Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Wong. Can the minister report to the Senate on her visit to the United Nations General Assembly and on her message to other countries on the need to protect and promote the international rules based order?

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

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Green, first supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline how she used her time in New York to advance the national interest?

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

I had the opportunity in New York to attend around 60 engagements, which included bilateral and trilateral meetings, pull-asides and larger meetings where I could represent Australia's views. Bilateral meetings obviously reflected our key national priorities. It was an opportunity to meet with counterparts from countries that I've not had a chance to visit as well as to re-engage with representatives from nations which I have had the opportunity to visit. Those direct meetings included Indonesia, India, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, China, Jordan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and others and were often focused on the threats to the rules based order and what we could collectively do to protect it. That was also a major focus of a meeting with Quad foreign ministers. I chaired a meeting of the Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, convened by the Prime Minister of Japan— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Green, second supplementary?

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of particular interest to my part of the world, Minister: how did the Albanese Labor government use participation at the General Assembly to promote the concerns of our Pacific family?

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

At the United Nations, we worked to ensure that we engaged deeply with our Pacific partners and responded to their needs. This included working with Pacific Islands Forum members to launch the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which I had the privilege of hosting—well, Prime Minister Bainimarama hosted it at the Australia mission, and we were very privileged to support that. In addition, I joined the United Nations General Assembly Ocean Panel leaders on ensuring the health and resilience of our oceans, which we know is vital to our Pacific family.

Unlike those opposite, we know we are stronger in the world when we work together to defend our interests, and we seek to treat our friends and partners with respect and listen to what they say. Instead of disrespecting our Pacific family's climate concerns, we are seeking to work with them to deliver real action on climate and to build a stronger Pacific family, and I thank them for their engagement. (Time expired)

With that, President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.