Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Can I thank Senator Green for her question and for her interest in international affairs and also thank, on indulgence, my colleagues, particularly Senators Farrell and Gallagher, for covering me in my absence yesterday.

Australia helped create the United Nations after World War II, and we did that because it was in our interests to have a world in which countries operate by agreed rules and norms and where outcomes are not determined by power and size alone. In fact, if you look at what is occurring in Ukraine, it is a reminder of how much all of us have to lose if we fail to protect the United Nations Charter. Australia and every other country in the world cannot accept a situation where large countries simply can determine the fate of smaller countries. We don't want to see any one country dominating or any country being dominated. For this reason, Russia's attack on Ukraine is an attack on all smaller countries, and this was the message in meetings around the UN General Assembly week and in the national statement that I articulated on behalf of Australia. It is a position which aligns us with nations around the world, particularly those small and medium-sized nations.

I had the privilege of delivering a national statement to the General Assembly on behalf of Australia. In that, I made the point that we are more than just supporting players in a drama of global geopolitics. We can't leave it to the big powers to work it out and we can't be passive when big powers flout the rules. That is Australia's historical legacy at the United Nations. It is a legacy that the Albanese government seeks to renew. We all want a world that is stable, that is peaceful, that is prosperous and that is respectful of sovereignty, and it is up to all of us to create that world. In Australia's own region, we have to ensure also that competition does not escalate into conflict, and it is up to all of us to consider how it is we can avert such catastrophic— (Time expired)