In brief
- Albanese has used UN address to launch Australia’s 2029-30 Security Council campaign and push for reform.
- He backed global AI rules and stronger Pacific representation as major powers dominated talks.
In a week where the civilian death toll from wars in multiple continents continues to climb, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has appealed for the 193 member states of the United Nations to ensure the quest for peace is not left to the "loudest voices".
"Clearly, the multilateral system we have all known and benefited from is under immense strain," he told the United Nations General Assembly in his key speech of this US trip.
"To protect the peace, to create a world of human dignity, to do justice to the UN’s mission, we must embrace change and reform."
Earlier this week, Albanese officially launched Australia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2029 and 2030.
His message from the podium echoed that of his key middle power partners, Canada’s Mark Carney and the European Commission’s Ursula Von der Leyen.
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"We understand the UN mission cannot be entrusted solely to the great powers, or the biggest countries, or even the loudest voices alone," Albanese said.
"Nor can it be sub-contracted to the world’s richest companies or dictated by the pace of technology."
It’s a clear sign Albanese intends to push ahead with the joint appeal from more than 20 nations for Artificial Intelligence to be regulated at an international level, signed at the United Nations this week.
That’s despite US President Donald Trump dismissing it as a globalist approach, flagging he doesn’t intend to step back from the arms race, and attempting to rebrand it as "super" intelligence.
Key first-movers Anthropic and OpenAI sounded the alarm about the rapid pace of technological advancement during their own hearing at the UN Security Council this week.
Just an hour after they spoke, Albanese was a few blocks away, revealing an Australian government website had been infiltrated by a rogue OpenAI agent and the company failed to reveal the breach for months.
The Australian leader also committed to backing regional partners in the Pacific, as they push to raise international awareness about the existential threat posed by climate change.
"We seek to amplify the voices of small and mid-sized states to ensure Council decisions are informed by the widest possible perspectives," he will tell the UN.
Last night he was supported by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, at a ceremony where Albanese was lauded with a prestigious award for his contribution as a global citizen.
But at the heart of this address was a concession that the current political climate has led to the "breakdown of trust, civility and social cohesion" and the way it's lighting the fires of conflict inside countries and between them.
Albanese is positioning Australia as a champion of international rules and institutions, including the UN, while simultaneously arguing it needs to change and modernise.
He wants a world where countries are equals, rather than dominant and dominated.
But as he spoke, the President of the United States was hosting a lavish state dinner for the leader of China, Xi Jinping, in Washington.
Donald Trump left New York after delivering his speech and hosting a speed-dial drinks with all world leaders. President Xi opted not to address the United Nations at all.
While the Prime Minister’s speech was an appeal for all countries to be heard, the two superpowers were around a different table only talking to each other.
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