Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Singh, move:

That the Senate—

(a) recognises the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June 2015;

(b) notes that:

(i) Australia was one of the 50 nations which signed the Charter that established the United Nations (UN) organisation,

(ii) the UN came into being on 24 October 1945,

(iii) the signatories to the Charter agreed:

  •   to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

  •   to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

  •   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,

     and for these ends:

  •   to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and

  •   to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and

  •   to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and

  •   to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, and

(iv) the first meeting of the UN Security Council in January 1946 was chaired by the Australian Ambassador, Mr Norman Makin, AO; and

(c) calls on all members and senators in the Australian Parliament to celebrate the achievements of the UN over the past 70 years.