Australia would push to reform the United Nations if given a seat on its Security Council, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday, as she joined Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking with SBS News, Wong said Russia's use of veto powers to exempt itself from repercussions during its invasion of Ukraine was an example of where Australia would seek reform.
"We've had a longstanding position as a country of reform of the veto, and we know it's been misused previously," Wong told SBS World News chief political correspondent Anna Henderson in New York.
"What happened in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine was that a permanent member of the Security Council used its veto to prevent any action being taken for its own breach of the charter. That was an example where we would like reform."
Fifteen countries sit on the Security Council, and its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — have the right to veto any resolution or decision.
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In 2022, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution that described its attempts to unlawfully annex four regions of Ukraine as “a threat to international peace and security”, demanding Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces” from Ukrainian territory. Ten of fifteen members had voted in favour of the resolution, while four abstained.
Wong said that Australia was "for reform", but that Australians were "very practical people".
"We recognise rules need to be upheld; the UN needs to be reformed.
"We want to make sure, where it really matters, that we continue to be part of setting the direction about that reform."
Wong has backed Albanese's bid for a seat on the council, which Australia has not held since 2014. Asked whether the veto powers in their current state rendered the campaign redundant, Wong stood by the pursuit.
"We might be distant from New York, but we are not distant from the rest of the world, and the world does have an effect on what happens in our economy, in our lives.
"So what I would say is we want to be able to advocate for Australia's interests in every forum that matters, and the UN Security Council matters."
International law under 'pressure'
International law is under a "great deal of pressure", Wong said, but the best response would be for countries to "come together" and advocate for the observance of international law.
"You've got two options, don't you? You can throw your hands up and say, 'I give up'. Or you can say, 'This actually matters to many countries.'
"We're not a superpower, but we're a country with substance and power to work with others to try and ensure that we hold onto the rules that matter."
Asked whether Australia could hold the United States to account over accusations around the war in Iran, as well as its actions in Venezuela, Wong said it was a task for the international community to work out the rules that "we really want to hold on to, that matter to us".
"I think trading arrangements matter to us. They certainly matter to Australia, and we've been very clear about our difference with the Trump administration."
But Australia does not intend to join its like-minded international partners in broader sanctions on Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Wong said, referring to "targeted sanctions" announced earlier this month as the UK banned trade in the occupied territories, and nine European countries said they were considering the same.
"I've announced already that we would engage in targeted sanctions," Wong said, noting that no country that had announced it would engage in the sanctions on a blanket basis had yet implemented them.
"And we certainly will be working with them as they do that to understand how they intend to deal with that," she said, and added that she has a "very clear intention" of engaging in more action against settlements, "which are an obstacle to peace", and "engaging in behaviour which makes two states less likely" in the case of the E-1 settlement, a contentious development plan for a 12-square-kilometre corridor in the West Bank.
"We'll continue to work closely with our like-minded countries just as we did a year ago, when, with others, we recognised the state of Palestine, which was part of the precursor to the peace plan, which we want to see implemented."
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