Australia, 2014

In what can seem to be

darkening times, I want to begin with a message of

hope. Amid all our problems, the murderous rage of

the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Syria and

Iraq, Russian aggression in Ukraine, the spread of

Ebola in West Africa and the stubborn sluggishness of

many economies, let me start with a small but telling

illustration of nations working together to serve our

common humanity. Last March, at the height of the

search for the missing Flight MH-70, I went to the Pearce

airbase in Western Australia to thank all the aviators

involved. There were personnel from Australia, New

Zealand, Malaysia and the United States — countries

that are accustomed to working together. There were

also personnel from China, Japan and Korea — countries

whose relations sometimes labour under the weight of

historical grievances.

On that occasion, however, the tragedy and a

daunting challenge drew out the best in everyone.

The Organization was founded on the principle that

we should work together for the common good and

that, over time, talking together and working together

will improve our capacity for living together. Like

any institution, the United Nations is an imperfect

instrument. Still, it is better than “might is right”, and

it gives good arguments the best chance to prevail.

Despite faults and failures, the United Nations

has worked for peace and progress for nearly 70 years.

Australia has been proud to play its part, starting in

1946, when we held the first presidency of the Security

Council and helped to draft the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights. At the heart of the Organization is the

principle that we should act towards others as we would

have them act towards us. For almost seven decades,

Australia has believed in the potential of the United

Nations and supported its work. Keeping commitments,

valuing human life, protecting property and extending

freedom are universal aspirations, not only Australian

ones.

Since 1947, we have provided more than 65,000

personnel to more than 50 multilateral peace and

security operations. We are not a country accustomed to

turning back, once we have put our hand to the plough.

We have had Blue Beret personnel in the Middle East

since 1956 and in Cyprus since 1964. When leadership

is needed, we step up, as we did in Bougainville,

in Timor-Leste and in Solomon Islands. In Korea,

Cambodia, Kuwait and Afghanistan and in Somalia,

Sierra Leone and other troubled places, Australians

have lent a hand under the United Nations banner. We

have only 21 personnel in South Sudan now but have

conducted an airlift of equipment that has supported a

much larger force.

With just 24 million people, Australia is a relatively

small country, but we have the world’s twelfth-

largest economy, with global interests and with some

global reach. We are strong enough to be useful but

pragmatic enough to know our limits. Under successive

Governments, for more than 100 years, Australia’s

determination has been to advance our interests,

to protect our citizens and to uphold our values.

We have never believed that we can save the world

single-handedly, nor have we shrunk from shouldering

our responsibilities. After the 2004 East Asian tsunami,

we committed $1 billion to Indonesia. We were one of

the first countries to arrive with help in Japan after the

2011 earthquake and in the Philippines after the 2013

typhoon.

To date, we have pledged $8 million towards

combating the Ebola outbreak, and dozens of Australian

health professionals are working with international

agencies in the region. To us, this is all part of being a

good global citizen. Last July, we were pleased to sponsor

Security Council resolution 2166 (2014) and to work

with the Dutch and the Malaysians to investigate the

crash site and recover our dead, after Malaysia Airlines

Flight MH-17 was shot down by Russian-backed rebels

over eastern Ukraine. We are grateful for the help that

Ukraine gave us, and are naturally sympathetic to a

country struggling to preserve its independence and

territorial integrity against a bully. With the Dutch and

the Malaysians, we will do everything we can to ensure

that the investigation is not undermined, and that the

crime is not covered up, because that is our duty to the

38 Australians murdered in this atrocity.

Right now, an Australian force has been deployed

to the Middle East, so that we can join a coalition

seeking to disrupt and degrade the Islamic State of

Iraq and the Levant terrorist movement at the request

of the Iraqi Government. One of our prime ministers

once talked about our country’s great objective, “our

light on the hill,” as he put it, namely, to work for the

betterment of mankind, not just at home, but wherever

we can lend a helping hand. To build a better world,

we need to respond sensibly to the problems before us,

whether through bodies such as the United Nations,

or in coalitions with like-minded countries. We also

need to work purposefully to create stronger and more

resilient people and communities. A stronger economy

will not solve every problem, but it will make almost

every problem easier to tackle. Richer people are not

necessarily better people, but the problems of plenty

are invariably easier to deal with than those of want.

As this year’s Chair of the Group of Twenty (G-

20), Australia is determined to promote private-sector-

led growth: growth, because that is the best way

to generate jobs and improve everyone’s quality of

life; private-sector-led, because profitable, private

businesses are the best source of real, sustainable

wealth. Freer trade, more investment in infrastructure,

a modern and fair international tax system, stronger

global economic institutions and a more resilient

financial sector are all parts of our G-20 agenda to

strengthen the world economy.

Rather than preaching, we are trying to lead by

example. Australia has abolished the carbon tax and

the mining tax, and we have provided environmental

approvals for $800 billion worth of new projects. We

have also begun the task of eliminating our budget

deficit within four years. We have finalized a series of

trade deals, because every time a country trades with

another, wealth increases, and when wealth increases,

countries grow stronger. Our G-20 goal is to boost

output by an extra 2 per cent over the next five years

to create millions of jobs and to generate trillions in

wealth right around the world.

Likewise, the post-2015 development agenda

should also focus on economic growth, because growth

makes every other social goal, even tackling climate

change, easier to accomplish. To people who do not

know where their next meal is coming from, talk of

economic growth can seem ignorant or indulgent. But

“economic growth” is really just economists’ shorthand

for more jobs, higher pay, new industries and the better

life that only greater wealth can provide. Economic

growth might seem a mundane vision, but it allows

millions more people to create their own vision of how

their lives can be better.

To anyone who doubts that stronger economic

growth can be achieved, I say, “Look at the countries

of East Asia”. In scarcely two generations, the rise

of Asia has driven the greatest social and economic

transformation in history. People live longer, they are

better educated, wealthier and, yes, they enjoy a level

of freedom and stability that their parents could only

dream of. In Japan, Korea and now China, in India and

increasingly in Indonesia, many hundreds of millions

of people have been lifted from poverty to the middle

class. Almost certainly, that is the greatest and fastest

advance in human welfare of all time.

While all Governments, Australia’s included, could

always be better, smarter and more compassionate,

no one should be blind to the great progress that has

occurred. We live in the most remarkable age in human

history. For all the work that remains to be done, we

have seen more change for the better than at any other

time.

As the General Assembly session meets with

such pressing issues before it, our challenge — as

always — is to realize our best hopes and to be our best

selves. Australians have two defining characteristics:

we believe in a “fair go”, because innate decency

demands that every person have a chance to contribute.

We also believe in “having a go”, because rolling up

your sleeves will always produce a better result than

standing on the sidelines complaining. That readiness

to make an effort for a good cause is why Australia

feels so comfortable in this body and is so ready to

contribute to its work. We should put no limits on what

we can achieve, especially when we work together, trust

people and are faithful to our deepest values.

Every country counts. Every argument must be

weighed. Every person has equal rights and dignity.

Every person deserves respect. All people are entitled

to make their own choices — provided they do not

infringe on the rights of others. Those are the principles

that this Organization embodies and on which the

future of humanity rests.