Australia, 2004

Sir, let me begin by

congratulating you on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session, and let me

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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 nations of the world, gathered here at the

fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, face

challenges to international security and prosperity that

are very different from those which existed at the birth

of the United Nations. However, the aims of the United

Nations as set out in the Preamble to the Charter

remain as relevant and vital today as they did then:

“to save successive generations from the scourge

of war … to reaffirm faith in fundamental human

rights ... to establish conditions under which

justice and respect for the obligations arising

from treaties and other sources of international

law can be maintained … and to promote social

progress and better standards of life in larger

freedom”.

Today, the menace of terrorism and the dangers of

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)

cast their shadow across the globe, threatening not only

our security, but also the development gains and future

prosperity of all nations.

It is this new international environment, this new

reality, to which we must all adjust. The United

Nations is no exception. The United Nations is a vital

institution that does great humanitarian work, but it

must strengthen its capacity to deal effectively with the

problems we now face or risk sliding into irrelevance.

The Secretary-General himself recognized this

last year when he said that we have come to a fork in

the road, a moment no less decisive than in 1945 when

the United Nations was founded. And, again this year,

he stated that if the leaders of the world could not

agree on the way forward, history would take the

decisions. The issue he raises for us all is whether we,

the United Nations membership, can rise to the

challenge and take the steps necessary for the

Organization to fulfil its aims in today’s world.

Australia strongly supported last year the

establishment by the Secretary-General of a High-level

Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and we

stand ready to contribute to ambitious outcomes. I want

to return to the work of the Panel later in this address.

There would be few nations in the room

untouched by terrorism. As the cowardly attacks in

Beslan and at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta

illustrate, terrorism will not simply fade away. In

response, we, the international community, cannot

allow security threats to fester. What is required is new

thinking, practical action, and cooperation between

Governments. Obviously, the United Nations has a

primary role to play. But Governments and regional

organizations must also ensure that their resources and

infrastructure can respond to the current environment.

This is a responsibility Australia has taken very

seriously. On terrorism, we have fully supported the

work of the United Nations, ensuring Jema’ah

Islamiyah was listed as a terrorist organization under

the Security Council resolution 1267 (1999) sanctions

regime and promoting compliance with the United

Nations terrorist asset freezing regime.

We have committed energy and resources to

building counter-terrorism cooperation in our own

region, both bilaterally and through organizations such

as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the

Regional Forum of the Association of South-East

Asian Nations. We are also committed to building

understanding as part of a comprehensive approach.

This is evident in the messages we convey to our

regional partners and to Australians — namely, that our

efforts to stop a minority of extremist Muslim terrorists

is not a war on Islam; that Muslims are as much the

victims of terrorist attacks and must defend

themselves; and that we must all work to defeat

terrorism together.

Our cooperation with regional partners has

delivered results, but as the recent bombing in Jakarta

illustrates, terrorism in our own region is not yet

defeated. While Australia’s embassy in Jakarta may

have been the target of the latest attack, it was as much

an assault on Indonesia as on Australia, and we are

particularly saddened by the loss of innocent

Indonesian lives. Indonesia and Australia are

determined to catch the perpetrators and see justice

done, for the bonds between us cannot be split by

terrorists, but only strengthened.

Australia’s commitment to a stable and secure

region is particularly reflected in our efforts in the

Pacific. Since 11 September 2001, we have come to

appreciate more acutely the dangers weak and failing

States can pose to security. Of course, not all such

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States are home to terrorists, but where instability and

vulnerabilities exist, so, too, do opportunities for crime

and the potential for human suffering.

When our Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer,

addressed this forum last year, he noted Australia was

developing regional approaches to confront the dangers

of State failure and that with our Pacific Islands Forum

partners we were restoring hope to the people of

Solomon Islands. In just one year, the Regional

Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands has made

excellent progress in restoring stability and law and

consolidating Government finances, and is now

moving into long-term governance reform.

Australia is also working with other States in our

region, notably Papua New Guinea and Nauru, to

address economic management and governance issues.

Regional cooperation is being strengthened through the

Pacific Plan, an initiative of the recent Pacific Islands

Forum meeting in Apia, which seeks to enhance

collaboration in areas of governance. I am delighted to

see among us today the Secretary-General of the

Pacific Islands Forum and welcome him to this Hall.

We would encourage the High-level Panel on

Threats, Challenges and Change to outline ambitious

proposals for effective collective action to address

failed and failing States, including more explicit

provision for action by regional and other plurilateral

arrangements, as set out in Chapter VIII of the Charter.

Iraq is at a critical moment in its political

evolution. A small minority is bent on destruction and

murder and wants to deny the Iraqi people their

opportunity to express their political will through

elections. This minority also attacks those who are

working to rebuild Iraq’s economy and improve Iraqi

lives. Increasingly, Iraqis themselves will be

responsible for doing that work, but success will

depend on the resolute support of the international

community.

We cannot allow terrorists to disrupt the

democratic process in Iraq. Prime Minister Alawi has

emphasized his Government’s determination to hold

elections in January 2005 and the Special

Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq has

told the Security Council that maintaining the election

schedule is his greatest priority. While the difficult

security conditions in Iraq cannot be denied, it is

imperative that the United Nations fulfil its role under

Security Council resolution 1546 (2004) and work with

Iraqis to complete arrangements for the elections on

time.

The size of the United Nations presence in Iraq

must be commensurate with the importance and

urgency of its task. For its part, Australia remains

committed to assisting Iraq transform itself. To this

end, we have committed more than $125 million, much

of it directed through United Nations agencies.

The situation in Darfur is a humanitarian disaster.

Australia is committed to supporting urgent

international efforts to end this horrific crisis. We have

already committed $20 million in emergency assistance

for the people of Darfur. We welcome the adoption of

Security Council resolution 1564 (2004) and applaud

the African Union for agreeing to lead a mission to

Darfur. Let me make this very clear: we stand ready to

offer assistance to this mission. The situation in Darfur

highlights the need for the international community to

develop a better framework for responding to

humanitarian crises, and we hope the High-level Panel

on Threats, Challenges and Change will come up with

clear and workable recommendations on humanitarian

intervention.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

(WMDs) is another urgent concern. Unless we act

firmly and with unity, terrorist groups could one day

acquire WMDs with disastrous consequences. As a

threat to international security, the issue of WMD

proliferation falls squarely within the Security

Council’s mandate. We welcome the adoption of

resolution 1540 (2004) as a demonstration of the

Council’s willingness to tackle WMD proliferation,

including the risk of WMD terrorism. We hope that

with the adoption of this resolution, the Council will

take a firmer and more active stance on WMD issues.

As part of our commitment to combating the risk

of nuclear terrorism, Australia will host an Asia-Pacific

ministerial conference in November on nuclear

safeguards and security. In addition, in the First

Committee this year, we, along with Turkey and

Argentina, will introduce a draft resolution on the

prevention of the illicit transfer and unauthorized

access to, and use of, man-portable air defence systems

(MANPADS). We hope for a consensus adoption of

this draft resolution, which encourages States to take

concrete steps to prevent MANPADS from falling into

the hands of non-State end-users.

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Allow me to return to the subject of the High-

level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. During

this address, I have referred several times to

it. Australia welcomes the direction of panel

discussions — as far as we understand them — with

respect to both doctrinal and institutional reform. We

have contributed actively to the Panel’s work and we

encourage the Panel, in its remaining deliberations, to

work towards ambitious recommendations on its entire

programme of work, including Security Council

reform, addressing threats from WMDs and terrorism,

humanitarian intervention and effective collective

action.

On the issue of structural reform, we note here

that Australia has advocated expanding the permanent

membership of the Security Council to make it more

compatible with geographical realities, through the

addition of Japan, India, Brazil, an African country and

Indonesia. Whatever the final shape of the Panel’s

report, one thing is clear: high-level political

commitment will be crucial to bringing bold reform

recommendations to fruition. We would encourage all

Member States to give the Secretary-General their full

support in considering the Panel’s recommendations.

One opportunity to do this will be the 2005

United Nations summit of heads of State or

Government. The summit provides an excellent forum,

not only to review implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals, but also to endorse a reformed

United Nations that is better equipped to deal with the

challenges it faces.

Australia has long advocated the need for United

Nations reform. Back in 2000 in this forum, the Prime

Minister warned that,

“In the absence of change and adaptation, the

Organization will wither as the nations of the

world bypass it in favour of ... mechanisms that

are more relevant to their needs” (A/55/PV.20,

p. 25).

Of course, this warning was before 11 September

2001, before coalition action in Afghanistan and Iraq

and before the terrorist bombings in Bali, Jakarta,

Madrid, Istanbul and many other locations. If the need for

reform was pressing then, it is critical now. The High-

level Panel provides the best prospect for repositioning

the United Nations system to meet contemporary

challenges. This is an opportunity we cannot waste if the

United Nations — our Organization — is to retain a

substantial role in maintaining international peace and

security in the twenty-first century.