Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bernardi for his question. I think it's very important to remind ourselves of the importance of effective multilateralism, of the importance of the contribution that it makes to protecting and promoting the rules based international order, that it makes to contributing to our own objectives in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia focuses on contributing to an efficient and effective UN. We don't always agree. In fact, we have robust differences of opinion from time to time within the UN and its associated agencies and bodies, like the Human Rights Council, of which we are a recently elected member. But the contribution to those things, where strong global cooperation sets a tone, where it sets in place rules and norms for constructive diplomacy in every region of the world, is a very important part of Australia's engagement and has been thus since the inception of the United Nations, where Australia was a founding member 70 years ago. We see a period of rapid and accelerating change and we see times of rising nationalism and geopolitical competition, but that does not mean that we should walk away from those organisations in which we have the opportunity to argue for the rules based international order and in which we have the opportunity to protect and promote those systems and processes which enable us to solve problems together. Our most urgent global challenges are not going to be solved by any one country acting alone. There are a vast number of them. As Senator Bernardi has alluded to and as I have said explicitly both here and elsewhere— (Time expired)