Nina Markovic, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security
Section
Overview
As a founding member of the United Nations (UN) system that was
formally established on
24 October 1945, Australia has been actively involved in
peacekeeping, disarmament, humanitarian and development assistance,
administration, and other areas of the UN’s work for 65
years. Peacekeeping in particular has long enjoyed bipartisan
political support, as exemplified by Australia’s strong
support for ongoing UN-mandated operations in Timor-Leste.
The Australian Parliament has always taken a keen interest in UN
matters. Key activities include:
- parliamentary advisers attached to the Australian permanent
mission to the UN
- creation of the Australian Parliamentary Association for
UNICEF
- Senate and Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (FADT)
Committee inquiries
- Reports by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Treaties,
and
- the United Nations Parliamentary Group (established during the
42nd Parliament).
The Rudd/Gillard Labor Government has placed a renewed emphasis
on Australia’s activism in multilateral institutions such as
the UN. This is in line with Labor’s three-pillar foreign
policy outlook, which places high importance on Australia’s
multilateral engagements in the international arena to complement
the country’s bilateral relationships. The UN is regarded by
the Government as the world’s pre-eminent conflict resolution
body, as an essential forum for global cooperation, and as the
mechanism for responding to transnational challenges to human and
international security—notwithstanding its own institutional
challenges.
Australia’s financial contributions to
the UN
In 2008–09, Australia contributed a total of $153.4
million to sixteen UN peacekeeping operations, funding which is
administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During
the same period, the majority of Australian contributions to
international organisations supported the work of UN organs and
agencies (over $89 million). Between 2007 and 2009, Australia was
the thirteenth largest contributor to the regular UN budget.
In the 2008–09 Federal Budget the Australian Government
announced an additional $200 million over four years in funding to
the UN agencies working on the eight UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). As outlined in the 2008–09 budget measures for
AusAID, Australia’s funding for MDG-related activities is
expected to significantly increase closer to the year
2015—which is the target deadline year for achieving the
MDGs. Although progress on several MDGs has been slower in recent
years (in light of the global financial crisis), Australia is
likely to be active in generating further consensus to address the
remaining gaps in the MDG progress, particularly in the South
Pacific.
Apart from the field of development assistance, Australian
contributions are likely to intensify in areas such as nuclear
non-proliferation and disarmament, UN reform, and UN Security
Council-related work.
Australia’s UN Security Council bid
The issue of Australia’s engagement with the UN featured
prominently in the 2010 pre-election foreign policy statements of
both the Government and the Opposition. In particular,
Australia’s candidacy for a two-year non-permanent UN
Security Council seat emerged as an issue of contention between the
two major parties leading up to the election. Australia has
previously served on the UN Security Council on four occasions:
1946–47, 1956–57, 1973–74, and 1985–86.
On 30 March 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced
Australia’s candidacy to serve, for the fifth time, as one of
ten non-permanent members on the fifteen-member UN Security Council
in 2013–14. Australia’s competitors for the two
available seats in 2013–14 reserved for the ‘Western
European and Others Group’ to which Australia belongs, are
Finland and Luxembourg. Both are EU member states, each of which is
pursuing its own diplomatic quest for the role. In September 2009,
a poll conducted by the Lowy Institute for International Policy
suggested that over two-thirds of surveyed Australians supported
the Government’s bid.
In Labor’s pre-election foreign policy statement,
Advancing Australia’s Interests Internationally, the
issue of Australia’s strong and reinvigorated engagement with
the UN was highlighted as part of Labor’s three-pillar
foreign policy vision. Engagement with the UN is part of a broader
active involvement in multilateral forums.
The Labor Government has so far allocated over $11 million
towards the bid (from a mixture of existing and additional
funding). This has resulted in more robust diplomatic engagement in
Africa, and dialogue with members of the Non-Aligned Movement
world-wide. It is expected that further funding for this initiative
may be allocated to relevant government departments as the vote on
this matter in 2012 looms.
The Opposition has expressed qualified support for the UN system
‘where it is in Australia’s national interest’.
It has also criticised the Labor Government’s funding
allocations for the UN Security Council bid. The
Coalition’s plan for real action on Foreign Affairs (its
pre-election foreign policy statement) portrayed this diplomatic
initiative as an extravagant affair and not in Australia’s
core foreign policy interests, which the Coalition believes lie
predominantly in bilateral engagements with key partners,
particularly those in the Asia-Pacific region and Indian Ocean
Rim.
With the return of Labor as a minority government it is likely
that Australia’s UN Security Council bid will continue and
diplomatic efforts will intensify leading up to 2012. As
recommended by the Joint FADT Committee report in June 2001,
Australia will most likely continue to support the reform of the UN
Security Council, including additional representation on a
permanent basis for Africa and Asia. If successful in its bid for
the UN Security Council seat, transparency would be enhanced by the
Government being as open as possible with the parliament about its
priorities, decisions and voting in the UN Security Council.
Australia and UN human rights bodies
Australia is a party to the seven key UN human rights treaties.
Australia complements this with engagement in regional forums and
bilateral dialogue with such countries as China and Vietnam.
Australia’s activities towards strengthening the
effectiveness of the UN human rights regime (in particular the
Human Rights Council) is likely to intensify in the future,
primarily through Australia’s engagement with the Third
Committee of the UN General Assembly, and regional mechanisms.
Non-government participation in UN human rights work (including by
Australian civil society and private sector groups) is likely to
expand in the future.
Outlook
Under the Gillard Labor Government, Australia is likely to
robustly engage with the UN, particularly on issues that the
Government perceives to be challenges to both global and
Australia’s national interests, such as climate change, food
insecurity, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and
terrorism. Financial contributions to the work of the UN agencies
are likely to increase, in particular in support of overseas
development assistance. As in other policy areas, the challenge for
the current Government in increasing its engagement with the UN is
likely to be winning the support of parliament for its initiatives.
A strategic, whole-of-government approach to UN affairs could also
include a dialogue with the non-government sector on key issues
defining Australian engagement with the UN.