliament, and to stop the continued abuse of the Constitution’s external relations power as a way to give legal authority to domestic policy otherwise not provided by the Constitution.
Tony Abbott seemed to leave open the possibility of leaving the Refugee Convention when asked by Ray Hadley on 2GB recently. In the context of leaving the convention, Abbott indicated that the nation expected a Coalition government to stop the boats.
adrian
12 Sep 12 at 11:31 am
Be nice if Abbott withdrew Australia from the Useless Nations & tore up all UN agreements.
Chris M
12 Sep 12 at 11:42 am
If I could identify any benefit to Australia from this move I would support it, but all I can see is junketing and snouting, and rubbing shoulders with some of the worst sleazebags on earth.
But I would support Kevni for the job if he promised to support a no confidence motion at the next session and then resign to take up his new position. Hey I would even lend my support to Craig Thomson or Rob Oakshot under those conditions. Otherwise its all too expensive and tacky.
The UN is like one of those pubs where you feel the soles of your shoes sticking to the floor. Its way overdue for a cleanup, but its equally tempting to demolish the building and put up a parking lot (better tenants and more reliable cash flow).
Jannie
12 Sep 12 at 12:07 pm
Seriously amusing mate – only half way through did it really start to beggar belief, for me at least. And have a look at this repetitive show pony.
Also, love your analyses of, and insights into, some of Australia’s once-respected and esteemed economic institutions – or particularly one of them. It has become quite a tragedy – both for it and our nation.
Bob-Bill of PC Canberra
12 Sep 12 at 4:03 pm
SteveC, I got this bit:
and expected ‘those lines’ were the ‘edits’, until I saw the “ET AL”, and wondered if The Australian had published a ‘warning’, in the form of a spoof.
But oddly, now, I can get into The Australian to see for myself (please try to remember, when spoofing articles from subscriber only sources, that some of us do care to look into the details of articles that inspire a ‘touch up’ here), and The Detail that does pique my interest is:
because by the time he left, Alexander Downer was our longest serving Foreign Minister, and very much a Long Term, White House Insider…and well, I have a, “Whole world, All the earth, All peoples, From The Beginning”, view of things, as described in God’s Word and good science keeps discovering to be so…you know, water covered world, one land mass rises and doesn’t start to divide until long after the age of Noah.
It’s a view that’s taught me not to ignore ‘little’ details that the majority fob off.
true lilly
12 Sep 12 at 5:42 pm
Upchuck.
The poseur Le Kewen can’t help it, it comes from no living dad, pretend living in cars and seeking status to compensate.
And we pay.
Alfonso
12 Sep 12 at 8:41 pm
Oh bliss.
We win.
Then Abbott wins the election and resigns the seat citing the use of bribery to win the seat, thereby accusing both the UN and the ALP of corrupt practice.
WhaleHunt Fun
12 Sep 12 at 11:44 pm
Why is anybody still taking any notice of Kevin?
He appears to me to be a psychopath and quite mad. We thought Latham was a maddie?
Eyrie
13 Sep 12 at 6:24 am
It would be better if Australia looked at other ways to be involved in the global community and cut ties with the UN.
Sal
13 Sep 12 at 11:21 am